Cam: Dude, you were supposed to have been coming of age in the late 60's. You radical, you.

Cam, you'd pay the tax in the US if you had an income, or you'd be in jail 00 unless you were super-rich and funneled your income through various quasi-legal tax dodges...

There are probably as many "income tax is optional" believers as there are people who think the Earth is flat or people who don't believe evolution is true. They're all delusional.

Now, whether it's fair or not is a separate issue. But there's certainly nothing illegal about it.

I researched this issue about 20 years ago and came to the conclusion that income-tax evasion is only for those that love to be coddled by guys that are bigger than themselves.

I think it's probably unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court has never heard a case to that effect.

Peter, possibly the only reason why I would pay the income tax if I was an American citizen, would be to avoid the "law" requiring you to pay it (big men with guns and badges, and the precedent set in jurisprudence (approximately 22 cases)).

As far as the number of people that "think income tax is optional (or illegal)", is most definitely a small group of (informed) individuals, but they're not akin to delusional members of the flat earth society, or those that deny evolution.

Here's a link to Aaron Russo's documentary , which is probably the best documentary on the unconstitutional and thenceforth illegal income tax. It's broken down into 11 parts, so it's easy to watch at anyone's leisure, and I hope many of you will.

It would be interesting if someone was to call their congressional representative and ask them to provide them with the law that states that you have to pay it. That's the only way somebody can disprove that it's illegal, rather than denigrating people that think otherwise based on research that they've done.

The subject at hand doesn't even affect me, but I seek the truth regardless. Put it this way-if I lived in the United States, and had the questions and beliefs that I am setting forth, I'd seek answers, rather than accepting what's being shoved down my throat. Maybe I'd be proven wrong, but I'd take comfort it knowing.

So you don't think the tax code referenced in the Snopes article is a law?

oops

Next you're going to tell me that bananas prove the existence of God!

Cam, you qualify your statement with "based on what I know", but it's obvious to me that you don't know enough of the facts of the law on this subject. Besides criminal prosecution, taxation, investments and estate planning has been my main area of legal practice, and I'd no more countenance a government robbing with an "illegal" tax than I would a sleeze doing it with a gun. Questions about whether the present income tax, or any income tax for that matter, is "fair" are a valid subject for debate(but political, social, etc. questions don't belong here to needlessly arouse antagonisms), but whether it's legal is a well-settled matter. Hundreds of cases, including several in the U.S. Supreme Court, have unambiguously ruled on the various claims raised. Probably the best online source is this "Tax Protester FAQ" by Atty. Evans, which I've cited on another board in furnishing financial and legal assistance. It's very lengthy, but you should be informed on the subject since you have an interest in it.

I think everyone pays tax to avoid the trouble with the law.