The list of inevitable things consists of death, taxes and frivolous tax arguments. The IRS has just released its 2011 report on the most popular excuses people use to try and escape the federal tax collector. Certain arguments the IRS considers frivolous may draw a chuckle, however they will also draw a heavy fine.

A caution for would-be tax cheats

The IRS just released a 2011 annual report called the Truth about Frivolous Tax Arguments. The document was 87 pages long. It described many tax evasion scenarios that have been popular. The official legal policies used against these cases were put in the document also with the penalties these individuals had due to the arguments. There are many scam artists that are using arguments spread on the internet refusing to pay taxes for reasons that are religious, moral, philosophical and semantic.

Tax argument is not cheap

frivolous tax arguments listed by the agency consist of cases in which individuals claim not to be a “person” as defined by the IRS. Others have argued the federal income tax is unconstitutional or that paying taxes is voluntary. Military income is exempt for some working class individuals while foreign income is nevertheless taxable. It has been estimated that annually at least 10,000 individuals attempt to evade taxes with a frivolous argument, and the number is growing. There’s a $5,000 IRS penalty to anyone that files a frivolous tax return argument. An IRS penalty up to $25,000 is given to any taxpayers that take this argument to court. The Department of Justice has had over 455 companies and individuals that it filed injunctions against since just 2000.

Those arguing against taxes don’t win in court

Some of probably the most popular frivolous tax arguments, in accordance with the IRS, include the claim that paying taxes is against one’s religion, that paying taxes violates the Fifth Amendment and that taxes are considered servitude, which violates the 13th Amendment. ”Paying taxes is against my religion” is one courts just rule against. You will need to look at the Fifth Amendment. It claims an individual will not be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” But the law gives the government authority to collect taxes from United States citizens. Then there is the 13th Amendment argument that paying taxes is servitude. Courts reject this also.

Citations

Main Street

mainstreet.com/article/moneyinvesting/taxes/tax-excuses-irs-won-t-buy?page=2

Portfolio.com

portfolio.com/views/blogs/resources/2011/03/21/irs-warns-taxpayers-about-excuses-for-not-paying-that-won

Christian Science Monitor

csmonitor.com/Business/2010/0415/Tax-Day-101-42-excuses-you-can-t-use-to-avoid-filing-IRS-forms