User:Famspear

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Userboxes

This user is a citizen of the United States of America.

This user lives in Texas.

dad

This user is a father.

CPA

This user has a CPA designation.

BS	This user has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.

This user is a lawyer.

This user has a law degree.

JD	This user has a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree.

This user is a member of the Taxation WikiProject.

15,000+

This user has made over 15,000 contributions to Wikipedia.

INTP

This user has an INTP personality
per the Myers-Briggs typing system

This user loves The Beatles.

This user enjoys film.

This user loves documentaries.

This user is interested in military aircraft and their history.

This user remembers using
a rotary dial telephone.

This user is old enough to remember what a typewriter is, and that's all you need to know.

I am an American in Texas. I have worked in the following areas: practice of law; practice as a certified public accountant (including but not limited to bank auditing); broadcast news reporter; talk show host; a gardener; a stock boy in a warehouse; and a clerk in a convenience store (among other things, and not necessarily in that order). In the real world, among other things, I currently represent taxpayers in their dealings with the Internal Revenue Service.

1 Cool things I have seen
2 Barnstars
3 Cluestick for Famspear!
4 Veteran Editor (or Tutnum)
5 Barnstar from Legis
6 Wikipedia official policies, guidelines, etc.
7 Wikipedia related concepts
8 Essay on bias and neutral POV, from an article talk page
- 8.1 Other
9 Tax stuff
10 A short essay on the Cheek doctrine
- 10.1 The Willie case
11 Edit counter

[edit] Cool things I have seen

Some of the most impressive things I have ever seen include: the birth of my son, the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée du Louvre, L'Arc de Triomphe, la Tour Eiffel and la Gare Montparnasse in Paris, the Palace of Versailles near Paris, the London Underground, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Liverpool Street Station, Paddington Station, and Abbey Road Studios (just the outside of the building) in London, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, the United States Capitol, the White House, the court house of the Supreme Court of the United States, Arlington National Cemetery, the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Golden Gate Bridge, Mount St. Helens, the cockpit of a Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighter plane, the Bavarian Alps, Yosemite National Park in California, and Willie Mays hitting a home run at the Astrodome in Houston when I was a boy.

[edit] Barnstars

		The Original Barnstar
		I Morphh award Famspear this Barnstar for the large efforts and contributions to income taxation articles. Many Thanks!

Danke schön! Yours, Famspear 20:12, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

		The Barnstar of Diligence
		This is for all of the hard work, effort, and research you have put into Ed and Elaine Brown article. Sidatio 22:05, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cluestick for Famspear!

As a show of WikiLove for all the times you had to deal with outrageously stupid and uncivil tax protesters and their frivolous arguments, I, Eastlaw, award you the Cluestick.

You, my friend, are an inspriation to law students and aspiring attorneys such as myself, especially when I encounter so many similar arguments on Internet discussion boards. You rock. --Eastlaw 01:26, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Additional note: Wikipedia had a server error and logged me out as I posted this, so if the edit history of your talk page looks weird, now you know why. :) --Eastlaw 01:30, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

Dear Eastlaw: Wow, seriously you made my day! Thanks! Yours, Famspear 02:05, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Veteran Editor (or Tutnum)

This editor is a Veteran Editor, and is entitled to display this Iron Editor Star

{{subst:SA-veteran}}

This editor is a Tutnum, and is entitled to display this Book of Knowledge

{{subst:SA-tutnum}}

Ribbon equivalent

Requirements:

8,000 edits and
2 years' service

Great work! Morphh ^(talk) 13:49, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Wow, thanks! Famspear 14:11, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Barnstar from Legis

		The Working Man's Barnstar
		I seem to constantly come across your hard work and diligence in editing articles; I wish we had many more professional editors like you keeping the less glamorous articles accurate and tidy. --Legis (talk - contribs) 00:29, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! Wait a minute, I edit primarily in legal articles, especially tax law articles. Isn't tax law the most glamorous topic in all of Wikipedia?

Oh, wait. Maybe I need to get out more! Yours, Famspear 00:53, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia official policies, guidelines, etc.

WP:Five pillars

WP:POL (official policy)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_policies (list of policies)

[edit] NPOV

"Neutral Point of View": WP:Neutral point of view (official policy)

WP:Neutral_point of view/FAQ (official policy)

WP:NPOV dispute (maintenance process, including the rule prohibiting drive-by tagging)

[edit] Verifiability

"Verifiability": WP:Verifiability (official policy)

[edit] No Original Research

"No Original Research": WP:No original research (official policy)

WP:No original research#Primary.2C secondary.2C and tertiary sources (primary, secondary and tertiary sources)

WP:Attribution (summary of Verifiability and No Original Research)

[edit] Behavior

WP:Consensus (official policy)

WP:ATT/FAQ (proposed policy, guideline or process)

WP:Civility (official policy)

WP:Assume good faith (official policy)

WP:No Personal Attacks (official policy)

WP:OWN Ownership of articles

WP:NLT (no legal threats)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Don%27t_overlook_legal_threats (essay)

WP:Dispute resolution (official policy)

WP:Etiquette (behavioral guideline)

WP:What Wikipedia is not (official policy)

WP:Spam (guideline)

WP:Fringe theories (content guideline)

WP:Talk page guidelines (guideline)

WP:Reverting (help page)

WP:Three-revert rule (official policy)

WP:Edit war (editing guideline)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Uw-3rr (warning template)

{{subst:uw-3rr|Article}} (warning template)

WP:Administrators' noticeboard/3RR (to report edit war)

WP:Vandalism (official policy)

WP:Disruptive editing (behavioral guideline)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SPA

WP:Sock

WP:TE (essay on tendentious editing)

WP:Conflict_of_interest (behavioral guideline)

WP:External links (guideline)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/User_conduct

[edit] More on Verifiability

WP:Reliable sources (guideline)

WP:Reliable sources#Using online and self-published sources (guideline)

WP:Citing sources (style guide)

WP:Citing sources/example style (example)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebook (Harvard Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALWD_Citation_Manual (ALWD Citation Manual)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_citation (Case citation)

[edit] Manual of style

WP:MOS (guideline)

WP:MOSBIO (guideline)

[edit] Glossary

WP:Glossary

[edit] Wikipedia related concepts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Deletion_process (guideline: description of the actual deletion process)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Introduction_to_deletion_process (essay)

[edit] Neutral point of view does not mean that the source cannot be biased

From the rule on Neutral Point of View:

As the name suggests, the neutral point of view is a point of view, not the absence or elimination of viewpoints. The neutral point of view policy is often misunderstood. The acronym NPOV does not mean "no points of view". The elimination of article content cannot be justified under this policy by simply labeling it "POV". The neutral point of view is a point of view that is neutral, that is neither sympathetic nor in opposition to its subject. Debates within topics are described, represented and characterized, but not engaged in. Background is provided on who believes what and why, and which view is more popular. Detailed articles might also contain the mutual evaluations of each viewpoint, but studiously refrain from asserting which is better. One can think of unbiased writing as the fair, analytical description of all relevant sides of a debate, including the mutual perspectives and the published evidence. When editorial bias toward one particular point of view can be detected, the article needs to be fixed.

See: [1] (copied on 4 January 2008; bolding added).

If, for example, a liberal think tank supports a particular position about whether the Alternative Minimum Tax is good or bad, it is OK to document that in Wikipedia with an adequate description that it is the liberal think tank that is taking that position. You cannot delete "points of view" in Wikipedia merely because they are liberal, conservative, leftist, rightist, etc. Neutral point of view does not mean the absence of bias in the SOURCE MATERIAL. In essence, it is OK for the source material to be biased, and it is OK for the source itself to be biased, as odd as that may sound. Neutral point of view means that Wikipedia itself does not take a position that this source's viewpoint is correct, or that some other source's viewpoint is incorrect.

[edit] Bias of a particular source compared to neutral point of view of the article

"Bias" generally does relate to the Wikipedia policy on Neutral Point of View [ . . . ]. Bias of a particular source is not the same as neutral point of view (or lack of same) of the article as a whole. Although it may seem odd to a newcomer at first, there is no "neutral point of view" requirement in Wikipedia that sources used in Wikipedia be unbiased. If you think about it after a while, you may realize why this is so.

Here is the rule:

As the name suggests, the neutral point of view is a point of view, not the absence or elimination of viewpoints. The neutral point of view policy is often misunderstood. The acronym NPOV does not mean "no points of view". The elimination of article content cannot be justified under this policy by simply labeling it "POV". The neutral point of view is neither sympathetic nor in opposition to its subject: it neither endorses nor discourages viewpoints. Debates within topics are clearly described, represented and characterized, but not engaged in. Background is provided on who believes what and why, and which view is more popular. Detailed articles might also contain the mutual evaluations of each viewpoint, but must studiously refrain from asserting which is better.

-- from WP:NPOV (bolding added).

You cannot present opposing viewpoints in an article without those viewpoints being biased. By definition, the viewpoints must be biased in order for those viewpoints to be opposed to each other. "Neutral point of view" means the neutrality of the article as a whole -- not the absence of points of view (biased or unbiased) within the article.

It is not Wikipedia itself that is saying the words in the quotation. It is the source that is making the statement. And it is OK to show that quotation (or an accurate paraphrase of that statement) in the Wikipedia article, even if the statement is biased and even if the source making that statement is biased.

What would be impermissible, however, would be for Wikipedia to then say "Oh, by the way, this source is correct" or "that source is wrong".

Neutral point of view is a complicated concept in Wikipedia, and we would agree that there are certainly some ways that an article might fail the NPOV standard, even without the article expressly saying "this source is right" or "that source is wrong." Deleting an accurate, in-context quotation from a reliable, previously published third party source merely because that quotation is biased, however, is generally not appropriate -- for the simple reason that the mere use of a "biased quotation" does not, in and of itself, violate the NPOV rule.

from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Sovereign_Citizen_Movement

(by Famspear, on 18 April 2008).

