Here at Tax Resolution Professionals, we are dedicated to using legal, above-the-board means to help citizens deal with their government on an even footing. It is true that there are little-known tax laws and policies which can help reduce your tax debt, and these are done using fully vetted legal processes.
However, the current times and culture being what they are, there are a number of false myths and conspiracy theories about the IRS and taxes in general out there. Following advice from bad faith parties can get you into legal jams with the IRS. Here, we’re going to address some of the more common tax myths, to help you stay correctly informed.
Myths and misconceptions about taxes and the IRS can come from just common urban legends, based on a misunderstanding of tax laws. But more often, they come from individuals with an agenda, or cults or political activism groups with an agenda. Most of these have been used at one point or another as unsuccessful defenses by citizens attempting to defraud the government. Spoiler: Government wins all the time.
By no means do we count all members of any group as tax-dodging cultists. But whenever you hear tax advice from somebody affiliated with an obscure political movement, you may want to double-check the facts. Just to point out, you are perfectly within your First Amendment rights to protest tax laws and policies, sign petitions, and otherwise campaign for tax law change. But when you start applying off-beat theories to not paying your own taxes, and you get caught, that’s when you’re in deep water.
Truth: If it were there, we would have proven it by now.
Various arguments against the IRS or taxes, in general, have been put forth based on the US Constitution’s amendments.
Arguments that try to find loopholes in interpreting the US Constitution in such a way as to nullify taxes have all been tried before. It’s one of the most consistently tested areas of government policy. So far, thousands of court cases have been lost by arguing a Constitutional case against taxes.
Truth: As with the Constitution, if there were such a legal paradox, it would have been found by now.
Practically every word of every law pertaining to taxation has been challenged in court. Long story short, none of them hold water. Some of the most common arguments are…
Truth: The US follows clearly defined legal procedures that have already been established for generations in other countries. Governments have every right to tax citizens, no conspiracies required. While it would take a book to cover all of these, briefly they include:
Many of these are based on common, innocent misconceptions. There are varying shades of falsehood and truth to some of them.
Even in the case where you are sure that you owe no taxes, filing is still a good idea anyway. You might be due a refund, or you might be advised to reduce your federal withholding. In the recent case of government stimulus checks, not filing can cause the IRS to miss out on paying money to you! You don’t want that, do you?
Take your tax advice only from professionals, legally entitled individuals, or the government itself.
The IRS publishes a full pamphlet on “The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments,” available at that link in PDF form. It is quite a long list, at some 73 pages in the most current revision (2018).
When in doubt, apply some common sense: If there were anything within government law that could cut off their only income, wouldn’t they just eliminate it in the first place? If there were some legal loophole using twisted logic to get out of taxes, wouldn’t they have found it by now? If it were that easy to get out of paying taxes, why wouldn’t everyone be doing it?
As we say, there’s nothing wrong with protesting tax laws, or seeking to change and improve our system of government. By all means, you should run for office as a politician, if you have any ideas about how to improve things. Goodness knows, politicians get elected on the “lower taxes” platform all the time. But trying to protest the system by cheating your way out of taxes is the wrong way to go about it.
If you think you could benefit from the help of a tax attorney, schedule a consultation with one of our expert tax attorneys here or call us at (888) 515-4829.
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