Tax protester conspiracy arguments
Encyclopedia
Tax protester conspiracy arguments are arguments raised by tax protester
s who assert that the imposition of the federal income tax in the United States
is the result of an illicit conspiracy. These kinds of arguments are distinguished from related constitutional arguments
and statutory arguments
. Those arguments attempt to show that the income tax is contrary to correct interpretations of the Constitution or statutes. Supporters of such arguments may contend that constitutional and statutory arguments apply as well, and raise conspiracy arguments to explain how and why every branch of the United States government nonetheless permits the collection of supposedly illegal taxes.
, following his criminal conviction for tax fraud that resulted in the imposition of a 13-year prison sentence, released a statement asserting in part that "the entire federal judiciary is involved in a monumental, criminal conspiracy to collect income taxes in violation of law". Schiff's web site continues to state: "Since the income tax was repealed in 1954 when Congress adopted the 1954 Code, it is clear that for 50 years federal judges in conspiracy with U. S. Department of Injustice [sic] prosecutors have been illegally and criminally prosecuting people for crimes that do not exist in connection with a tax that nobody owes."
One tax protester web site, called www.tax-freedom.com, quotes from an article by William Cooper
entitled "BATF/IRS - Criminal Fraud", from the publication Veritas (issue no. 6, September 1995), as follows:
Frequent claims in support of the income tax conspiracy include:
, a co-defendant of Wesley Snipes
in the latter's high-profile tax evasion case. Kahn "made several missteps and peculiar motions. For example, he sought to be immediately freed because the indictment lists his name in all capital letters, and he claimed U.S. attorneys have no jurisdiction because Florida supposedly was never ceded to the federal government". These motions were denied as de minimis
.
No court has ever upheld such an argument. See, e.g. United States v. Frech ("Defendants' assertion that the capitalization of their names in court documents constitutes constructive fraud
, thereby depriving the district court of jurisdiction and venue, is without any basis in law or fact"); United States v. Washington ("defendant contends that the Indictment must be dismissed because 'KURT WASHINGTON,' spelled out in capital letters, is a fictitious name used by the Government to tax him improperly as a business, and that the correct spelling and presentation of his name is 'Kurt Washington.' This contention is baseless"). See also United States v. Ford (taxpayer's argument—that an IRS summons was invalid because the IRS capitalized all the letters in the taxpayer's name in the caption of a petition—was ruled to be frivolous). Similar arguments have been raised unsuccessfully about things such as the presence or absence of punctuation, or of a middle name or middle initial.
, has stated that government personnel are engaged in a conspiracy in connection with Federal tax forms and "OMB [Office of Management and Budget] control numbers" in connection with a criminal tax case involving a tax protester:
See also the OMB control number argument.
, Illuminati
, Free Mason
movement," and that the federal government had no jurisdiction in New Hampshire
. The New Hampshire Union Leader also reported that "the Browns believe the IRS
and the federal income tax are part of a deliberate plot perpetrated by Freemasons to control the American people and eventually the world."
In an interview on February 2, 2007, on the radio show "Constitution for the Defense," Ed Brown said:
The standoff between Brown and law enforcement officials ended with his imprisonment after his arrest in October 2007.
s (better known as dollar bills) are not actually money, because the Constitution
only permits the government to "coin" money, and requires that such money be exchangeable for gold or silver; therefore, printed bills are instead symbols for use in barter
ing, and being paid in dollars is not the receipt of taxable income. This argument was brought before a court in Wilson v. United States. The court responded:
The argument about whether Federal reserve notes are "money" also ignores the essence of the income tax, which is imposed on "income from whatever source derived," not merely on the receipt of "money."
Other occasionally encountered arguments from tax protesters include the notion that U.S. currency is valueless or unauthorized by the Constitution because the currency is fiat money
untied to the gold standard
. No court has upheld the validity of that argument.
The argument that Federal reserve notes are not taxable income when paid to a taxpayer because the notes are not gold and silver and may not be redeemed for gold and silver, and variations of this argument, have been officially identified as legally frivolous Federal tax return positions for purposes of the $5,000 frivolous tax return penalty imposed under Internal Revenue Code section 6702(a).
s, Native American
s, and native Hawaiians
. Similar arguments have been made in countries other than the United States. For example, such an argument was rejected by a Māori citizen seeking to avoid payment of taxes in New Zealand
.