[edit] Undue weight

Regarding undue weight:

NPOV says that the article should fairly represent all significant viewpoints that have been published by a verifiable source, and should do so in proportion to the prominence of each. Now an important qualification: Articles that compare views need not give minority views as much or as detailed a description as more popular views, and may not include tiny-minority views at all. For example, the article on the Earth only very briefly refers to the Flat Earth theory, a view of a distinct minority.

We should not attempt to represent a dispute as if a view held by a small minority deserved as much attention as a majority view, and views that are held by a tiny minority should not be represented except in articles devoted to those views. To give undue weight to a significant-minority view, or to include a tiny-minority view, might be misleading as to the shape of the dispute. Wikipedia aims to present competing views in proportion to their representation among experts on the subject, or among the concerned parties. This applies not only to article text, but to images, external links, categories, and all other material as well.

Undue weight applies to more than just viewpoints. Just as giving undue weight to a viewpoint is not neutral, so is giving undue weight to other verifiable and sourced statements. An article should not give undue weight to any aspects of the subject, but should strive to treat each aspect with a weight appropriate to its significance to the subject. Note that undue weight can be given in several ways, including, but not limited to, depth of detail, quantity of text, prominence of placement, and juxtaposition of statements.

Minority views can receive attention on pages specifically devoted to them — Wikipedia is not paper. But on such pages, though a view may be spelled out in great detail, it must make appropriate reference to the majority viewpoint, and must not reflect an attempt to rewrite majority-view content strictly from the perspective of the minority view.

From Jimbo Wales, paraphrased from this post from September 2003 on the mailing list:

If a viewpoint is in the majority, then it should be easy to substantiate it with reference to commonly accepted reference texts;
If a viewpoint is held by a significant minority, then it should be easy to name prominent adherents;
If a viewpoint is held by an extremely small (or vastly limited) minority, it does not belong in Wikipedia (except perhaps in some ancillary article) regardless of whether it is true or not; and regardless of whether you can prove it or not.

Views held only by a tiny minority of people should not be represented as significant minority views, and perhaps should not be represented at all.

If you are able to prove something that no one or few currently believe, Wikipedia is not the place to premiere such a proof. Once a proof has been presented and discussed elsewhere, however, it may be referenced.

Copied from [2] on 30 March 2007 (US central daylight time)

[edit] NPOV and notability

From the discussion of NPOV:

Notability is especially important because while NPOV encourages editors to add alternate and multiple points of view to an article, it does not claim that all views are equal. Although NPOV does not claim that some views are more truthful than others, it does acknowledge that some views are held by more people than others. Accurately representing a view therefore also means explaining who holds the view and whether it is a majority or minority view.

Soon it became evident that editors who rejected a majority view would often marshall sources to argue that a minority view was superior to a majority view - or would even add sources in order to promote the editor's own view. Therefore, the NOR policy was established in 2003 to address problematic uses of sources. The original motivation for NOR was to prevent editors from introducing fringe views in science, especially physics - or from excluding verifiable views that, in the judgement of editors, were wrong. [ . . ]

[edit] Minority views

" [ . . . ] the Wikipedia neutrality policy certainly does not state, or imply, that we must "give equal validity" to minority views. It does state that we must not take a stand on them as encyclopedia writers; but that does not stop us from describing the majority views as such; from fairly explaining the strong arguments against the pseudoscientific theory; from describing the strong moral repugnance that many people feel toward some morally repugnant views; and so forth." Copied from [3] on 30 March 2007 (US Central daylight time)

On "fairness of tone":

If we are going to characterize disputes neutrally, we should present competing views with a consistently fair and sensitive tone. Many articles end up as partisan commentary even while presenting both points of view. Even when a topic is presented in terms of facts rather than opinion, an article can still radiate an implied stance through either selection of which facts to present, or more subtly their organization.

We should write articles with the tone that all positions presented are at least worthy of unbiased representation, bearing in mind that views which are in the extreme minority do not belong in Wikipedia at all. We should present all significant, competing views impartially.

(bolding added). From [4], on 7 February 2008.

[edit] A bit about fringe theories

Articles which cover hypotheses in detail should document (with reliable sources) the current level of acceptance among the relevant academic community of the hypothesis. If proper attribution cannot be found among reliable sources of a hypothesis's standing, it should be assumed that the hypothesis has not received consideration or acceptance. However, a lack of consideration or acceptance does not necessarily imply rejection; hypotheses should not be portrayed as rejected [ . . . ] unless such claims can be documented in reliable sources.

Hypotheses which have been rejected, which are widely considered to be absurd [ . . . ] should be documented as such. Copied from [5] on 8 January 2007.

[edit] Reliability and self-published materials

“Anyone can create a website or pay to have a book published, and then claim to be an expert in a certain field. For that reason, self-published books, personal websites, and blogs are largely not acceptable as sources.

“Exceptions may be when a well-known, professional researcher in a relevant field, or a well-known professional journalist has produced self-published material. In some cases, these may be acceptable as sources, so long as their work has been previously published by reliable third-party publications. However, exercise caution: if the information in question is really worth reporting, someone else is likely to have done so.” Copied from [6] on 3 October 2006

"A self-published source is a published source that has not been subject to any form of independent fact-checking, or where no one stands between the writer and the act of publication. It includes personal websites, and books published by vanity presses. Anyone can create a website or pay to have a book published, and then claim to be an expert in a certain field. For that reason, self-published books, personal websites, and blogs are largely not acceptable as sources." Copied from [7] on 5 October 2006.

[edit] On false authority

“Look out for false claims of authority. Advanced degrees give authority in the topic of the degree. Web sites that have numerous footnotes may be entirely unreliable. The first question to ask yourself is, "What are the credentials and expertise of the people taking responsibility for a website?" Anyone can post anything on the web.

“Use sources who have postgraduate degrees or demonstrable published expertise in the field they are discussing. The more reputable ones are affiliated with academic institutions. The most reputable have written textbooks in their field: these authors can be expected to have a broad, authoritative grasp of their subject. In general, higher education textbooks are frequently revised and try to be authoritative. Textbooks aimed at secondary-school students, however, do not try to be authoritative and are subject to political approval.” Copied from [8] on 3 October 2006.

[edit] Exceptional claims require exceptional evidence

"Certain red flags should prompt editors to closely and skeptically examine the sources for a given claim. [ . . . . ] Claims not supported[,] or claims that are contradicted by the prevailing view in the relevant academic community. Be particularly careful when proponents say there is a conspiracy to silence them." Copied from [9] on 5 October 2006.

[edit] How to determine whether a view is established

The inclusion of a view that is held only by a tiny minority may constitute original research because there may be a lack of sufficiently credible, third-party, published sources to back it up.

From a mailing list post by Jimbo Wales, Wikipedia's founder:

If a viewpoint is in the majority, then it should be easy to substantiate it with reference to commonly accepted reference texts;
If a viewpoint is held by a significant minority, then it should be easy to name prominent adherents;
If a viewpoint is held by an extremely small (or vastly limited) minority, it doesn't belong in Wikipedia (except perhaps in some ancillary article) regardless of whether it's true or not; and regardless of whether you can prove it or not. Copied from [10] on 9 October 2006.

[edit] Wikipedia is not a publisher of original thought

Wikipedia is not a place to publish your own thoughts and analyses or to publish new information not heretofore published. Please do not use Wikipedia for [ . . . ]:

Personal essays or Blogs that state your particular opinions about a topic. Wikipedia is supposed to compile human knowledge. It is not a vehicle to make personal opinions become part of human knowledge. In the unusual situation where the opinions of a single individual are important enough to discuss, it is preferable to let other people write about them. Personal essays on topics relating to Wikipedia are welcome in your user namespace or on the Meta-wiki. There is a Wikipedia fork at Wikinfo that encourages personal opinions in articles.

Copied from [11] on 6 December 2006.

[edit] Kinds of sources

Although most articles should rely predominantly on secondary sources, there are rare occasions when they may rely entirely on primary sources (for example, current events or legal cases). An article or section of an article that relies on a primary source should (1) only make descriptive claims, the accuracy of which is easily verifiable by any reasonable, educated person without specialist knowledge, and (2) make no analytic, synthetic, interpretive, explanatory, or evaluative claims. Contributors drawing on entirely primary sources should be careful to comply with both conditions.

Copied from [12] on 22 March 2007.

[edit] Drive-by tagging

Drive-by tagging is not permitted. The editor who adds the tag must address the issues on the talk page, pointing to specific issues that are actionable within the content policies, namely Wikipedia:Neutral point of view, Wikipedia:Verifiability, Wikipedia:No original research and Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons. Simply being of the opinion that a page is not neutral is not sufficient to justify the addition of the tag. Tags should be added as a last resort. Copied from [13] on 15 August 2007.

For an example of drive-by tagging by an anonymous editor -- who, without actually making a substantive change in the applicable article and without discussing in the related talk page, inserted the hurried comment "don't have time to nitpick everything in the article, the general message is biased against the film, this needs to be neturalised [sic]" -- see [14]

[edit] Expertise

"Points of view held as having little credibility by experts, but with wide popular appeal (e.g.: the belief in astrology, considered as irrational and incorrect by the vast majority of scientists and astronomers), should be reported, but as such: that is, we should expose the point of view and its popular appeal, but also the opinion held by the vast majority of experts." Copied from [15] on 30 March 2007 (US central daylight time).

[edit] Vandalism: persistent insertions of non-neutral point of view material after having been warned

NPOV violations: The neutral point of view is a difficult policy for many of us to understand, and even Wikipedia veterans occasionally accidentally introduce material which is non-ideal from an NPOV perspective. Indeed, we are all affected by our beliefs to a greater or lesser extent. Though inappropriate, this is not vandalism in itself unless persisted in after being warned.

Copied from [16] on 15 February 2007 (bolding added).

[edit] Links normally to be avoided

"In addition to the restrictions on linking, and except for a link to a page that is the subject of the article or is an official page of the subject of the article, one should avoid:

[ . . . ]

Any site that misleads the reader by use of factually inaccurate material or unverifiable research. See Reliable sources.
Links mainly intended to promote a website.
Links to sites that primarily exist to sell products or services. For example, instead of linking to a commercial bookstore site, use the "ISBN" linking format, giving readers an opportunity to search a wide variety of free and non-free book sources.

