Hendrickson Question

[bmielke]

I have been curious about this for a while, if Hedrickson wrote the book and started a forum, but filed his taxes through a reputable CPA and did so correctly, what would have happened?

[Duke2Earl]

If he had been careful to style all he said as "educational" and made it clear he was not advising anyone to break any law.... probably nothing.

[LPC]

if Hedrickson wrote the book and started a forum, but filed his taxes through a reputable CPA and did so correctly, what would have happened?

I suspect that the book itself does not give any specifics of how to file a "CtC educated" return (such as the use of Form 4852), so the book itself is harmless.

The website and forum are problematical, because they promote a particular filing method, and so promote a "plan" to avoid taxes.

So Hendrickson might have been enjoined from continuing to use his website to promote a tax avoidance scheme, but that probably would have been the end of it. He would have been free to promote his book, and rant about the ebil gubmint, to his heart's content.

[bmielke]

if Hedrickson wrote the book and started a forum, but filed his taxes through a reputable CPA and did so correctly, what would have happened?

I suspect that the book itself does not give any specifics of how to file a "CtC educated" return (such as the use of Form 4852), so the book itself is harmless.

The website and forum are problematical, because they promote a particular filing method, and so promote a "plan" to avoid taxes.

So Hendrickson might have been enjoined from continuing to use his website to promote a tax avoidance scheme, but that probably would have been the end of it. He would have been free to promote his book, and rant about the ebil gubmint, to his heart's content.

So instead of criminal charges he would have had an injuntion?

Has there ever been a guru who feeds the sheep his BS while sitting back relatively safe from prosecution?

[Number Six]

Yet Irwin Schiff ran afoul of the law for his book:

"Case regarding The Federal Mafia
The Federal Mafia is a book written in prison[18] by Schiff. In the book, Schiff contended that the income tax system and Internal Revenue Service were illegal. On August 9, 2004, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction issued by a U.S. District Court in Nevada under 26 U.S.C. § 7408 against Irwin Schiff and associates Cynthia Neun and Lawrence Cohen, against the sale of this book by those persons.[19] This prohibition does not extend to other sellers of the book. The court rejected Schiff's contention on appeal that the First Amendment protects sales of the book, as the court found that the information it contains is fraudulent.[20]Wiki

Many other "illegal tax shelters" have been similarly prohibited from promoting such info. Save-a-Patriot is under a ban too. Boston T. Party was smart to stop producing his book, because he had "grown tired" of the subject--he recommended Hendrickson and his authoritative website. Hmmm. Smart move Mr. Royce. You'll be in the vanguard when TSHTF.

[Demosthenes]

Had Schiff removed a couple of pages from his book, he could have continued to sell it without further repercussions.

[Judge Roy Bean]

...
Has there ever been a guru who feeds the sheep his BS while sitting back relatively safe from prosecution?

Van Pelt comes to mind.