A related concept is that under American jurisprudence, different standards of proof are required in civil and criminal proceedings. Normally, to be convicted of a crime, the defendant must have had a specific mens rea
, or guilty mental state. For criminal violations of the income tax law, this generally means that the prohibited conduct (whether failure to file, failure to pay, or engaging in some affirmative act to evade the tax), must have been accompanied by an intentional violation of a legal duty of which the defendant was aware. By contrast, to establish civil liability to pay the tax, no mens rea on the part of the defendant is required to be proven.
Tax protester (United States)
A tax protester is someone who refuses to pay a tax on constitutional or legal grounds, typically because he or she believes that the tax laws are unconstitutional or otherwise invalid...
s who assert that the imposition of the federal income tax in the United States
Income tax in the United States
In the United States, a tax is imposed on income by the Federal, most states, and many local governments. The income tax is determined by applying a tax rate, which may increase as income increases, to taxable income as defined. Individuals and corporations are directly taxable, and estates and...
is the result of an illicit conspiracy. These kinds of arguments are distinguished from related constitutional arguments
Tax protester constitutional arguments
Tax protester constitutional arguments are assertions that the imposition of the federal income tax violates the United States Constitution. These kinds of tax protester arguments are distinguished from related statutory arguments and conspiracy arguments, which presuppose the constitutionality of...
and statutory arguments
Tax protester statutory arguments
Tax protesters in the United States make a number of statutory arguments that the assessment of the federal income tax in the United States violates the statutes enacted by the United States Congress and signed into law by the President...
. Those arguments attempt to show that the income tax is contrary to correct interpretations of the Constitution or statutes. Supporters of such arguments may contend that constitutional and statutory arguments apply as well, and raise conspiracy arguments to explain how and why every branch of the United States government nonetheless permits the collection of supposedly illegal taxes.
Conspiracy arguments, in general
Tax protester Irwin SchiffIrwin Schiff
Irwin A. Schiff is a prominent figure in the United States tax protester movement. Schiff is known for writing and promoting literature that claims the United States income tax is applied incorrectly. He has lost several civil cases against the federal government and has a record of multiple...
, following his criminal conviction for tax fraud that resulted in the imposition of a 13-year prison sentence, released a statement asserting in part that "the entire federal judiciary is involved in a monumental, criminal conspiracy to collect income taxes in violation of law". Schiff's web site continues to state: "Since the income tax was repealed in 1954 when Congress adopted the 1954 Code, it is clear that for 50 years federal judges in conspiracy with U. S. Department of Injustice [sic] prosecutors have been illegally and criminally prosecuting people for crimes that do not exist in connection with a tax that nobody owes."
One tax protester web site, called www.tax-freedom.com, quotes from an article by William Cooper
Milton William Cooper
Milton William Cooper was an American writer, shortwave broadcaster, conspiracy theorist, and political activist.-Biography:...
entitled "BATF/IRS - Criminal Fraud", from the publication Veritas (issue no. 6, September 1995), as follows:
Investigation of the alleged Internal Revenue Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and FirearmsBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and ExplosivesThe Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice...
has disclosed a broad, premeditated conspiracy to defraud the Citizens of the United States of America. Examination of the United States CodeUnited States CodeThe Code of Laws of the United States of America is a compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal laws of the United States...
, the Code of Federal RegulationsCode of Federal RegulationsThe Code of Federal Regulations is the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government of the United States.The CFR is published by the Office of the Federal Register, an agency...
, the Statutes at LargeUnited States Statutes at LargeThe United States Statutes at Large, commonly referred to as the Statutes at Large and abbreviated Stat., are the official source for the laws and concurrent resolutions passed by the United States Congress...
, Congressional RecordCongressional RecordThe Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published by the United States Government Printing Office, and is issued daily when the United States Congress is in session. Indexes are issued approximately every two weeks...
, the Federal RegisterFederal RegisterThe Federal Register , abbreviated FR, or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains most routine publications and public notices of government agencies...
, and Internal Revenue manuals too numerous to list, reveals a crime of such magnitude that words cannot adequately describe the betrayal of the American people. What we uncovered has clearly been designed to circumvent the limitations of the Constitution for the United States of America and to implement the Communist ManifestoThe Communist ManifestoThe Communist Manifesto, originally titled Manifesto of the Communist Party is a short 1848 publication written by the German Marxist political theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It has since been recognized as one of the world's most influential political manuscripts. Commissioned by the...
within the 50 States. MarxKarl MarxKarl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
and EngelsFriedrich EngelsFriedrich Engels was a German industrialist, social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research...
claimed that, in the effort to create a classless society, a "graduated income tax" could be used as a weapon to destroy the middle class. [ . . . ] Through the clever use of language, the government promotes the fraud.