[ . . . ]

Links to blogs and personal web pages, except those written by a recognized authority.

[ . . . ]"

Copied on 12 December 2006 from[17]

[edit] Deletion of one spam link is not an endorsement of those that remain

To quote from a guideline:

Inclusion of one spam link is not a reason to include another

Many times users can be confused by the removal of spam links because other links that could be construed as spam have been added to the article and not yet removed. The inclusion of a spam link should not be construed as an endorsement of the spam link, nor should it be taken as a reason or excuse to include another.

See [18] and [19]

[edit] Systemic bias

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:BIAS (countering systemic bias)

[edit] Essay on bias and neutral POV, from an article talk page

A new user deleted a quotation from the Anti-Defamation League, objecting to the verbiage because the verbiage is biased. I reinstated the verbiage.

"Bias" generally does relate to the Wikipedia policy on Neutral Point of View -- but not in the way that the new user may have thought. Bias of a particular source is not the same as neutral point of view (or lack of same) of the article as a whole. Although it may seem odd to a newcomer at first, there is no "neutral point of view" requirement in Wikipedia that sources used in Wikipedia be unbiased. If you think about it after a while, you may realize why this is so.

Here is the rule:

As the name suggests, the neutral point of view is a point of view, not the absence or elimination of viewpoints. The neutral point of view policy is often misunderstood. The acronym NPOV does not mean "no points of view". The elimination of article content cannot be justified under this policy by simply labeling it "POV". The neutral point of view is neither sympathetic nor in opposition to its subject: it neither endorses nor discourages viewpoints. Debates within topics are clearly described, represented and characterized, but not engaged in. Background is provided on who believes what and why, and which view is more popular. Detailed articles might also contain the mutual evaluations of each viewpoint, but must studiously refrain from asserting which is better.

-- from WP:NPOV (bolding added).

You cannot present opposing viewpoints in an article without those viewpoints being biased. By definition, the viewpoints must be biased in order for those viewpoints to be opposed to each other. "Neutral point of view" means the neutrality of the article as a whole -- not the absence of points of view (biased or unbiased) within the article.

It is not Wikipedia itself that is saying the words in the quotation. It is the source that is making the statement. And it is OK to show that quotation (or an accurate paraphrase of that statement) in the Wikipedia article, even if the statement is biased and even if the source making that statement is biased.

What would be impermissible, however, would be for Wikipedia to then say "Oh, by the way, this source is correct" or "that source is wrong".

Neutral point of view is a complicated concept in Wikipedia, and we would agree that there are certainly some ways that an article might fail the NPOV standard, even without the article expressly saying "this source is right" or "that source is wrong." Deleting an accurate, in-context quotation from a reliable, previously published third party source merely because that quotation is biased, however, is generally not appropriate -- for the simple reason that the mere use of a "biased quotation" does not, in and of itself, violate the NPOV rule.

--by Famspear, from talk page for Sovereign Citizen Movement

[edit] Other

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:How_to_archive_a_talk_page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Single_purpose_account (essay)

A guideline:

"Wikipedia articles are supposed to represent all views (more at NPOV), instead of supporting one over another, even if you believe something strongly. The Talk ("discussion") pages are not a place to debate value judgments about which of those views are right or wrong or better. If you want to do that, there are venues such as Usenet, public weblogs and other wikis. Use the Talk pages to discuss the accuracy/inaccuracy, POV bias, or other problems in the article, not as a soapbox for advocacy." Copied from [20] on 20 October 2006.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment#Request_comment_on_users (information on requests for comments on users)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Law_citation_templates

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:TX_Govt_Code

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_administrator_attention

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_Adminship

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_reading_list

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_how-to_guide

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Guide_to_requests_for_adminship

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:SOUP (essay)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:Userbox

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Userbox_Maker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Userboxes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:AfD_debates

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:ListUsers/sysop&limit=1500

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Rollback_feature

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Rollback_policy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:User_access_levels

[edit] Tax stuff

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Taxation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:United_States_government_navigational_boxes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:UStaxation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:US_tax_acts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:WikiProject_Taxation_articles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:United_States_federal_taxation_legislation

Talk:Income tax/Removed text (link to an old talk page on income tax)

Talk:Tax protester/Request for comment (23 January - 9 February 2008)

Talk:Tax protester/Request for comment - examples

User:BD2412/Tax protesters - the role of courts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Version_1.0_Editorial_Team/Taxation_articles_by_quality_log

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2008_December_10#Category:American_tax_evaders

[edit] Some articles of frequent interest to tax protesters

Tax protester (United States)

Tax protester arguments

Tax protester constitutional arguments

Tax protester Sixteenth Amendment arguments

Tax protester statutory arguments

Tax protester conspiracy arguments

Tax protester history

Tax protester 861 argument

Internal Revenue Code section 861

Frivolous litigation

Tax

Taxation in the United States

Income tax

Income tax in the United States

United States Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Code

Internal Revenue Code of 1986

Revenue Act of 1861

Revenue Act of 1862

Internal Revenue Service

Commissioner of Internal Revenue

IRS Criminal Investigation Division

United States Department of Justice Tax Division

Direct tax

Indirect tax

Excise

Excise tax in the United States

Tax avoidance and tax evasion

Taxing and spending clause

Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.

Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad

Springer v. United States

Flint v. Stone Tracy Co.

Cheek v. United States

Murphy v. IRS

The Law that Never Was (William J. Benson)

Joseph Banister

Wayne Bentson

Edward and Elaine Brown

Robert L. Schulz and We the People Foundation

Richard Michael Simkanin

Somewhat tangential: Martin Mahoney

[edit] Just words

From Proverbs:

"It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out." -- Proverbs 25:2 (Rev. Stand. Vers.)

From the Gospel of Matthew:

"And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" Jesus answered them, "I also will ask you a question; and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men?" And they argued with one another, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men,' we are afraid of the multitude; for all hold that John was a prophet." So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things." "

--Matthew 21:23-27 (Rev. Stand. Vers.)

"In every utterance a speaker or writer unknowingly tells us a great deal about himself of which he is entirely unaware."

--Walter C. Langer, The Mind of Adolf Hitler: The Secret Wartime Report, p. 147 (Basic Books Inc. 1972).

From Black's Law Dictionary:

Case law. "The aggregate of reported cases as forming a body of jurisprudence, or the law of a particular subject as evidenced or formed by the adjudged cases, in distinction to statutes and other sources of law. See Common law." Black's Law Dictionary, p. 196 (5th ed. 1979).

Common law. "[ . . . ] the common law comprises the body of those principles and rules of action [ . . . ] which derive their authority solely from usages and customs of immemorial antiquity, or from the judgments and decrees of the courts [ . . . ] and, in this sense, particularly the ancient unwritten law of England." Black's Law Dictionary, p. 250-251 (5th ed. 1979).

"'Common law' consists of those principles [ . . . ] which do not rest for their authority upon any express and positive declaration of the will of the legislature." Black's Law Dictionary, p. 251 (5th ed. 1979).

In the United States, which uses a common law system in its federal courts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has stated:

Stare decisis is the policy of the court to stand by precedent; the term is but an abbreviation of stare decisis et quieta non movere — "to stand by and adhere to decisions and not disturb what is settled." Consider the word "decisis." The word means, literally and legally, the decision. Nor is the doctrine stare dictis; it is not "to stand by or keep to what was said." Nor is the doctrine stare rationibus decidendi — "to keep to the rationes decidendi of past cases." Rather, under the doctrine of stare decisis a case is important only for what it decides — for the "what," not for the "why," and not for the "how." Insofar as precedent is concerned, stare decisis is important only for the decision, for the detailed legal consequence following a detailed set of facts.

--United States Internal Revenue Serv. v. Osborne (In re Osborne), 76 F.3d 306, 96-1 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) paragr. 50,185 (9th Cir. 1996).

Legal commentator Daniel B. Evans has stated:

I am often asked, “Why do you always assume that the courts are right and the tax protesters are wrong?” Or, “Couldn’t the courts be wrong about what the Constitution means?” Those questions demonstrate that the questioner doesn’t really understand what is meant by “law” or the “rule of law.”

Law is not some kind of abstraction that floats in the air, free from any connection to people or events. “The law” is what legislatures, courts, and governments do, and the real test of what the law “is” shows in how the law is applied in actual cases.

So when lawyers talk about what “the law” is, they are talking about how a judge will rule. Not how the judge should rule, or might rule, but will rule. As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once explained, “the only definition of law for a lawyer’s purposes is something which the Court will enforce.” Letter to Sir Frederick Pollock, 7/3/1874. Or, more famously: “The prophecies of what the courts will do in fact and nothing more pretentious are what I mean by the law.” The Paths of the Law (1897).

[ . . . ]when the courts, the legislatures, and the voters all agree on what the law is, then that is what the law is. The fact that some people believe that the law should be different that what courts have said it is doesn’t mean that the law is different from what the courts have said, but only that they should argue their positions within the political system and attempt to change the results.

In the case of the income tax, there is no conflict. The judicial, executive, and legislative branches of our government, and a majority of the voters, have all agreed for more than 90 years that (1) an income tax is constitutional, (2) it applies to wages, and (3) every citizen and resident of every state is required to file a tax return and pay the tax [ . . . ]

--Daniel B. Evans, The Tax Protester FAQ, retrieved on 5 Sept. 2007 from [21]

Daniel B. Evans has also stated:

Most tax protesters really don't understand what goes on in courts, or court opinions. They don't understand "due process" or "jurisdiction" or "burden of proof." To them, what goes on in court is just moving words around. It's incomprehensible and nonsensical to them, which makes it the same as magic.

Their response is to try to rearrange the words to find the right incantation, the right spell, to allow them to win. What they write is meaningless gibberish to us because what we write is meaningless gibberish to them. They respond in an imitative but nonsensical way because superficial manipulations of words is all that they can understand.

