This Lady Justice statue dates back to Roman and Greek times, represented as Themis, the goddess of justice and law. Well known for her clear sightedness, she typically holds a sword in one hand and scales in the other.
During the 16th century, artists started showing the lady blindfolded to show that justice is not subject to influence.
Or, that justice today is indeed blind, meaning that only injustice exists under an oligarchy.
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Federal Income Tax - Mandatory or Voluntary?
If federal income tax laws were mandatory, they would violate all of the Constitution's three taxing clauses, as well as the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 13th and 16th Amendments. to the Constitution. So as not to be unconstitutional on these and other grounds, the payment of this "tax" was not made mandatory, which is why the IRS continually refers to the "voluntary compliance" nature of this tax.
So why do people go to jail for violating income tax laws that don't exist? Mostly because they try to avoid paying taxes by hiding their income or moving it into a secret offshore account, and end up breaking other laws. Certainly you cannot just stop paying taxes, once you've signed the IRS 1040 Form contract, but you can legally file several things in lieu of pay taxes, and legally claim your legal voluntary status to opt out of the tax program.
The Constitution, in numerous clauses, bars the government from collecting income taxes in the manner it now does. Let me count the ways.
First, since all information on a 1040 Form can be used against you, there can be no law requiring you to give it to them; any such law would be in obvious violation of our right not to be compelled to be a witness against yourself. However, you could wave that right if you were first given a Miranda warning. And sure enough, such a warning appears in the IRS 1040 booklet. The booklet warns that with respect to the information you put on a 1040 Form, the IRS may give the information to the Dept. of Justice and to other Federal agencies, as provided by law. They may also give it to the States, the District of Columbia, and U.S. Commonwealths or possessions, and may even give it to foreign governments.
Obviously, all those governments and governmental agencies who would want such information, want it so they can use it against you. And the government supposedly tells you this, that if you give the IRS information, despite the warning, you are saying "It's okay with me if all these agencies use this information against me." Of course, it really isn't okay with you, but the government buries its Miranda warning in the gobbledygook of its Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act Note, knowing that the public won't even notice it, or recognize its significance even if they do notice it. Why don't the lawyers point this out to their clients? If yours didn't, you have the basis for a malpractice suit, especially if you are convicted on the basis of a tax return your lawyer advised you to file.
Let's look into the IRS Handbook for Special Agents, paragraphs 342.12 and 342.15 which says:
(1) An individual taxpayer may refuse to exhibit his/her books and records for examination on the ground that compelling him/her to do so might violate his/her right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment and constitute an illegal search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment (Boyd v. U.S.).
The next paragraph titled "Waiver of Constitutional Rights" explains that those who turn over their books and records to the IRS waive constitutional rights in doing so, since an individual, it points out, can, "Claim immunity before the Government agent and refuse to produce his/her books." It then explains, and here's the kicker, "After the Government has gotten possession of the information with his/her consent, it (is) too late ... to claim constitutional immunity."
Since the IRS Handbook admits that individuals -- for constitutional reasons -- cannot be required to turn over their books and records to the IRS (because the information they contain can be used against them) can they, therefore, be required to turn over a "summary" of their books and records? Obviously not. But what is a 1040 Form, if not a summary of your books and records?
Since all information on a 1040 Form can be used against you (in the same manner as information in your books and records) -- if you cannot be required to turn over your books and records on constitutional grounds, obviously you cannot be required, on the same grounds, to supply such information on 1040 Form.
What's so hard to understand about that?
There are a number of other reasons, besides the 4th and 5th Amendments, which would make a mandatory income tax unconstitutional. I will give you the supporting references so you can check them out for yourself.
There are three taxing clauses in the Constitution which establish two general classes of taxes: excise taxes, which have to be imposed on the basis of uniformity, and direct taxes, which have to be imposed on the basis of apportionment. Any federal tax, in order to be mandatory, must be imposed on one basis or the other (see Pollock v. Farmer's Loan and Trust, supra; and Brushaber v. Union Pacific R.R. 240 U.S. 1).
Since the income tax is imposed on neither basis, its payment cannot be made mandatory. And obviously, no one can be legitimately prosecuted with respect to a tax not imposed pursuant to the Constitution.
Further, the 16th Amendment did not amend the Constitution nor did it give the government any new taxing powers (such as the ability to impose a direct tax on income without apportionment). See Brushaber, supra and Stanton v. Baltic Mining Co, 240 U.S. 103.
Section 61 of the IRS Code does not define "Gross Income," since a word cannot be defined with itself. Therefore, what constitutes "income" is not defined in the IRS Code (see U.S. v. Ballard, 535 F2d 400,404).
In addition, Congress has no power to define the meaning of "income," since by doing so, it would be amending the Constitution by legislation alone (see Eisner v. Macomber 252 U.S. 189, 206). The Supreme Court defined income to mean a "gain or increase arising from corporate activities. (see Doyle v. Mitchell, 247 U.S. 179, and Merchant's Loan and Trust Co. v. Smietanka, 255 U.S. 509, 518,519).
Therefore, no American can have any income subject to an income tax, since the word income, for tax purposes, means a corporate profit. If anything, we have a Profits Tax, not an income tax. In addition, if the income tax were mandatory, it would have to be declared "void for vagueness" by any legitimate court, since no one can understand our income tax laws.
All IRS seizures in payment of income tax are illegal, and not provided by law. By statute, the IRS is only an administrative agency, and unlike the BATF, does not have any enforcement powers. Combining Section 7608 and the job description for Special Agents from the IRS Code, proves that the IRS agent has no more authority to seize property and impose IRS liens than some clerk who works for the Department of Education. Since the public does not read the law and are generally misinformed, the IRS makes about three million illegal seizures and liens each year.
All IRS tax liens are filed illegally. All States require that federal tax liens be certified by either the Secretary of the Treasury or someone with the delegated authority to certify such liens. Such federal tax liens are never certified, nor signed by the Secretary of the Treasury, or anybody else for that matter with the delegated authority to do so. Instead, these liens get recorded in violation of both federal and state law.
The federal income tax represents the most extensive program of organized deceit and extortion ever conceived by man, and proves that, in America, organized crime begins with the federal government.
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