Unanswered Questions

by Paul Hein

As tax-time rears its ugly head, I find myself, once again, puzzled by certain questions that never get answers, although they certainly deserve them. They are not at all technical or complicated, so it would seem that they should be easy to answer. In fact, they ARE easy to answer, so I guess my frustration is that the answers are never forthcoming. For example:

What is our money?

How much of it is a dollar?

I have it in writing from the IRS that there is no definition of the word “dollar” in the Internal Revenue Code. But they expect me to state the value of my income in these undefined terms, and swear that my information is true, complete, and correct, to the best of MY knowledge and belief! How can I possibly do that?

That this is not an impossible question is easily demonstrated: prior to 1968, our money was silver (standard silver, 90% pure), and the dollar quantity was 412.5 grains. Simple. But today? Moreover, the “buying power” (since modern “money” can be evaluated in no other terms) of the dollar is constantly dropping. Is an income of 2,000 in January of the same value as 2,000 the following December? How can you show that on your tax return? Remember, you have to swear that it is accurate to the best of YOUR knowledge and belief!

If I am endowed by my Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which is the right to free speech, doesn’t that mean that I can say nothing if that is what I wish to communicate?

Must I speak to strangers if I don’t want to?

Then how can I be compelled to complete government forms against my will? I don’t have to tell you what cars I owned as of January 1, nor my Social Security number, nor the amount of interest I earned, if I don’t want to. How can the institution that presumably exists to protect that right threaten to punish me if I don’t give it the information it desires? Who’s the public servant, and who is the sovereign?

Am I a tax collector?

Do I get paid for collecting taxes for Uncle Sam?

I thought that involuntary servitude was prohibited by the Constitution, which government employees swear to uphold. Why must I, against my will, work for hours completing government forms, or working to earn the money to pay someone else to do it, if involuntary servitude is prohibited?

Can information provided by an individual on a tax form be used against that individual in a criminal proceeding? I am not talking about “self-incrimination.” That phrase does not appear in the Constitution. But that document does protect us (theoretically!) from having to witness against ourselves. Haven’t many individuals been convicted of crimes based, at least in part, upon evidence that they provided on their tax returns? Are tax-filers given immunity? Are they given a Miranda warning?

What is the extent of U.S. jurisdiction? Does it extent beyond the geographical limits of U.S. territory? How can that be? If I earn my living in Missouri, in a non-federal area of the state (and in Missouri, there is very little federal territory) how do I find myself subject to U.S. law regarding taxation?

Is there, in fact, any federal law that imposes an income tax upon me? I haven’t been able to find it, or anyone in state or federal government, who can tell me what it is. In the pamphlet accompanying the 1040 form, the IRS tells us that its authority to require information from us comes from sections 6001, 6011, and 6012 of the Code. Read those. They grant no such authority. Moreover, federal courts in various districts around the country have disagreed upon which section of the code imposes the tax. If the experts cannot agree, isn’t the law too vague to be valid?

Is the income tax an excise or property tax? The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled one way, the eighth circuit (which contains Missouri) another. Don’t I have the right to know? Who am I to believe?

Finally, isn’t perjury lying under oath?

Can you commit perjury without having taken an oath?

Then why must I sign my income tax form “under penalty of perjury?” Since I couldn’t possibly have committed perjury (having taken no oath) why should I take responsibility for it? Will the IRS give me information under penalty of perjury? For that matter, will it give me any information on these issues at all?

As I mentioned above, the answers to these questions are all pretty obvious, and it’s equally obvious why the IRS won’t answer them. It’s a measure of my naiveté that I entertain the hope, however dim, that the truth will admitted by those sworn to uphold the law.

April 2, 2002