And when I say they can't understand, I'm not necessarily commenting on their intelligence, because it's really a combination of ignorance and emotional blockage. They don't really want to understand anything that means they're wrong, so they don't really try to understand.

Daniel B. Evans, June 19, 2009.

The United States Supreme Court has noted, regarding every man's evidence:

Dean Wigmore stated the proposition thus: "For more than three centuries it has now been recognized as a fundamental maxim that the public (in the words sanctioned by Lord Hardwicke) has a right to every man's evidence. When we come to examine the various claims of exemption, we start with the primary assumption that there is a general duty to give what testimony one is capable of giving [ . . . ]"

--United States v. Bryan, 339 U.S. 323, 331 (1950), citing Wigmore, Evidence (3d ed.) 2192.

Black's Law Dictionary states:

Employee: "A person in the service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, where the employer has the power or right to control and direct the employee in the material details of how the work is to be performed." Black's Law Dictionary, page 471 (5th ed. 1979).

More quotes:

"Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree." --Senator Russell B. Long

"If Patrick Henry thought that taxation without representation was bad, he should see how bad it is with representation." --Farmer's Almanac, 1966.

"Le protestataire d'impôts et l'homme qui suit: L'aveugle conduit l'aveugle, et le deux tombe dans une fosse." -- Famspear, July 16, 2007.

From Famspear:

1. The question of whether a particular income tax is direct or indirect is legally irrelevant to the question of whether the Congress has the power, under the U.S. Constitution as amended by the Sixteenth Amendment, to impose that tax. Congress has the power to impose any income tax, regardless of whether that tax is deemed direct or indirect.

2. The question of whether a particular income tax is direct or indirect is also legally irrelevant to the issue of whether that tax must be apportioned. After the Sixteenth Amendment, no income tax of any kind whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, is required to be apportioned.

3. Under the Constitution as amended, the only important legal relevancy to the question of whether a particular income tax is Constitutionally valid (aside from rules such as the one prohibiting taxes on exports, or rules that revenue measures must originate in the House, etc.) is probably whether that income tax is imposed with what the law refers to as geographical uniformity. That is, an income tax cannot be imposed on, say, just the incomes of people who happen to reside in New York and Montana.

--from a Famspear commentary at the talk page for the article on the Sixteenth Amendment (18 March 2007).

What does it mean to "conspire"? To conspire means "to join in a secret agreement to do an unlawful or wrongful act or to use such means to accomplish a lawful end." Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, p. 243 (G. & C. Merriam Company, 8th ed. 1976).

From a talk page for a Wikipedia article:

Dear editor [xxxx]: Well, if Einstein's theory of relativity is a correct statement of how the laws of physics work, then it is "true" for that reason -- and not because Einstein and 99% of all present-day scientists contend it's true, or believe it's true, or say it's true.

Secular law (made made law) of the USA is a bit different. Under the rules of the U.S. legal system, the law literally is what courts rule that it is in an actual case or controversy. Some of the key concepts are Stare decisis and Ratio decidendi. Further, under our legal system, it is emphatically the province and duty of the courts to say what the law is, to paraphrase a famous Supreme Court case. To study the ontology of U.S. law, to understand what law really is, you study statutes, regs, treaties, and other sources as well -- but it's primarily a study of court decisions. Court decisions are where the rubber meets the road under our legal system.

I believe these articles do represent what the tax protesters' points of views are, and the courts' "views" as well. Further, the articles strive for neutral point of view, as they do not say "the courts are right" or "the protesters are right." There is a difference between saying "the court ruled in this case that the income tax was not unconstitutional, and this ruling contradicts the tax protester argument" (which is both verifiable and neutral) and saying "the court ruling in this case is correct." There is a nuance here. I don't think the articles say that "the courts are correct" (even though, by definition, the courts are correct).

The court's Ratio decidendi in any particular case must be determined using certain rules of legal analysis. The holding or holdings of each case can be broadly or narrowly stated, but under the rules of legal analysis there is simply no room for the tax protester argument (for example) that Merchants' Loan somehow stands for the legally frivolous idea that non-corporate income is not taxable as "income," as the Court in that case ruled that the income of a decedent's estate -- which is an example of non-corporate income -- IS taxable as income.

Any article on tax protester arguments that follows the Wikipedia rules (verifiability, neutral point of view, and no original research) will by definition leave most normally intelligent people with the correct impression that the tax protesters are incorrect -- because that is the actual state of the law. Tax protester arguments are a legal equivalent to the argument that the moon is made of green cheese. Wikipedia would do its readers a disservice if Wikipedia were to strain to try to provide equal weight to the tax protester argument. Indeed, by including tax protester arguments in Wikipedia, I would argue we are actually giving undue weight to them. Imagine Encyclopedia Brittanica giving substantial article space to the argument that the moon is made of green cheese -- comparing and contrasting scientific theories about the moon with the green cheese argument. Here you will have a good idea of the situation.

--from [22] by Famspear, on 27 October 2006.

Here is a quote from researchers Justin Kruger and David Dunning:

...when people are incompetent in the strategies they adopt to achieve success and satisfaction, they suffer a dual burden: Not only do they reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realize it. Instead . . . they are left with the mistaken impression that they are doing just fine.

Justin Kruger & David Dunning, “Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1999, Vol. 77, No. 6, p. 1121. See Dunning-Kruger effect.

And another:

...the skills that engender competence in a particular domain are often the very same skills necessary to evaluate competence in that domain – one’s own or anyone else’s. Because of this, incompetent individuals lack what cognitive psychologists variously term metacognition [citation omitted], metamemory, [cit. omitted] metacomprehension [cit. omitted] or self monitoring skills [cit. omitted]. These terms refer to the ability to know how well one is performing, when one is likely to be accurate in judgment, and when one is likely to be in error.

Justin Kruger & David Dunning, “Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1999, Vol. 77, No. 6, p. 1121.

From the United States Tax Court:

In recent times, this Court has been faced with numerous cases, such as this one, which have been commenced without any legal justification but solely for the purpose of protesting the Federal tax laws. This Court has before it a large number of cases which deserve careful consideration as speedily as possible, and cases of this sort needlessly disrupt our consideration of those genuine controversies. Moreover, by filing cases of this type, the protesters add to the caseload of the Court, which has reached a record size, and such cases increase the expenses of conducting this Court and the operations of the IRS, which expenses must eventually be borne by all of us.

Many citizens may dislike paying their fair share of taxes; everyone feels that he or she needs the money more than the Government. On the other hand, as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes so eloquently stated: "Taxes are what we pay for civilized society." Compania de Tabacos v. Collector, 275 U.S. 87, 100 (1927). The greatness of our nation is in no small part due to the willingness of our citizens to honestly and fairly participate in our tax collection system which depends upon self-assessment. Any citizen may resort to the courts whenever he or she in good faith and with a colorable claim desires to challenge the Commissioner's determination; but that does not mean that a citizen may resort to the courts merely to vent his or her anger and attempt symbolically to throw a wrench at the system. Access to the courts depends upon a real and actual wrong--not an imagined wrong--which is susceptible of judicial resolution. General grievances against the policies of the Government, or against the tax system as a whole, are not the types of controversies to be resolved in the courts; Congress is the appropriate body to which such matters should be referred.

--Hatfield v. Commissioner, 68 T.C. 895, CCH Dec. 34,628 (1977).

[edit] Material on the term "frivolous" and related terms

"Frivolous. of little value or importance; trifling; trivial [ . . . ] not properly serious or sensible; silly and light-minded; giddy". Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, p. 560, World Publishing Co. (2d Coll. Ed. 1978).

"Frivolous. of little weight or importance [ . . . ] lacking in seriousness [ . . . ] irresponsibly self-indulgent". Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, p. 461, G. & C. Merriam Co. (8th Ed. 1976).

"Frivolous. Unworthy of serious attention; trivial [ . . .] inappropriately silly". American Heritage Dictionary, p. 535, Houghton Mifflin Co. (2d Coll. Ed. 1985).

"Gibberish. unintelligible or meaningless language [ . . . ] pretentious or needlessly obscure language." Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, p. 484, G. & C. Merriam Co. (8th Ed. 1976).

From Kahn v. United States:

Section 6702 does not define the terms "position" or “frivolous,” but whatever else is meant by the term “frivolous,” it is reasonable to conclude that a claim is frivolous when there is no argument on either the law or the facts to support it.

--Kahn v. United States, 753 F.2d 1208, 85-1 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) paragr. 9152 (3d Cir. 1985).

From Coleman v. Commissioner:

A petition to the Tax Court, or a tax return, is frivolous if it is contrary to established law and unsupported by a reasoned, colorable argument for change in the law. This is the standard applied under Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 for sanctions in civil litigation, and it is a standard we have used for the award of fees under 28 U.S.C. §1927 and the award of damages under Fed. R. App. P. 38.

--Coleman v. Commissioner, 791 F.2d 68, 86-1 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) paragr. 9401 (7th Cir. 1986).

[edit] Frivolous tax returns

The United States Congress has enacted Internal Revenue Code section 6702 "in an effort to deter tax protesters from filing frivolous returns." Kahn v. United States, 753 F.2d 1208, 85-1 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) paragr. 9152 (3d Cir. 1985). The penalty is $500 for positions taken on or before March 15, 2007. For certain positions taken on or after March 16, 2007, the penalty amount has been increased to $5,000, to the extent applicable to positions officially identified by the Internal Revenue Service (on or after March 15, 2007) as being legally frivolous. See Notice 2008-14, I.R.B. 2008-4 (Jan. 14, 2008), Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of the Treasury (superseding and modifying Notice 2007-30, March 15, 2007). See 26 U.S.C. § 6702.

[edit] Frivolous arguments in the United States Tax Court

The Congress has enacted Internal Revenue Code section 6673 imposing civil monetary penalties for making frivolous arguments in proceedings before the United States Tax Court. The law provides that frivolous arguments may result in a penalty of up to $25,000. See 26 U.S.C. § 6673.

