"Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes. Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands."
~ Learned Hand, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit (1872-1961) Gregory v. Helvering 69 F.2d 809, 810 (2d Cir. 1934), aff'd, 293 U.S. 465, 55 S.Ct. 266, 79 L.Ed. 596 (1935)
To write an article that casts the Internal Revenue Service in a bad light may have its obvious consequences – retaliation by the IRS. So this report is written anonymously.
Sadly, America is fast becoming a fascist country without recognition by its citizens. Public anger is misdirected and divides the nation, which insulates the government from public pressure. Division is how government keeps the pressure off of itself – rich vs. poor, black vs. white, immigrant vs. non-immigrant, union vs. non-union worker. In the following report, it’s tax-payer vs. tax evader.
Furthermore, government can even violate the Constitution with impunity because it picks off dissenters one by one, breaching the rights of one, not all. It was Martin Niemoller (1892-1984), born in Lippstadt, Germany, who wrote the following:
"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."
The story of a tax evader versus the IRS is generally not sufficient to attract the attention of most Americans. Most Americans don’t side with tax evaders, feeling they are cheating others. Furthermore, most Americans cannot distinguish tax evasion from tax avoidance. Pay your fair share of taxes, just like all the rest of us! That is the common sentiment.
Even when Americans are asked if they know of any specific law which requires citizens to pay income taxes, most Americans look perplexed as to why a law would be needed in the first place. What is often heard is that every good American citizen should pay their taxes regardless of whether there is a law or not.
America has drastically changed from its earliest beginnings. America actually started out as a tax protest, the Boston Tea Party being the best specific example. Today, protest taxes and you are considered unpatriotic!
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