Has anyone seen the film Zeitgeist? Part III Says we don't have to pay taxes?

Question

There are ex employees of the IRS stating that they quit and have not paid taxes since as there is no law that states we have to. Any tax lawyers out there that can verify that?

Answer 1

I've seen a documentary making similar claims, but I don't think there is much substance to this argument. US tax law is quite complicated, however, Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the Constitution states that "the Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes." However, when people make the argument about not paying taxes, they are usually referring to the Sixteenth Amendment, which became part of the Constitution in 1913. The Sixteenth Amendment reads, "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration." The main protest about this amendment is that it was not properly ratified by 2/3 of the states. There are many claims as to why (e.g., different states passed different versions due to variations in punctuation, spelling, etc.) There are all sorts of claims referring to various other parts of the Constitution. These arguments have been dismissed by the courts in all of the cases I am aware of.

Basically, if you didn't pay your taxes, you would be subject to penalties and fines from the IRS, and could even face jail time. Previous attempts to bring these issues to court have failed.

Answer 2

They say that because the law says only congress can tax people. But congress gives the irs the power to tax us, it is an implied power they have. Dont go skipping your taxes over this.

Answer 3

To put it simply, it's absolute idiocy. PERIOD. There is no truth to those claims whatsoever and only a lunatic would take that drivel as fact. Some bonehead that used to work for the IRS had a phychotic break. That doesn't make what he has to say today the truth.