[edit] Frivolous arguments in a United States District Court

In a non-criminal case in a United States district court, a litigant (or a litigant's attorney) who presents any pleading, written motion or other paper to the court is deemed to have certified that, to the best of the presenter's knowledge and belief, the legal contentions "are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law or the establishment of new law". Rule 11(b)(2), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Monetary civil penalties for violation of this rule may in some cases be imposed on the litigant or the attorney under Rule 11(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

[edit] Frivolous arguments in a United States Bankruptcy Court

A similar rule penalizing frivolous litigation applies in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. See Rule 9011(b)(2) and Rule 9011(c), Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.

[edit] Frivolous appeals: in general

Congress has enacted section 1912 of title 28 of the United States Code providing that in the United States Supreme Court and in the various courts of appeals where litigation by the losing party has caused damage to the prevailing party, the court may impose a requirement that the losing party pay the prevailing party for those damages. See 28 U.S.C. § 1912.

A person who raises a frivolous argument in a Federal appeals court may also be subject to monetary penalties under Rule 38 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.

[edit] Frivolous appeals of decisions of the United States Tax Court

The U.S. Supreme Court and the federal courts of appeals may impose penalties where the taxpayer's appeal of a U.S. Tax Court decision was "maintained primarily for delay" or where "the taxpayer's position in the appeal is frivolous or groundless." See 26 U.S.C. § 7482(c)(4).

[edit] A lesson about U.S. Federal statutory law

Many tax protesters like to spread the false statement that the Internal Revenue Code is not really "the law." This tax protester lie is based in part on the statement that the Internal Revenue Code as published as title 26 of the United States Code is what is known as "non-positive law." It is correct to say that title 26 itself is "non-positive law" - but that doesn't mean that the Internal Revenue Code is non-positive law. Further, the statement that something "is non-positive law" is not the same as the statement that something "is not the law."

Confused? Read on.

As explained below, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the current Code) is POSITIVE LAW. The Code was affirmatively enacted by Congress. Every single original provision thereof and amendment thereto -- are published in the United States Statutes at Large (except for the newest Congressional Acts, to be published in the most recent as-yet-to-be published volume).

When an Act of Congress becomes law (generally, by being signed into law by the President, or by becoming law through Congressional override of a presidential veto, etc.), the actual physical document is sent to the National Archives and Records Administration. An official pamphlet of the text of the Act is published. This pamphlet is called a "slip law." This is the first step in the official publication of statutes.

Later, the Acts of Congress are published by the United States Government Printing Office in chronological order, in a book publication called the United States Statutes at Large. These kinds of publications are referred to as "session laws." This is the second step in the official publication of statutes.

The third step in the official publication of statutes is that some, but not all, of the text of an Act of Congress is codified (arranged by topic) in a separate publication called the "United States Code."

From time to time, Congress has also enacted other codes -- separately from the United States Code. Further, some portions of the United States Code -- certain "titles" -- have been specifically enacted as "positive law" by the Congress.

Certain other titles have not been specifically enacted as positive law. Instead, the texts of those titles are copied from Acts of Congress that have been enacted as positive law.

The Internal Revenue Code of 1939, like the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, was a Congressional enactment. Both the 1939 Code and the 1954 Code were therefore published in the United States Statutes at Large (volume 53 part 1, in the case of the 1939 Code).

The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is the current Code, and is a set of statutes enacted by the U.S. Congress. Notice that I said "the Internal Revenue Code of 1986" and not "title 26, the Internal Revenue Code". It's confusing, but "Title 26, the Internal Revenue Code," is not positive law, and the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986" is positive law.

"How can this be?" you may ask. Well, read on.

According to the United States Statutes at Large (published by the United States Government Printing Office) the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, the predecessor to the current 1986 code, was enacted by the Eighty-Third Congress of the United States with the phrase "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled" and was "approved" (signed into law, in this case by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower) at 9:45 A.M. on August 16, 1954. The 1954 Code was published as volume 68A of the United States Statutes at Large. Section 1(a)(1) of the enactment states: "The provisions of this Act set forth under the heading 'Internal Revenue Title' may be cited as the 'Internal Revenue Code of 1954'. Section 1(d) of the enactment is entitled "Enactment of Internal Revenue Title Into Law", and the text of the Code follows, beginning with the statutory Table of Contents. The enactment ends with the approval (enactment) notation on page 929 of volume 68A of the Statutes at Large.

All amendments to the 1954 Code (including the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which changed the name of the '54 Code to "Internal Revenue Code of 1986") have been Acts of Congress -- without a single exception. Every single Act of Congress is given both a public law number and a "statutes at large" volume and page number. EVERY SINGLE AMENDMENT TO THE 1954/1986 CODE WAS ENACTED BY CONGRESS, AND HAS BEEN PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES STATUTES AT LARGE!!!!! Many tax protesters seem to be blissfully ignorant about this point.

In addition to "the Internal Revenue Code" as scattered through the various volumes of the United States Statutes at Large, there is a separate publication called "title 26 of the United States Code." The name of title 26 is also -- can you guess? -- the Internal Revenue Code.

The Title 26 version of the Internal Revenue Code is compiled by the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. The tax protesters try to confuse people on terminology. The fact that title 26 itself -- meaning the actual, physical U.S. Government Printing Office publication known as "title 26" -- is "non-positive law" does not change the fact that the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (and, as renamed, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) as amended to this very day are POSITIVE LAW. All were enacted in the form of ACTS OF CONGRESS, and every single Code with EVERY SINGLE AMENDMENT has been published in the United States Statutes at Large (except for amendments made most recently, and those are published as "slip law" pamphlets until the Government Printing Office can issue the latest volume of the Statutes at Large).

Just as importantly, the actual TEXT of the physical publication known as "Title 26, Internal Revenue Code" (the non-positive law published by the U.S. Government Printing Office) AND the actual TEXT of "Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as amended" (the positive law as enacted by Congress and published in the Statutes at Large, also published by the same U.S. Government Printing Office) ARE IDENTICAL -- or are PRESUMED in COURT to be identical. If YOU THE TAXPAYER believe that there is some discrepancy between the text of the Internal Revenue Code published as title 26 and the Internal Revenue Code published and scattered through the volumes of the United States Statutes at Large -- you are out of luck -- UNLESS YOU THE TAXPAYER can show the court where there is an actual, physical difference between the two texts. The burden is on you, the taxpayer.

It gets worse.

Even if you the taxpayer could somehow locate an actual difference between the text as published as title 26 and the text as published in the Statutes at Large, the court is legally bound to follow THE LAW, which is the version in the United States Statutes at Large.

Consider the following from the case of Ryan v. Bilby. The taxpayer, Dennis Ryan, been convicted of failure to file tax returns, and had sued the district court judge, the prosecutor, the taxpayer's own attorney, two magistrates and the IRS agents in the case. Ryan's lawsuit was thrown out. He then appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which ruled against Ryan and stated:

Ryan's primary contention on appeal is that, as Congress has never enacted Title 26 of the United States Code into positive law, the defendants violated his constitutional rights by attempting to enforce it. [footnote omitted] Thus, he concludes, the district court erred by dismissing his suit. This contention is frivolous.

Congress's failure to enact a title [of the United States Code] into positive law has only evidentiary significance and does not render the underlying enactment [as published in the Statutes at Large] invalid or unenforceable. See 1 U. S. C. §204(a) (1982) (the text of titles not enacted into positive law is only prima facie evidence of the law itself). Like it or not, the Internal Revenue Code is the law, and the defendants did not violate Ryan's rights by enforcing it.

--from Ryan v. Bilby, 764 F.2d 1325, 85-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) paragr. 9524 (9th Cir. 1985). The Court of Appeals imposed penalties on Mr. Ryan under 28 U.S.C. section 1912, in the form of ordering him to pay double costs, for filing a frivolous appeal.

Similarly, in United States v. McLain, the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota stated:

[The taxpayer, Frances] McLain also contends that the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 is prima facie evidence of the law on which Title 26 is based. Docket No. 163 at 4. McLain is incorrect. The Internal Revenue Code of 1954 was enacted into positive law in the form of a separate code and, as amended, is the authoritative statement of the law. 1 U.S.C. § 204(a) & note; ch. 736, 68A Stat. 3, 3 (1954); Pub. L. No. 99-514, 100 Stat. 2085, 2095 (1986) (stating that the Internal Revenue Title enacted in 1954, as amended, may be cited as the Internal Revenue Code of 1986); Tax Analysts v. IRS, 214 F.3d 179, 182 n.1 (D.C. Cir. 2000). Moreover, while McLain is technically correct in arguing that Title 26 is merely prima facie evidence of the law, the distinction is largely academic because the relevant sections of Title 26 are identical to the relevant sections of the Internal Revenue Code.

---United States v. McLain, docket 08-CR-0010 (PJS/FLN), 2009-1 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) paragr. 50,256, fn. 6 (D. Minn. 2009) (italics added).

Now for the kicker.

What tax protesters also do not grasp is that many lawyers, government agencies, and even the courts themselves DO NOT ALWAYS USE THE NON-POSITIVE LAW publication ("title 26" as published by the Government Printing Office). We use commercially, privately published versions of the Internal Revenue Code -- as published by Thomson/West Publishing, CCH, and other private publishers. Additionally, many internet users refer to the Cornell University Law School web site for the text of the United States Code (including the text of title 26), the Cornell University Law School "version" is not an "official" publication of the law, either.

The VAST MAJORITY OF STATUTORY TEXTS are physically published by PRIVATE PUBLISHERS in the United States, and have been so since the late 1800s! NOBODY CARES THAT "TITLE 26" AS PUBLISHED BY THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE IS NON-POSITIVE LAW, when most people don't use (and are not required to use) a government-published "official" copy anyway!!

Tax protesters impotently talk themselves in circles about "positive law" and "non-positive law" without ever connecting with this basic truth: Whether a particular verbatim physical reprint happens to be positive law or non-positive law is relatively unimportant from a legal standpoint. A verbatim reprint of the actual enactment -- even if re-printed on the back of a restaurant menu -- is still the law.

In summary, let's review:

1. "Title 26 is non-positive law." -- A CORRECT STATEMENT.