Frequent claims in support of the income tax conspiracy include:
- Some specific event in U.S. history, such as the Civil War, the Great Depression, or the passage of some national debt threshold, actually caused the United States to cease to exist under the Constitution; all actions in the name of the U.S. government since that event are part of a conspiracy by those in power to retain the appearance of constitutional authority.
- The United States never actually achieved independence from Great BritainKingdom of Great BritainThe former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
, and secretly continues to operate under British rule. - The government prosecutes only people who are not sufficiently well informed to make the above arguments, and secretly settles with those who are.
- The United States Supreme Court grants certiorariCertiorariCertiorari is a type of writ seeking judicial review, recognized in U.S., Roman, English, Philippine, and other law. Certiorari is the present passive infinitive of the Latin certiorare...
only to cases wherein the tax protester has a poorly-defended argument. - The courts rely only on the many cases where tax protesters lost, and ignore those few where tax protesters prevail.
- The Nativist Party, also known as the Know-Nothing Party, perpetrated an intricate plan during the Millard FillmoreMillard FillmoreMillard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president...
administration that called for the payment of income tax due to their desire to bankrupt and deport newly arrived immigrants. - The gold fringe around the American flag, as displayed in many federal courts, designates them as Admiralty courtAdmiralty courtAdmiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries and offences.- Admiralty Courts in England and Wales :...
s, which cannot hear other kinds of cases, or signal that the court is operating under martial lawMartial lawMartial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
. No court has ever upheld this argument, as neither the presence (or absence) of a flag (or of any other standard or element of decor), nor the fringe on a flag (which has no heraldicHeraldryHeraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
or vexillologicalVexillologyVexillology is the scholarly study of flags. The word is a synthesis of the Latin word vexillum, meaning 'flag', and the Greek suffix -logy, meaning 'study'. The vexillum was a particular type of flag used by Roman legions during the classical era; its name is a diminutive form of the word velum...
significance), has any bearing whatsoever on the jurisdiction of a court.
"Capital letters" argument
Some tax protesters (and occasionally persons brought before courts) have argued that because the titles of court cases identify the parties in all capital letters, the persons thus identified are "fictitious entities". In other words, a court hearing a case titled "STATE v. JOHN Q. SMITH" has no authority over the defendant, "John Q. Smith" because the capitalization of the name means the court is addressing a person who does not exist. Such an argument was made by Eddie Ray KahnEddie Ray Kahn
Eddie Ray Kahn has been described by the Los Angeles Times as a "veteran tax protester". Kahn served time in prison for tax crimes from 1985 to 1987. Kahn founded the group American Rights Litigators and ran the for-profit businesses "Guiding Light of God Ministries" and "Eddie Kahn and...
, a co-defendant of Wesley Snipes
Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist, who has starred in numerous action films, thrillers, and dramatic feature films. Snipes is known for playing the Marvel Comics character Blade in the Blade film trilogy, among various other high profile roles...
in the latter's high-profile tax evasion case. Kahn "made several missteps and peculiar motions. For example, he sought to be immediately freed because the indictment lists his name in all capital letters, and he claimed U.S. attorneys have no jurisdiction because Florida supposedly was never ceded to the federal government". These motions were denied as de minimis
De minimis
De minimis is a Latin expression meaning about minimal things, normally in the locutions de minimis non curat praetor or de minimis non curat lex .In risk assessment it refers to a level of risk that is too small to be concerned with...
.
No court has ever upheld such an argument. See, e.g. United States v. Frech ("Defendants' assertion that the capitalization of their names in court documents constitutes constructive fraud
Constructive fraud
Constructive fraud is a legal fiction used in the law to describe a situation where a person or entity gained an unfair advantage over another by deceitful, or unfair, methods. Intent does not need to be shown as in the case of actual fraud...
