The most frequently-missed tax deduction
87The #1 Most Frequently-Missed Tax Deduction...
...is that federal taxes are purely voluntary.
I realize that sounds bizarre. But think back to High School History classes for a moment. The State governments were created by We, the People. And the People's authority was ceded in very specific ways to create the Federal government, and the authority We gave it. It had - and still has - very limited scope of authority, such as:
- To create a lawful money supply.
- To entreat (form treaties with) other nations.
- To manage inter-state commerce.
- To settle disputes between the states themselves,
and depending on which texts you go by,
- To keep a standing army in case of invasion.
That's it. And all authorities not ceded to the government remained with We, the People.
Increasingly the American government has been purporting to grant itself all kinds of authorities it doesn't have. But in order for someone to grant authority to anyone, it must first have that authority to grant. That only stands to reason. I cannot give myself something that I don't already have. I could steal it from someone else, but the law would not accept that as valid.
And it doesn't accept this as valid, although almost everyone goes along with it. Have a look at The Whiskey Rebellion, and you'll see what I mean. An unfortunate fraud has been created that intentionally generates a common misconception about the nature of the government and its citizenry, and the nature of the relationship they have with each other. Many citizens are hitting the books going back to the laws to sort out fact from fiction, and they're doing it on the internet at sites like FamGuardian and SuiJuris. Notably, this year Wesley Snipes made it onto the New York Times Website with this information, so it's getting more attention these days. If you're willing to learn the laws and live by them, you may never have to pay unlawful taxes - and subsidize attrocities like human torture, the massacre in Iraq, and warrantless wiretapping at home - ever again, and you will understand the basis in law behind it. If everyone did that, we would have a system that worked, because we wouldn't be funding corruption. Plus, we wouldn't be spending a full third of our money paying federal income taxes to a bloated and lawless government.
But because people don't all do that, you're likely to learn and understand the law, act fully within your rights, and wind up rotting away in jail anyway, because of pure brute force backed by "color of law" - that which seems to be law, but isn't. It's what attorneys mean when they say "legal" instead of "lawful". Impossible as it may seem, when the majority of citizens go along with something that isn't law, they enforce something entirely beyond the bounds of the law and it will deprive you of your rights even if you know what they are. So consider carefully how you will approach the situation. Will you learn and assert your rights, find among many other joys the greatest "tax loophole" that could exist, and risk being thrown in jail anyway by a country of people who mistake the law for something it's not? Or will you knuckle under, pay "your" taxes although it isn't the law, and subsidize human torture, treason, and unconscionable atrocities because it's easier and - temporarily - safer?
Depending on how you look at it, it's either one of the Big Decisions that life will hand you, or the simplest no-brainer of them all. But I thought you would at least appreciate the information, given your interest.
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Comments
I naturally did, frippo. The Constitution also says that the federal government only has absolute jurisdiction in the District of Columbia, not the States within the Union.
While it was given the authority to lay and collect taxes and duties, nothing guaranteed them the right to do it in storm trooper outfits, in clown suits... or involuntarily. Income taxes are voluntary, and what most Americans consider "income taxes" today are, in fact, excise taxes anyway.
In future, please keep your Comments free of unnecessary antagonism, and I won't be tempted to simply delete them on that basis alone.
I have long loathed paying taxes, just as much as paying for food and gas and everything else that costs money. Wouldn't it be nice if everything were free? The government performs many functions for us that without, we'd be a mess. Those people that perform these functions (police officers to protect us, libraries to educate us, and programs to keep the truly hardworking but down on their luck from hitting rock bottom) need to payed as well. Now I will not argue that the government has become bloated and greedy. I will not argue that they are taking too much and in too many ways. I WILL argue that to go without paying anything is infantile, self-serving, and small minded. I will also point out that Wesley Snipes is rumored to be a "prick" who as a general rule does not tip his waitress(es). So I'm sure he's one of those people who doesn't complain about his giant paychecks, but complains when he has to pay out for anything worth something. This should not be a discussion of whether the government can collect money, but how much they are taking and how they are using the money. There are many things out there that need reform, the DMV for instance. Nothing is perfect though and I truly believe that for every down and dirty politician/lazy DMV employee out there pocketing our money there's a government employee who actually cares and is working on making a better place to live for us. Don't educate people on loopholes, there is no honor in depriving the system of money it actually needs. Educate people on how to change things, how to stand up and actually influence some reform. Individually we're just a bunch of complainers, but as a group with useful ideas instead of dead end "loop holes" we can make a difference.
Hi Michelle, and thanks for your Comment!
I both agree and disagree with you, myself. Yes, there's no integrity in using goods and services and not subsidizing them. There's also no honor in pretending we have a political dialogue and debate in this country when all we do is complain, don't back it with action, and expect things to magically get better. Political dialogue should be backed by accountability, and as a country we've been long on whining and short on action. That's no good, obviously. As for Wesley Snipes, I wasn't passing judgement on his character, just attempting to give the average reader a cue to how not-fringe sovereignty is.
While I know it may look like a loophole, a return to sovereign citizenship is actually a return to the category of citizenship held by our forefathers when the country was founded. Since then the corrupt politicians we both love to hate have bent, folded, spindled and mutilated our system of governance, and I'm attempting to educate people exactly as you describe - introducing them to the subject through something that everybody's interested in: not spending more money than necessary. Have a look, here's some great introductory information on the subject:
http://gemworld.com/USAvsUS.htm
Michelle, it sounds like we have a lot of the same concept here. I realize that it can be tough to get a read of someone's overall approach through one short Hub here. But yes, I agree that the public needs to be better educated - heck, we've even got members of the CIA, NSA, and other alphabet gestapo dropping out, and writing notices to the American public to the tune of, "There's some really vile stuff going on. We can't tell you exactly what it is, but you guys desperately need to get control over your government, America, pronto." I think pretty much everybody who's taken the time to look into the situation has more or less the same take on it, and when people are too unmotivated /and/ continue to subsidize the problem indiscriminately, that's not only counterproductive... it boils down to a socially-accepted form of treason. I myself live on the street now and have for the last seven or so years, because I've lived "off the grid" for about the last fifteen rather than subsidize the problem. I may not be able to change the average American's choices myself, but I can certainly do my best to avoid funding the problem while there's no accountability in sight. You just don't feed the monster that bites you, that's all.
As an interesting aside, research I came across several years ago gave me a pretty solid conclusion that federal taxes don't actually go towards vital goods and services, and that those are primarily paid for by sales taxes. The country did pretty well for decades before the "income" tax (actually a form of excise tax) came along, and when it did it was introduced like these things always are as a temporary measure. Also, did you know that "driving" is supposed to only be a commercial activity that's supposed to be licensed? You only need license from your government to do something that would otherwise be against the law, and everybody has the right to use the roads as part of their right to travel. FTD florist delivery guys, taxi drivers, and pizza boys are all drivers, but we're not supposed to be. So as for how necessary the DMV is to "license" supposed "drivers" who are generally not using the roads for commercial gain, I think that's a pretty heavy scam. It's also why we call the front-right seat the "passenger seat". By getting licensed, we're assumed to be driving for hire. And taxed and regulated as such.
Again Michelle, thanks for your readership, and your Comment. Be well.
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frippo says:
2 months ago
This is a couple years old but it's still one of the first hits online for tax deductions, so here's a question to anyone tempted to take this seriously:
Did the author not look at the whole rest of the Constitution? Art. I, ยง 8, cl. 1, for instance: "The Congress shall have power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises," etc. (with income tax clarified by the 16th Amendment, and of course as every gun-nut knows, the Amendments also count as the Constitution).