Can someone win against the IRS?

Question

Has anyone ever won a legal battle against the IRS, as far as proving that they didn't make "income" for a particular tax year?

Wayne Z- Are you speaking from direct knowledge of the law, or hearsay, or something else? People are winning left and right. An acquittal or a full refund of withholdings is a win, in my book. Ever heard of Tom Cryer? I do not categorize myself as a tax protestor. I take it upon myself to learn the actual law, however. I pay sales tax and property tax all the time. I choose to opt out of any tax which is optional. If someone comes up to you on the street and says you owe them money, do you believe them? There is something suspicious about believing the entity that is the direct benefactor, when that entity tells you that you owe the fruits of your labor. Do some more reading please, and not on the IRS website. They have no reason to tell you the whole truth.

taxreff- You are right, illegal tax protestors are wasting their time. When an argument is "frivolous" it has "no basis in law". People often go by hearsay and what the masses believe to be true, although that truth is often delivered by a powerful institution that has a very far reach, and benefits from misleading.

I meant optional insofar as an activity is optional. An excise is Constitutional since the activity being taxed is avoidable. Working for a living is not avoidable.

Answer 1

Yes they can.

Answer 2

The IRS is not perfect and loses a few cases in Tax Court, but not too many.

A lot of cases like this involve lack of documentation for deductions for business expenses where IRS disallows everything and Tax Court plays Solomon and cuts the baby in half by saying the taxpayer had to have some of the disallowed expenses and allows something but not near everything that would be allowed if the taxpayer kept records.

Protester types get smacked around pretty hard and most of the time not only does the court sustain IRS, it add a penalty for wasting the court's time and aggravating the judge

Answer 3

When you look at tax court results in legitimate disputes, the results are about 50-50 between the IRS and the taxpayers. I would suggest you give more information regarding your own situation.

Of course, legitimate disagreements do not include cases brought by illegal tax protesters. Illegal tax protesters are those who make frivolous and long-discredited claims (such as the income tax being illegal, wages aren't income, etc.).

The IRS has a 100% victory rate in such cases. In fact, in the face of so many losing prescedents one can be fined up to $25K simply for wasting the tax court's time by making such arguements.

Answer 4

FYI, Tom Crier was acquitted on CRIMINAL charges. He did NOT beat the civil charges or get off without paying the tax due, however. His final tax bill is neary 5 times what it would have been had the idiot simply paid it when it was due. Add about double that on top for his attorneys fees, court costs, etc.

I'm not aware of any "optional" taxes in the US. The only optional tax I've ever run across is a 5% church tax levied in Germany. It used to be mandatory but was made optional in the early 1980s.

Answer 5

No. But it depends what you mean.

If you received a gift or a loan that the IRS was trying to claim was "income", yes, you could win. If someone were trying to use one of the various tax protesters theories that their wages were not income or other bogus argument, no, they would not win and no one has ever won using one of those arguments.

A few tax protesters have beaten criminal raps and kept themselves out of jail by claiming that they didn't understand the rules or were too stupid to realize the requirements but they have all had to pay the taxes (plus penalties and interest).

Edit--

By looking at your other question, it seems as though you may be a tax protester in the making. File your returns and pay your taxes, you will be much happier in the long run.

Edit (again) -

Mr. Cryer has managed to keep himself out of jail but the issue with the tax liability is still outstanding. You are wrong....you are a tax protester and, if you continue upon this path, you will end up penniless and alone. Show me one example of someone who has used your theories and gotten out of paying their taxes. Like I said, Mr. Cryer's days in the court system are far from over. In fact, the State of Louisiana has moved to disbar him for his actions.

Edit (Yet again) -

I see by another previous question, you are already in pretty deep with the IRS. Just an FYI......The penalty now for filing a frivolous return is now $5000 per return. The arguments that you have put forward in your posts have already been ruled by the courts as being frivolous.

Edit - (Yes....again)

Working for a living is absolutely optional. If you do not work (or have investment income) then you do not have to pay taxes. If you have income over a certain amount, you will pay taxes. It is as simple as that.

Answer 6

Maybe you care about Tom Cryer, but I certainly don't.

So he got a court to acquit him on tax EVASION charges. Big whoop, he STILL owes the taxes. He STILL owes the interest and penalties, all of which could have been avoided if he'd simply paid the taxes in the first place.

Yeah, it's nice for him that he avoided jail time, but y'know living in the poor house ain't worth it either. Arguing in court that you are an honest, sincere, but ultimately idiotic tax protester must do wonders for the ego.

Answer 7

Yes, a taxpayer can legitimately win against the IRS. For example, there was a nurse who had gastric bypass surgery and lost a significant amount of weight. As a result of the weight loss, the nurse had to have plastic surgery to remove excess skin. The nurse took a deduction for medical expenses that she paid for the excess skin removal. The nurse was audited and was denied the medical deduction by the IRS. She sued the IRS and won her case.

Answer 8

I'm certain that there are those who have, though I can't give you any examples at this time. The easiest method of proof would be if someone else claimed you as a dependent for the year in question. Have the person who claimed you testify in tax court that you didn't earn any money and that he paid for your expenses him/herself.