Legal Question in Tax Law in Indiana

citizen liability for taxes

As a citizen of the United States, self employed, living within the boundaries, and earning all my compensation for services I provide within the boundaries of this country, must I voluntarily surrender information about my earnings? It has come to my attention that the IRS has no legal power to demand any information from me concerning my private records and that they operate on 90% bluff; Is it possible an organization that provides insurance-like protection against illegal acts of the IRS is indeed authentic and correct in their claims that a person (citizen) may not be liable under the current tax codes and constitutional law for income I have described? I know I 've given you more than one question, but I'm a horse shoer, not an English major. Thank you


Asked on 2/22/98, 12:44 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Yes, you are required to "volunteer" that information.

There is no question that tax returns are required under the law for those who earn over the minimum (I think that's $600/year). All the particulars of where you earn the money and what kind of citizen reminds me of the rhetoric I hear from certain modern scam artists running rampant these days: they run cons where they encourage a taxpayer to break the law and eventually they get money for their bad advice. They imply they you don't really have to pay taxes, under many theories. If they were lawyers, they'd go to jail for what they encourage the public to do, but if a person takes legal advice from someone who isn't a lawyer, that person runs the risk of going to jail alone, without the advisor who'd encouraged it.

Steer clear. Dream if you like, but I assure you that taxation, though not popular, is legal and that people DO go to jail for not paying and for not reporting their taxes. To be frank, however, the far more likely and more frequent penalty is that taxpayers pay steep, steep fines and penalties for not reporting, underreporting, filing frivolous returns, or underpaying their taxes.

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Answered on 2/25/98, 6:51 pm
Robert Friend Robert H. Friend, Attorney at Law

No, you don't have to volunteer that information

But the last client I had that didn't want to volunteer certain information to the IRS was in the Federal penitentiary, last I heard. That was some years ago, maybe 20. I don't take clients like that any more. If you don't report "voluntarily" the information required on IRS forms, you may eventually get to join my ex-client. It seems like somebody always is coming up with a "new" scheme to get out of paying income (or other) taxes. This is almost always just an old scheme re-appearing. And they don't work! Now if you can determine how to live a pleasant life behind bars, just go right ahead....

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Answered on 2/26/98, 9:39 am


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