Judge Bans Book Promoting Non-Payment Of US Income Tax

by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York

24 March 2003

A federal judge has ordered a controversial author of books and guides to stop selling his products claiming the collection of income tax in the United States is voluntary under the constitution.

Irwin Schiff, the subject of the judgement, penned "The Federal Mafia: How It Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes". He is a leading advocate of a group of anti-tax activists who assert that the constitutional amendment concerning income tax was never actually ratified, and therefore the government, through the IRS, does not have the legal right to enforce the law in this respect.

Reacting to the judgement, Schiff retorted: "Banning a book! The government is trying to prevent me from telling the truth about the income tax," claiming that the order violated his first amendment rights into the bargain.

One of the services that Schiff performed for his 3,100 clients was advising them to file a tax return detailing zero income and zero liabilities. It is estimated this equated to some $56 million in unpaid taxes. The scheme was one of the biggest tax scams in US history, according to Justice Department lawyer Evan Davis.

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