, thereby depriving the district court of jurisdiction and venue, is without any basis in law or fact"); United States v. Washington ("defendant contends that the Indictment must be dismissed because 'KURT WASHINGTON,' spelled out in capital letters, is a fictitious name used by the Government to tax him improperly as a business, and that the correct spelling and presentation of his name is 'Kurt Washington.' This contention is baseless"). See also United States v. Ford (taxpayer's argument—that an IRS summons was invalid because the IRS capitalized all the letters in the taxpayer's name in the caption of a petition—was ruled to be frivolous). Similar arguments have been raised unsuccessfully about things such as the presence or absence of punctuation, or of a middle name or middle initial.
Conspiracy theory regarding government employees and tax forms
One group, calling itself "We the People"We the People Foundation
We the People Foundation for Constitutional Education, Inc. also known as We the People Foundation is a non-profit education and research organization in Queensbury, New York with the declared mission "to protect and defend individual Rights as guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States."...
, has stated that government personnel are engaged in a conspiracy in connection with Federal tax forms and "OMB [Office of Management and Budget] control numbers" in connection with a criminal tax case involving a tax protester:
In sum, the PRA [the Paperwork Reduction ActPaperwork Reduction ActThe Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-511, 94 Stat. 2812 , codified in part at Subchapter I of Chapter 35 of Title 44 of the United States Code, through , is a United States federal law enacted in 1980 that gave authority over the collection of certain information to the Office of...
] requires that all government agencies display valid OMB control numbers and certain disclosures directly on all information collection forms that the public is requested to file. [The defendant's] sole defense was he was not required to file an IRS Form 1040 because it displays an invalid OMB control number.
Government officials knew that if the case went to trial, it would expose the fraudulent, counterfeit 1040. They also must have known that a trial would expose the ongoing conspiracy between OMB and IRS to publish 1040 forms each year that those agencies knew were in violation of the PRA. That would raise the issue that the Form 1040, with its invalid control number, is being used by the Government to cover up the underlying constitutional tort -- that is, the enforcement of a direct, unapportioned tax on the labor of every working man, women and child in America.
See also the OMB control number argument.
Conspiracy arguments involving Zionism and Freemasonry
One convicted tax protester, Edward Lewis Brown, has charged that law enforcement officials who surrounded his property in a standoff over his refusal to surrender after his conviction were part of a "ZionistZionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
, Illuminati
Illuminati
The Illuminati is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776...
, Free Mason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
movement," and that the federal government had no jurisdiction in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
. The New Hampshire Union Leader also reported that "the Browns believe the IRS
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
and the federal income tax are part of a deliberate plot perpetrated by Freemasons to control the American people and eventually the world."
In an interview on February 2, 2007, on the radio show "Constitution for the Defense," Ed Brown said:
I'm not quite sure you understand the ramifications of what's going on right now. This is massive. This is international. We are fed up with the Zionist Illuminati. That's what this is all about. Loud and clear. Zionist Illuminati. Lawyers, whatever they are, okay, it's going to stop. And if the judge is a member of that, I know that McAuliffe [the Federal judge in Brown's tax case] is, I know that U.S. Attorney Colantuono is, they'd better stop. This is a warning. You can do whatever you want to me. My job is to get the message out, and I'm getting the message out, and I'm warning you guys - not you guys [referring to the radio show hosts], them - to cease and desist their unlawful activity in this country and every other country because once this thing starts, we're going to seek them out and hunt them down. And we're going to bring them to justice. So anybody wishes to join them, you go right ahead and join them. But I promise you, long after I'm gone, they're going to seek out every one of you and your bloodline.
The standoff between Brown and law enforcement officials ended with his imprisonment after his arrest in October 2007.
Arguments about money
Some protesters have argued that Federal Reserve noteFederal Reserve Note
A Federal Reserve Note is a type of banknote used in the United States of America. Federal Reserve Notes are printed by the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing on paper made by Crane & Co. of Dalton, Massachusetts. They are the only type of U.S...
s (better known as dollar bills) are not actually money, because the Constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
only permits the government to "coin" money, and requires that such money be exchangeable for gold or silver; therefore, printed bills are instead symbols for use in barter
Barter
Barter is a method of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. It is usually bilateral, but may be multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a...
ing, and being paid in dollars is not the receipt of taxable income. This argument was brought before a court in Wilson v. United States. The court responded:
The contention that paper money is illegal has been consistently rejected. … Congress has exercised this power by delegation to the federal reserve system. 12 U.S.C. section 411. Federal reserve notes are legal tender for all debts, including taxes. 31 U.S.C. section 392 [now ]; Milam v. U.S. 524 F.2d 629Case citationCase citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(9th Cir.United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitThe United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...
