why do you think that it's legal, or is not legal, for the federal government to tax your income?

Question

i've seen many posts on this forum lately in reference to an income tax revolt. well, if you will all chip in a lot of money...do you have it?...to pay an attorney to form a class action lawsuit and bring it all the way up to the u.s. supreme court and then argue it even more, you might have a lawsuit, but uncle sam will still tax you as you are fighting against these taxes, you can be certain of that.

because i have seen so many questions about the legality of the federal government taxing you and i, i wish to know which of you think that these taxes are in fact legal and which of you don't think these taxes are legal, and why. in other words, although most of you are not judges and lawyers, if you are informed, how would you back up what you believe? please give sources, as i will give to you now. 

here is a very interesting little (big, really, if you don't believe that the federal government has the legal right to tax your income) article that shows why the 16th amendment was never legally ratified: 

http://www.givemeliberty.org/features/ta...

if you disagree with the premises presented in this article, then please tell me why. 

now then, in my quest for The Truth, i also investigated answers itself to determine what the public felt, and i found this question, only one, that the asker did not bother to choose best answer for, but here goes:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

one of the folks that answered (i myself don't think that the best answer award went to the best answer, i think that the best answer was ignored--it is below the award, which was an answers community vote, too bad) included a link to a discussion about the frivolity of lawsuits entered by individuals that refused to pay federal income tax, which, if you do not believe that the 16th amendment to the constitution of the united states is valid, and if you think that the laws are not ours, but are the government's, is an interesting read:

http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id...

i also wish to add that the above link refers to INDIVIDUALS that brought suit, but not a large group of american citizens who all believe that the 16th amendment was not legally ratified and that therefore, no federal income tax should be levied against us. (which reminds me, i want to state that we ourselves would be able to bring this country out of the depression that seems to be coming, immediately, if the comptrollers and accountants and bookkeepers of your employers did not HAVE TO take federal taxes out of your paycheck, since you'd sure have more buying power, enough, too, to make that mortgage payment if you are facing foreclosure)!!! (and, if those facing foreclosure could make those payments on time, they could get out of foreclosure and then the real estate market would get back to its historical cycle, which is this: 2 years a seller's market, followed by 5 years of a buyer's market, over and over and over again, so that income and savings can then buy those houses that got to be too highly priced in the 2 years of the seller's market... and i KNOW, because for 26 years i have owned quite a reputable real estate company and been licensed in IL, and i am very happy that i refused to participate in those risky loans that put so many people in deep, deep doo-doo as is proved today--i.e., i KNOW better by long experience and ethics that i disagree with taking that almighty commission buck by placing my folks into an impossible situation which they would then blame on me). (and take this as a given: i am published for writing of the real estate industry all about the real estate industry, so know that all of it, from unimproved land up to the sale of improved, built on, pieces, and all of those workers and materials that make it improved represents almost a THIRD of our GDP, so, it is damned important to our economy and it is important that those facing foreclosure pay their mortgages!!!).

so then, i ask you, mr. or ms. john or jane q. public, is uncle sam illegally taking money from your income that you feel you could use wiser, in order to fund ITS programs, and to fund ITS very, very high employment rate, even today, when almost every other employment sector in the united states is telling us that they are laying off even more and more thousands of workers every day? 

and now i will present to you only the first of 12 youtube discussions by red beckman about the law that "never was," that show us how WE make the laws, because this is the united states of america, a republic, not a democracy, and not a fascist or communist state:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grjmnkj7L...

which, if you say that you will revolt against the federal income tax, i ask you to really study up on what red buckman says in ALL 12 of these clips, because, you will need to tell your class action attorney to use these arguments to fight for you, and for me (because i, for one, want to retain more of my income--i really work HAR

Dr. Science · Accepted Answer

If you want to change the tax laws, then change them through political activism instead of trying to headbutt the IRS.

The fundamental legality of the income tax has already gone all the way to the Supreme Court. It is legal. Every argument you have ever read on the internet has been raised in court at some point, and it has failed. Every single one, including Red Beckman's ratification argument:
http://evans-legal.com/dan/tpfaq.html#ratification

The 16th amendment says, very clearly, that income taxes DO NOT need to be apportioned anymore. This is hard to miss. Have you read it lately?

If you challenge the fundamental legality of the income tax in court, by yourself or with a thousand other people, you WILL lose, and the government WILL collect unpaid tax. They can seize your bank deposits, they can garnish your pay, they can put liens on your property. The IRS does not play nice with determined tax evaders. Several people who played the tax-evasion game are now in prison.

Jury nullification is not much help either. The only way to get a tax collection case in front of a jury is to pay the tax, and then sue the government to get it back. You are not allowed to tell the jury to ignore the judge's instructions. Even if they did, it would not change the law for the next case and the next jury. I've done jury duty twice, and the lawyers know how to screen out jurors who might try to nullify the law.

The truth is that you must follow the tax laws. If you don't like them and want to propose changes through the political system, you are free to do so.

PS: Your links don't work. It's not my cache. You copied and pasted your question and lost part of the link.

tonalc2 · Answer

Because Title 26 of the United States Code (the compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal law of the United States) is the Internal Revenue Code.  This is the law that requires us to pay income tax.

Anonymous · Answer

It is legal because the Supreme Court said so.  The challenges to the 16th amendment have been ruled frivolous.  It is settled law.  The crazy tax protesters can keep on arguing and not paying their taxes, but they risk jail and hefty fines for doing so.

eyescrazychris · Answer

Screw their Taxes! What gives them the right to raise Federal withholding every year! Our government robs us blind daily. You don't feel it because you don't see it. You just wonder why your pay check seems a little short this week.

Brown9500v1 · Answer

That is a lot of typing for a moot point. The Constitution is old enough to qualify a Common Law the way it is written.

Anonymous · Answer

As far as I know, there is no law that says you are required to pay Federal Income Tax

jsmack19 · Answer

I don't think one way or another about it, I know for a fact it is the law.

Bubba · Answer

In my opinion, if you are not a member of Congress or one trying for one of Obama's cabinet, good luck if you don't pay your taxes.

Frank · Answer

People who don't want to pay income tax are welcome to move to a poverty-stricken African country, they'd probably love not having to pay income taxes there.

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why do you think that it's legal, or is not legal, for the federal government to tax your income?

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