Spideynw wrote:So I have listened to the full audio. He asks the attorney if she has a witness with first hand knowledge that his client is a tax-payer. After a while she finally admits that she might have one, but does not know where he/she is and that she has never actually spoken with this person. It seems reasonable to me that if she has a witness, the defendant should be able to examine this witness. Don't you?
OK, let's go through the drill.
The attorney (and I assume you mean the attorney for the government) probably doesn't need to find a "witness" with "first hand knowledge" that the client is a "tax-payer."
"Witnesses"
testify to what are known as "questions of fact." Whether the client was born in the physical, geographical area of the United States, for example, might be a question of fact. And it might be an issue -- if the client wants to raise it as an issue in court. If the client wants to raise the issue, then the client might want to find a witness with personal knowledge as to where the client was born.
The legal effect of the client's citizenship status, however, is probably a question of law, not a question of fact. A question of law is not determined, strictly speaking, by finding a "witness." A question of law is determined in court, in a ruling by a judge.
If the client was born in the United States, then generally that client is a U.S. citizen. Now, if the client is a U.S. citizen, then that client is, by law, a "taxpayer" as defined in Internal Revenue Code section 7701(a). The term "taxpayer" here is simply a device to identify the "person subject to an internal revenue tax." It doesn't matter whether the client owes tax or does not owe tax for the tax year in question; the client is still a "taxpayer" under the law.
Now, if the client is not a U.S. citizen but is a U.S. resident, then the client is still a "taxpayer" as a matter of law. Whether the client physically lives in the geographical area of the United States is a question of fact -- so a "witness" with "personal knowledge" might be needed, but only if the client wants to raise that particular issue in a court of law. If the client isn't contesting that he or she is a U.S. resident, then the client is a "taxpayer" as a matter of law -- and nobody needs to come up with a "witness" with "personal knowledge".
"My greatest fear is that the audience will beat me to the punch line." -- David Mamet