Sheldon Richman, libertarian, debunks tax protester nonsense

[Famspear]

I am not a libertarian. In my study of tax protesters I have noticed that the labels of "libertarian" and "tax protesters" are often found in proximity to each other in some way or another. That is perhaps unfortunate for the vast majority of libertarians, who (I assume) are neither delusional nor dishonest.

Here is a link to an article by Sheldon Richman, who appears to be a libertarian. The article clearly debunks, in fairly clear language for non-technical people, some of the basic tax protester arguments about direct taxes, indirect taxes, the Pollock case, the Sixteenth Amendment, and the Brushaber case.

I have read nothing else that he has written, but at this first glance Richman appears to be a libertarian who clearly understands the difference between being against the income tax on philosophical grounds (which he is) and being delusional about the constitutionality or applicability of the income tax (which he apparently is not).

The essay is in three parts. It is not very long. It is entitled "Beware Income-Tax Casuistry." It begins here:

http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0608b.asp

Every libertarian should consider reading it.

Every tax protester should be REQUIRED to read it (though how much good it would do is anybody's guess).

[RyanMcC]

The author of that article has a blog here for anyone interested.

Here is a similar type of article on Lew Rockwell no less:

Protesting the Tax Protesters

[Demosthenes]

Former Libertarian presidential candidate Harry Browne's emails to Larken Rose are classics.

I don't know how long you've been paying attention to the tax
code, but I've been watching people like you come and go for
25 years. They come with great fanfare, saying they're different
from all the tax-protestors before them, you can trust them to
know what they're doing, you can rely on them to risk going to
prison, you can count on all the cases they can tell you about
where other people are not paying taxes anymore and getting
away with it.

And then one day they go -- to prison. It may take five years
before they do; it may take ten; it may take 15. But it happens.
But before they do, they inspire a bunch of people to tell me how
dumb I am, how thoughtless, how unwilling I am to face the truth
or tell it. Worse, they inspire those people to follow their advice,
and many of those poor souls wind up either in prison or paying
enormous penalties. And never does the great guru offer to pay
their losses.

Good luck, Mr. Rose. You're sure as * going to need it.

With best wishes,
Harry Browne

And a related article by Browne called "Jail Bait."

http://www.harrybrowne.org/articles/JailBait.htm

Opening paragraph:

You may encounter schemes that purport to eliminate all income taxes legally. These plans are based on misguided interpretations of the income tax rules, and they're dangerous.

[Levendis]

After the Badnarik affair in 2004, I decided to ignore the Libertarian Party. When I was an undergraduate, I joined the LP. The tinfoil hat advertisements in libertarian publications regarding the illegality of the income tax were intriguing. But there were no vocal proponents of the other side. My many hours online eventually led me here years before I registered a profile. I only wish the Service would see fit to buy advertising in those same libertarian publications. I could have drunk the koolaid. My strongest defense was that I never owed taxes after withholding or various credits wiped out my liability. Not everyone is so "lucky".

[Investor]

Former Libertarian presidential candidate Harry Browne's emails to Larken Rose are classics.

I've had similar conversations with TP's over the years. I've been told that I'm "narrow minded" and that I "just refuse to question the system". When I tell these people how many have come before them, and how many I've warned, they just tell me that those people didn't know what they know, and they weren't as prepared to fight like they are

That's when I do what Browne did - wish them luck and offer my condolences for their future stint in the pokey and/or their inevitable financial ruin.