1974). The United States Constitution, art. 1, section 10, 'prohibits the states from declaring legal tender anything other than gold or silver, but does not limit Congress' power to declare what shall be legal tender for all debts.' U.S. v. Rifen, 577 F.2d 1111, 1112Case citationCase citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(8th Cir. 1978). Since Congress has done so, there can be no valid challenge to the legality of federal reserve notes. United States v. Anderson, 584 F.2d 369, 374Case citationCase citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(10th Cir. 1978).
The argument about whether Federal reserve notes are "money" also ignores the essence of the income tax, which is imposed on "income from whatever source derived," not merely on the receipt of "money."
Other occasionally encountered arguments from tax protesters include the notion that U.S. currency is valueless or unauthorized by the Constitution because the currency is fiat money
Fiat money
Fiat money is money that has value only because of government regulation or law. The term derives from the Latin fiat, meaning "let it be done", as such money is established by government decree. Where fiat money is used as currency, the term fiat currency is used.Fiat money originated in 11th...
untied to the gold standard
Gold standard
The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...
. No court has upheld the validity of that argument.
The argument that Federal reserve notes are not taxable income when paid to a taxpayer because the notes are not gold and silver and may not be redeemed for gold and silver, and variations of this argument, have been officially identified as legally frivolous Federal tax return positions for purposes of the $5,000 frivolous tax return penalty imposed under Internal Revenue Code section 6702(a).
Alleged immunity or exemptions for minority groups
Arguments have been made asserting that members of certain historically disadvantaged minority groups are not obliged to pay taxes. Such arguments have been made, and rejected with respect to African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s, Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
s, and native Hawaiians
Native Hawaiians
Native Hawaiians refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the original Polynesian settlers of Hawaii.According to the U.S...
. Similar arguments have been made in countries other than the United States. For example, such an argument was rejected by a Māori citizen seeking to avoid payment of taxes in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Civil liability
With respect to the failure to pay U.S. federal income tax, some tax protesters miss the distinction between civil and criminal liability. A verdict of acquittal in a criminal trial for non-payment of income tax does not relieve a defendant of civil liability (i.e., the legal obligation to pay the tax). After a criminal acquittal, the IRS can continue to seek money through levy or other lawful means. Generally, the amount of money due to the IRS is determined administratively by the IRS, and not in a criminal trial. (The amount of tax may, however, be calculated after the guilty verdict is reached in a criminal case—for purposes of determining the severity of the sentence.) Although there have been several well-publicized cases of acquittal in a criminal tax case, the IRS continues collection efforts, with many defendants finally seeking refuge in bankruptcy court.A related concept is that under American jurisprudence, different standards of proof are required in civil and criminal proceedings. Normally, to be convicted of a crime, the defendant must have had a specific mens rea
Mens rea
Mens rea is Latin for "guilty mind". In criminal law, it is viewed as one of the necessary elements of a crime. The standard common law test of criminal liability is usually expressed in the Latin phrase, actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea, which means "the act does not make a person guilty...
, or guilty mental state. For criminal violations of the income tax law, this generally means that the prohibited conduct (whether failure to file, failure to pay, or engaging in some affirmative act to evade the tax), must have been accompanied by an intentional violation of a legal duty of which the defendant was aware. By contrast, to establish civil liability to pay the tax, no mens rea on the part of the defendant is required to be proven.
See also
- Frivolous litigationFrivolous litigationIn law, frivolous litigation is the practice of starting or carrying on law suits that, due to their lack of legal merit, have little to no chance of being won. The term does not include cases that may be lost due to other matters not related to legal merit...
- Tax protester argumentsTax protester argumentsTax protester arguments are a number of objections raised by individuals who deny that a person has a legal obligation to pay a tax for which the United States government has determined that person is liable....
- Zeitgeist, the MovieZeitgeist, the MovieZeitgeist: The Movie is a 2007 documentary film by Peter Joseph. It asserts a number of conspiracy theory-based ideas, including the Christ myth theory, alternative theories for the parties responsible for the September 11 attacks in 2001 and that bankers manipulate the international monetary...
- United States Federal Income Tax Personal Exemption
- Redemption movementRedemption movementThe redemption movement consists of supporters of an American conspiracy theory. Redemption theory involves claims that when the U.S. government abandoned the gold standard in 1933, the government pledged its citizens as collateral so that the government could borrow money...