2. "Title 26 is not the law." -- WRONG. Although title 26 is non-positive law, title 26 is still prima facie THE LAW.

3. "The Internal Revenue Code is not a statute enacted by Congress." --WRONG. See below.

4. "The Internal Revenue Code is not the law." -- WRONG. See below.

5. "The Internal Revenue Code is not positive law enacted by Congress." -- WRONG. See below.

In the above list (items 1 through 5), where you see "Internal Revenue Code" without the qualifying phrase "title 26," the phrase "Internal Revenue Code" is used to refer to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 enacted on August 16, 1954 -- and as amended by subsequent Acts of Congress including the 1986 act which changed the name of the Code to Internal Revenue Code of 1986. All such materials are positive law, all such materials were enacted by Congress, and all such materials are published in the United States Statutes of Large, a U.S. Government Printing Office publication which is legally conclusive as to what the text of the statute is.

As I said in another web site on June 23, 2009:

In all the years I have been studying tax protesters, I have never seen a court case where a protester actually went into court with the actual, physical bound volumes of non-positive law known as the "United States Code" (with the specific volume or volumes known as "title 26, the Internal Revenue Code") and then set them on a desk beside the actual, physical bound volumes of POSITIVE law known as the United States Statutes at Large, and then say:

"Your honor, we found a descrepancy here in section blah blah blah. The non-positive version of the Code says xxx, Your Honor, but the positive version of the Code says yyy."

Why is that? It's because the tax protesters don't understand that this is basically what you would be doing if you were arguing that "title 26, the Internal Revenue Code", is not the law.

Again, the protesters are confusing the term "non-positive law" with the phrase "not the law." NON-POSITIVE LAW IS STILL THE LAW.

And, as I pointed out earlier, most legal scholars do not even use the actual physical books known as the United States Statutes at Large (positive law) or the United States Code (non-positive law).

What most legal scholars use today are ON LINE versions -- many published by non-governmental entities. Some of the most popular on line sources are Cornell University Law School, Lexis, Westlaw, CCH, and so on.

All the tax protesters' jabbering and gibberish also misses a crucial point: The whole reason that the law designates the Statutes at Large as POSITIVE law is that 300 million Americans simply cannot go back and look at each and every actual, physical document, each and every actual "paper" Act of Congress, that is signed into law by the President, etc., each time somebody wants an "authoritative" copy of a statute.

The actual, physical paper document that the President "signs into law" is kept in a safe place by the National Archives and Records Administration. That's why we have the United States Statutes at Large published by the U.S. Government Printing Office -- so that law libraries all over the country can have an actual, physical set of paper, bound volumes that are legally conclusive as to what the statute says.

And the reason why "title 26" is not yet "positive" law is that the Congress has not bothered to enact THAT PARTICULAR COPY (in the United States Code) as "positive law."

Again, the point that the protesters miss is that the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended" itself IS POSITIVE LAW -- in the United States Statutes at Large.

And, if the Archivist of the United States wants to do so, he or she can go through the official files of the National Archives and Records Administration and probably find every single one of the actual, physical "paper copy" Acts of Congress making up the Code (going back to August 16, 1954 in the case of the current Code).

--from [23]

[edit] From the Coleman decision

From the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Coleman v. Commissioner, 791 F.2d 68, 86-1 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) paragr. 9401 (7th Cir. 1986) (Frank H. Easterbrook, J.):

Some people believe with great fervor preposterous things that just happen to coincide with their self-interest. "Tax protesters" have convinced themselves that wages are not income, that only gold is money, that the Sixteenth Amendment is unconstitutional, and so on. These beliefs all lead--so tax protesters think--to the elimination of their obligation to pay taxes. The government may not prohibit the holding of these beliefs, but it may penalize people who act on them.

It is an important function of the legal system to induce compliance with rules that a minority firmly believes are misguided. Legal penalties change the balance of self-interest; those who believe taxes wicked or unauthorized must nonetheless pay. When the legal system depends on honest compliance as much as the income tax system does--and when disobedience is potentially rewarding to those affected by the rule--it is often necessary to impose steep penalties on those who refuse to comply.

[ . . . ]

The billingsgate in appellants' briefs is customary in cases of this nature. Coleman says that wages may not be taxed because they come from his person, a depreciating asset. The personal depreciation offsets the wage, leaving no net income. Coleman thinks that only net income may be taxed under the Sixteenth Amendment--net income as Coleman defines it, rather than as Congress does. Holder, who styles himself a "private citizen," insists that wages may not be taxed because the Sixteenth Amendment authorizes only excise taxes, and in Holder's world excises may be imposed only on "government granted privileges." Because Holder believes that he is exercising no special privileges, he thinks he may not be taxed. These are tired arguments.

[ . . . ]

Both Coleman and Holder also argue that the income tax is a taking, which abridges their right to earn income. Taxes indeed "take" income, but this is not the sense in which the constitution uses "takings." Article I, section 8, clause 1 of the constitution grants to Congress "Power To lay and collect Taxes". The power thus long predates the Sixteenth Amendment, which did no more than remove the apportionment requirement of Art. I. sec. 2, cl. 3 from taxes on "incomes, from whatever source derived". Although the government might try to achieve through special taxes what the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment forbids if done directly, the general tax levied by the Internal Revenue Code does not offend the Fifth Amendment. Brushaber, supra.

Coleman argues that the IRS had to prove the amount of his income; he needed to show nothing. The statute is otherwise. People must make an honest report of their income to the government. If they fail to do this, they must establish any inaccuracies in the Commissioner's reconstruction of their income. [ . . . ] His further argument that the Seventh Amendment requires a jury trial in the Tax Court is empty. Even in ordinary litigation, the Seventh Amendment does not require a jury trial when there are no facts in dispute, and Coleman put none in dispute. The Seventh Amendment at all events does not apply to civil litigation against the United States. McElrath v. United States, 102 U.S. 426, 440 (1880); see also Atlas Roofing Co. v. OSHRC, 430 U.S. 442, 450-51 (1977). Our circuit has apparently never held squarely that there is no right to a jury trial in the Tax Court, but other circuits have held this, and we agree with them. E.g., Parker v. CIR, 724 F.2d 469, 472 (5th Cir. 1984); Funk v. CIR, 687 F.2d 264, 266 (8th Cir. 1982).

Both appellants challenge the penalties imposed on them, contending that "frivolous" is too vague a designation to support a penalty. This is a staple term of civil litigation, however, and we have sustained against constitutional challenge 28 U.S.C. §1927, which allows awards against counsel for "vexatious" conduct. In re TCI, Ltd., 769 F.2d 441, 449 (7th Cir. 1985). Statutes need not be unambiguous in every application to be constitutional. Many words acquire meaning through judicial and administrative construction over the years, and this evolutionary process is constitutional. E.g., CSC v. Letter Carriers, 413 U.S. 548 (1973); cf. Rose v. Locke, 423 U.S. 48 (1975). Courts have been imposing penalties for frivolous litigation for hundreds of years, cf. Roadway Express, Inc. v. Piper, 447 U.S. 752, 764-67 (1980), and the ambiguities that lurk in "frivolous" (or any other word) in marginal cases do not prevent the imposition of penalties. Uncertainty is a fact of legal life. The "law is full of instances where a man's fate depends on his estimating rightly, that is, as the jury subsequently estimates it, some matter of degree." Nash v. United States, 229 U.S. 373, 377 (1913). "Whenever the law draws a line there will be cases very near each other on opposite sides. The precise course of the line may be uncertain, but no one can come near it without knowing that he does so, if he thinks, and if he does so it is familiar to the law . . . law to make him take the risk." United States v. Wurzbach, 280 U.S. 396, 399 (1930). See also, e.g., United States v. Powell, 423 U.S. 87 (1975).

The purpose of 26 U.S.C. §§6673 and 6702 is to compel taxpayers to think and to conform their conduct to settled principles before they file returns and litigate. A petition to the Tax Court, or a tax return, is frivolous if it is contrary to established law and unsupported by a reasoned, colorable argument for change in the law. This is the standard applied under Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 for sanctions in civil litigation, and it is a standard we have used for the award of fees under 28 U.S.C. §1927 and the award of damages under Fed. R. App. P. 38. [ . . . ] The inquiry is objective. If a person should have known that his position is groundless, a court may and should impose sanctions. See Thornton v. Wahl, No. 85-2786 (7th Cir. Apr. 3, 1986), slip op. 5.

Things are otherwise under §§6673 and 6702, the appellants say; these statutes require not only a lack of objective support but also subjective bad faith. Coleman cites May v. CIR, 752 F.2d 1301 (8th Cir. 1985), for this proposition. As originally published May used a subjective test, although the court found that May himself acted in subjective bad faith. The court later revised the opinion, stating the inquiry as whether the taxpayer "knew or should have known" that the claim, return, or argument was groundless. 55 A.F.T.R. 2d 747, 751 (8th Cir. 1985). "Should have known" is an objective test. We used an objective test for penalties under the tax laws in Lovell v. United States, supra, and there is no reason to change that approach. Section 6673, for example, states alternative tests: whether the suit was "maintained . . . primarily for delay" or whether the position is "frivolous or groundless." The former is a subjective inquiry, the latter is objective; either will support a penalty. See also In re TCI, supra, 769 F.2d at 445 (subjective bad faith is important under §1927 only when the litigation is objectively colorable).

The purpose of §§6673 and 6702, like the purpose of Rules 11 and 38 and of §1927, is to induce litigants to conform their behavior to the governing rules regardless of their subjective beliefs. Groundless litigation diverts the time and energies of judges from more serious claims; it imposes needless costs on other litigants. Once the legal system has resolved a claim, judges and lawyers must move on to other things. They cannot endlessly rehear stale arguments. Both appellants say that the penalties stifle their right to petition for redress of grievances. But there is no constitutional right to bring frivolous suits, see Bill Johnson's Restaurants, Inc. v. NLRB, 461 U.S. 731, 743 (1983). People who wish to express displeasure with taxes must choose other forums, and there are many available. Taxes are onerous, no doubt, and the size of the tax burden gives people reason to hope that they can escape payment. Self-interest calls forth obtuseness. An obtuse belief--even if sincerely held--is no refuge, no warrant for imposing delay on the legal system and costs on one's adversaries. The more costly obtuseness becomes, the less there will be.

The contentions in this case are objectively frivolous. They have been raised and rejected so often that this circuit now handles almost all similar cases by unpublished orders. The Tax Court and the IRS were entitled to impose sanctions. We, too, regularly impose sanctions in these cases. In Van Wormer this court awarded attorneys' fees as a sanction for similar claims, and the Supreme Court added $1,000 in damages. Our unpublished orders in cases of this sort regularly end with awards of double costs and attorneys' fees in favor of the government. Precisely because the substantive claims are so weak, and the opinions are therefore unpublished, litigants may be unaware of our practice. The routine use of sanctions does not deter unless people know what lies in store. [ . . .]

Because average awards of actual attorneys' fees in tax protest cases exceed $1,000, we choose to impose sanctions of $1,500 in lieu of attorneys' fees. Even $1,500 cannot cover the indirect costs of this litigation--including the costs that befall serious litigants, who must wait longer for their cases to receive judicial attention. The decision to name a penalty rather than invite proof of the government's actual attorneys' fees produces some imprecision, doubtless. Coleman's case is a little more complex than Holder's--Coleman's brief is 38 pages, the government's 31; Holder's brief is 10 pages, the government's 16. There should be no weeping over this imprecision, however. Coleman and Holder could have avoided the penalty, and other people should avoid it, by the most minimal concern for settled rules. They knew or should have known that their claims are frivolous, and they (rather than their adversary) must pay the cost of their self-indulgent litigation.

The judgments are affirmed, with double costs and $1,500 damages in each case.

[edit] Administrative levy by Internal Revenue Service

The United States Supreme Court has stated:

Administrative levy, unlike an ordinary lawsuit, and unlike the procedure described in §7403, does not require any judicial intervention, and it is up to the taxpayer, if he so chooses, to go to court if he claims that the assessed amount was not legally owing. See generally Bull v. United States, 295 U. S. 247, 260 (1935).

--from United States v. Rodgers, 461 U.S. 677, 103 S. Ct. 2132, 83-1 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) paragr. 9374 (1983) (dicta).

[edit] Capitations and other direct taxes

Capitation tax. A poll tax (q.v.). Black's Law Dictionary, p. 191 (5th ed. 1979).

Poll-tax. A capitation tax; a tax of a specific sum levied upon each person within the jurisdiction of the taxing power and within a certain class (as, all males of a certain age, etc.) without reference to his property or lack of it. Black's Law Dictionary, p. 1043 (5th ed. 1979).

From Young v. United States:

A capitation is a direct tax based solely on one's status, and is most often epitomized by a poll tax. Considering the large number of cases which consider discrimination settlements "income" subject to taxation within the broad ambit of 26 U.S.C. §61(a), see, e.g., Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Schleier, 515 U.S. 323, 115 S.Ct. 2159, 132 L.Ed.2d 294 (1995); United States v. Burke, 504 U.S. 229, 112 S.Ct. 1867, 119 L.Ed.2d 34 (1992), the Court finds that the tax withheld by the Internal Revenue Service in this case [i.e., the Federal income tax under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986] is not a "capitation".

---Young v. United States, 2001-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) ¶ 50,732, fn. 3 (W.D. Ky. 2001) (Federal income tax case).

The following is from a federal estate tax case, but the principle can be applied to the Federal income tax (and as a clarification of the meaning of the term "direct tax") as well. The United States Supreme Court stated:

Even without apportionment, Congress may tax "an excise upon a particular use or enjoyment of property or the shifting from one to another of any power or privilege incidental to the ownership or enjoyment of property. [ . . . . ] A tax imposed upon the exercise of some of the numerous rights of property is clearly distinguishable from a direct tax, which falls upon the owner merely because he is owner, regardless of his use or disposition of the property.

---Fernandez v. Wiener, 326 U.S. 340, 66 S. Ct. 178, 45-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) ¶10,239 (1945) (bolding added).

In Tilley v. United States, the taxpayer made the argument that the Federal income tax was "unconstitutional, since a tax measured by an individual's so-called income is in the nature of a capitation tax and can only be imposed by apportionment [ . . . . ]". That argument was ruled "frivolous" by the court. The court stated:

Several of the Tilleys' claims are frivolous and fail as a matter of law. In one claim, the Tilleys argue that "the taxes were unconstitutional, since a tax measured by an individual's so-called income is in the nature of a capitation tax and can only be imposed by apportionment." (Compl. ¶VI(d)(3)). The Sixteenth Amendment puts such an argument to rest, stating:

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."

---See Tilley v. United States, 270 F. Supp. 2d 731, 2003-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) ¶50,594 (M.D.N.C. 2003).

In Pollock and other cases, the federal courts (including the Supreme Court) rejected the theories of political economists as providing any definition the nature of the terms "direct tax" and "excise tax." Instead, the nature of the tax is determined from the standpoint of the Constitution, not from the standpoint of Adam Smith or any other economist. As the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has stated:

There is not to be found in the cases, a clear definition of precisely what is meant by a direct tax or, indeed, an excise tax. It has become a rule of application to each particular tax. The nature of the tax is to be determined from the standpoint of the Constitution. It may not be answered by the theories of political economists. Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., 157 U.S. 429; Knowlton v. Moore, 178 U.S. 41.

---Anderson v. McNeir, 16 F.2d 970, 1927 CCH ¶7073 (2d Cir. 1927).

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has indicated that after the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913, whether an income tax is a "capitation or other direct tax" or not, the apportionment restriction (the rule that capitations or other direct taxes must be apportioned) simply does not apply if the tax in question is an income tax:

The power to tax is conferred on Congress by article I, section 8, clause 1 of the Constitution, but other sections of the Constitution impose certain restrictions upon the manner in which the taxing power of the Federal Government may be exercised. In addition to the general limitations placed upon that power by the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, Congress is specifically prohibited from laying any tax on the export of goods; whatever indirect taxes it may enact shall be "uniform throughout the United States"' and it may impose a capitation or direct tax only if apportioned among the states according to population. This last restriction, the only one pertinent to the present case (the federal income tax under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954], has been limited in scope by the Sixteenth Amendment which permits taxes "on incomes, from whatever source derived" without regard to the apportionment requirement.

---Simmons v. United States, 308 F.2d 160, 62-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) ¶9713 (4th Cir. 1962) (emphasis added).

The Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution grants to Congress "the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration." [ . . . . . ] A direct tax is a capitation tax, a tax upon real estate and upon income derived from real estate and from personal property held for investment, and upon income of personal property. Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Company, 158 U. S. 601; 15 S. Ct. 912; 39 L. Ed. 1108. The tax created by the challenged Act [the federal income tax under section 501 of the Revenue Act of 1936] has none of the features of a direct tax, and if a tax, is an income tax, and is therefore, subject only to the rule of geographical uniformity which is synonymous with the expression "to operate generally throughout the United States. [ . . . . ] If an income tax, no apportionment is required as provided in Sections 2 and 9 of Article I of the Constitution.

---Kingan & Company, Inc. v. Smith, 17 F. Supp. 217, 36-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) ¶9551 (S.D. Ind. 1936) (emphasis added).

[edit] Authority to execute 6020(b) returns

Some tax protesters argue that under the Internal Revenue Manual, IRM 5.1.11.6.8, IRS employees may have the authority to execute section 6020(b) returns for certain federal taxes under the Internal Revenue Code such as payroll taxes, but not for federal income taxes. The tax protesters are wrong. Federal income taxes are taxes required by the Internal Revenue Code, which is part of the internal revenue law of the United States. Unfortunately, the protesters overlook IRM 1.2.44.5, which is a publication of Treasury Delegation Order No. 182, revision 7, dated May 5, 1997, as updated October 2, 2000. Order 182 grants that authority with respect to taxes under ANY internal revenue law or regulation. From the Internal Revenue Manual, IRM 1.2.44.5:

1.2.44.5 (05-05-1997)

Delegation Order 182 (Rev. 7)

Execute Returns (Updated (10-02-2000) to reflect additional new organizational titles required by IRS Modernization.)

Authority: To prepare or execute returns required by any internal revenue law or regulation when the person required to file such return fails to do so.

Delegated to: Internal Revenue Agents; Tax Auditors; Revenue Officers, GS-9 and above; Collection Support function managers, GS-9 and above; Automated Collection Branch Managers, GS-9 and above; Service Center Collection Branch Managers GS-9 and above; Detroit Computing Center Employment Tax Adjustment Program (ETAP) Support Managers, GS-9 and above.

Note:

This authority is also delegated to Automated Collection Branch Unit Managers GS-11 and above; SB/SE Tax Compliance Officers; Customer Service Collection Branch Managers GS-10 and above; Tax Resolution Representatives GS-9 and above.

Redelegation: This authority may not be redelegated.

Sources of Authority: 26 CFR 301.6020-1(b) and 26 CFR 301.7701-9.

To the extent that the authority previously exercised consistent with this Order may require ratification, it is hereby approved and ratified. This order supersedes Delegation Order No. 182 (Rev. 6), effective October 12, 1994.

Signed: John M. Dalrymple, for James E. Donelson, Acting Chief Compliance Officer

[end of text; bolding added]

[edit] A short essay on the Cheek doctrine

From the text of the Cheek case (United States Supreme Court):

Claims that some of the provisions of the tax code are unconstitutional are submissions of a different order. [citation omitted] They do not arise from innocent mistakes caused by the complexity of the Internal Revenue Code. Rather, they reveal full knowledge of the provisions at issue and a studied conclusion, however wrong, that those provisions are invalid and unenforceable. Thus, in this case, Cheek paid his taxes for years, but after attending various seminars and based on his own study, he concluded that the income tax laws could not constitutionally require him to pay a tax.

We do not believe that Congress contemplated that such a taxpayer, without risking criminal prosecution, could ignore the duties imposed upon him by the Internal Revenue Code and refuse to utilize the mechanisms provided by Congress to present his claims of invalidity to the courts and to abide by their decisions. There is no doubt that Cheek, from year to year, was free to pay the tax that the law purported to require, file for a refund and, if denied, present his claims of invalidity, constitutional or otherwise, to the courts. See 26 U.S.C. 7422. Also, without paying the tax, he could have challenged claims of tax deficiencies in the Tax Court, 6213, with the right to appeal to a higher court if unsuccessful. 7482(a)(1). Cheek took neither course in some years, and, when he did, was unwilling to accept the outcome. As we see it, he is in no position to claim that his good-faith belief about the validity of the Internal Revenue Code negates willfulness or provides a defense to criminal prosecution under 7201 and 7203. Of course, Cheek was free in this very case to present his claims of invalidity and have them adjudicated, but, like defendants in criminal cases in other contexts who "willfully" refuse to comply with the duties placed upon them by the law, he must take the risk of being wrong.

I argue that the same logic can apply where the defendant makes a statutory argument, rather than a constitutional one. A taxpayer [ . . . ] is not free, under the law, to read the contrary court decisions and IRS pronouncements and IRS instruction books and then reject them -- no matter how strongly he believes the courts and the IRS to be "wrong" -- and to simply file his tax return under [his own] method, and then argue that the complexity of the law "caused" him to have a "misunderstanding". Clearly, the defendant in such a case is aware of the law. To knowingly, intentionally reject the IRS interpretation is the equivalent of awareness of the law itself -- not because the IRS says so, but because the IRS just happens to be right. To reject the IRS interpretation where, as a matter of law, the IRS just happens to be right, is a DISAGREEMENT with the law, not a good faith belief, etc., etc., as that term is used by the Court in Cheek. Sometimes, an actual belief is not a Cheek good faith belief.

Stated in a slightly different way: The defendant's rejection of the IRS's interpretation of the law (which just happens to be the correct interpretation) is, essentially, an indirect but functional admission of the defendant's awareness of the law -- and it is this awareness that negates willfulness under the Cheek doctrine. Again, it is up to the jury (assuming we have a jury trial) to make that determination.

Adapted from: [24]

More from the text of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Cheek:

[ . . . ] in deciding whether to credit [defendant John] Cheek's good-faith belief claim, the jury would be free to consider any admissible evidence from any source showing that Cheek was aware of his duty to file a return and to treat wages as income, including evidence showing his awareness of the relevant provisions of the Code or regulations, of court decisions rejecting his interpretation of the tax law, of authoritative rulings of the Internal Revenue Service, or of any contents of the personal income tax return forms and accompanying instructions that made it plain that wages should be returned as income.

--Cheek v. United States, 498 U.S. 192, 202 (1991) (bolding added).

[edit] The Willie case

From the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit:

[ . . . . ] [Defendant Wesley] Willie next contends that the trial court erred in prohibiting him from introducing exhibits to show the basis for his belief that he was not required to file tax returns. Willie argues that the exhibits were relevant to show the sincerity of his good faith belief that he need not file a tax return and thereby were relevant to his defense that, because of that belief, he did not willfully violate the tax laws. He further argues that Cheek v. United States, 111 S.Ct. 604 (1991), requires the admission of the exhibits for that purpose.

The exhibits in question include the Constitution, a History of Congress dated 1792, pages of the session laws, a Navajo Treaty, the Coinage Act of 1965, and letters from the defendant to the Departments of Justice and the Treasury setting forth Willie's contentions that the tax laws do not apply to him. All were denied as irrelevant and improper documents to go to the jury. We affirm the trial court's decision to exclude the documents because, due to his inadequate offer of proof, Willie has failed to preserve the issue for appeal and the court's ruling did not constitute plain error. In the alternative, we affirm the district court because the documents were unduly confusing to the jury. In the further alternative, we affirm the conviction because any error in excluding the evidence was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.

[ . . . . ]

The problem with the type of material offered by Willie is that it can have both a proper and an improper purpose insofar as it is intended to show the offeror's belief that he need not file income tax returns. "Belief" is a mischievous and tricky concept in this context. It is not a single-faceted idea, but is better defined as having both a normative and descriptive side. A normative belief is how Willie wants the law to be interpreted and ardently believes it should be interpreted. How he believes the law is constitutes a descriptive belief. Thus, while "[tax protesters] believe with great fervor [many] preposterous things . . . ," Coleman v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 791 F.2d 68, 69 (7th Cir. 1986), belief in their tax-free status, no matter how sincerely held, is not necessarily a defense to the government's claim of willfulness. Rather, only a belief possessing those characteristics that counter the elements of willfulness is a valid and relevant defense.

"Willfulness" is defined as the "voluntary, intentional violation of a known legal duty." Cheek v. United States, 111 S.Ct. at 610 (emphasis added). To be a relevant defense to willfulness, then, Willie, because of his belief or misunderstanding, must not have known he had a legal duty. Id. at 611 (defendant must be "ignorant of his duty").

[ . . . . ]

It is apparent that it is a delicate task to differentiate between a belief that the law should be different and a belief that the law is different. The difficulty of discerning the often subtle distinctions is magnified by the fact that much of the same evidence can be used to prove both types of belief and because the word "belief" itself is used loosely in describing both sides of the dichotomy. As a result, the precise purpose for which the evidence is offered becomes crucial to the trial court's determination of admissibility, particularly in cases of this nature where the careless admission of evidence supporting both relevant and irrelevant types of belief could easily obfuscate the relevant issue and tempt the jury to speculate that the mere existence of documentary support for the defendant's position negates his independent knowledge that he has a legal duty. [ . . . . ] The defendant must, therefore, persuasively show the trial judge that the evidence is being offered for a permissible purpose by making a proffer of great specificity regarding the type of belief he seeks to prove. A mere statement that the evidence is submitted to show sincerity of belief is not enough.

[ . . . . ]

Willie argues that Cheek v. United States, 111 S.Ct. 604 (1991), requires the admission of any evidence arguably relating to the objective reasonability of his belief. Appellant's Supplemental Brief at 5. We disagree. While the Supreme Court acknowledged that the reasonableness of the defendant's belief may bear on the jury's determination of sincerity, the issue of admissibility of evidence was not before [the Supreme Court]. The Court held only that the jury should be instructed to determine the defendant's subjective beliefs as to the lawfulness of his actions, not that the trial judge must admit any and all evidence related to the basis of those beliefs.

[ . . . ]

Willie and the dissent both make essentially a fairness argument that since, under Cheek, the government is "free to present" evidence of court decisions and Code provisions "to establish the unreasonableness of the defendant's asserted beliefs, . . . the defendant should be able to introduce [similar] evidence . . . to support the objective reasonableness of his beliefs. . . ." Dissenting Opinion, slip op. at 4-5. They rely on the following language from Cheek:

the jury would be free to consider any admissible evidence . . . showing that Cheek was aware of his duty to file a return . . . , including evidence showing his awareness of the relevant provisions of the code or regulations, of court decisions rejecting his interpretation of the tax law, of authoritative rulings of the Internal Revenue Service, or of any contents of the personal income tax return forms and accompanying instructions that made it plain that wages should be returned as income.

Cheek v. United States, 111 S.Ct. at 611 (emphasis added). This excerpt, however, does not allow the government to present the court decisions, regulations or statutes themselves or testimony regarding their contents. Rather it only indicates that the jury could properly consider otherwise "admissible evidence" that the defendant was "aware" of those documents and, therefore, "aware" of his duty to file.

Thus, even if Willie had submitted an adequate proffer to the judge regarding the relevance of his belief and the evidence may have shown the basis for that belief, the admission of the exhibits would not be required under Cheek. Rather Cheek, while reinforcing this circuit's subjective standard in determining willfulness, did not abrogate other existing law regarding the admissibility of documentary evidence nor did it alter the trial court's traditional discretionary role in ruling on the admissibility of that evidence.

[ . . . . ] we hold alternatively that the exhibits were properly excluded under Fed. R. Evid. 403 because they were confusing, because the danger of the jury's misuse of the evidence for an improper purpose was great, and because the relevant point was provable by other evidence.

--from United States v. Willie, 91-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) ¶50,409 (10th Cir. 1991) (bolding added).

[edit] Edit counter

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[edit] Cool things I have seen

[edit] Barnstars

[edit] Cluestick for Famspear!

[edit] Veteran Editor (or Tutnum)

[edit] Barnstar from Legis

[edit] Wikipedia official policies, guidelines, etc.

[edit] NPOV

[edit] Verifiability

[edit] No Original Research

[edit] Behavior

[edit] More on Verifiability

[edit] Manual of style

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[edit] Criteria for deletion of articles, etc.

[edit] Neutral point of view does not mean that the source cannot be biased

[edit] Bias of a particular source compared to neutral point of view of the article

[edit] Undue weight

[edit] NPOV and notability

[edit] Minority views

[edit] A bit about fringe theories

[edit] Reliability and self-published materials

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[edit] How to determine whether a view is established

[edit] Wikipedia is not a publisher of original thought

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[edit] Vandalism: persistent insertions of non-neutral point of view material after having been warned

[edit] Links normally to be avoided

[edit] Deletion of one spam link is not an endorsement of those that remain

[edit] Systemic bias

[edit] Essay on bias and neutral POV, from an article talk page

[edit] Other

[edit] Tax stuff

[edit] Some articles of frequent interest to tax protesters

[edit] Just words

[edit] Material on the term "frivolous" and related terms

[edit] Frivolous tax returns

[edit] Frivolous arguments in the United States Tax Court

[edit] Frivolous arguments in a United States District Court

[edit] Frivolous arguments in a United States Bankruptcy Court

[edit] Frivolous appeals: in general

[edit] Frivolous appeals of decisions of the United States Tax Court

[edit] A lesson about U.S. Federal statutory law

[edit] From the Coleman decision

[edit] Administrative levy by Internal Revenue Service

[edit] Capitations and other direct taxes

[edit] Authority to execute 6020(b) returns

[edit] A short essay on the Cheek doctrine

[edit] The Willie case

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