Irwin Schiff's Delusion
Irwin Schiff is a tax protestor who will probably spend the rest of his days in prison. It looks like he is going to fulfill the promise of his video Secrets of Living A Income Tax Free Life by not making any money behind bars.
Schiff and other such zero tax prophets offers an alternative reality more akin to a religious or poltical cult than to investment advice. You see this in Schiff's web site and also in his insanity defense, Schiff makes the claim that he suffers from a mental disease or defect and exhibits symptoms of chronic severe delusional disorder. He further contends that he has chronic acute bipolar disorder, depression and a delusional personality disorder. Within the 400 pages of exhibits to support his plea of insanity were affidavits even one from one of his own attorneys stating: "When confronted with contradictions in his conclusions, Schiff either ignores the challenge or moves on to new exhortations of what the law is and his omniscient 'expertise' on the meaning of income, taxable income, the court's applying the wrong standard, banking and/or money... Schiff's belief system appears to be completely circular: within that system Schiff is right, the government and the courts are wrong and he remains impervious to rational discussion...My attempts at rational discussions with Mr. Schiff have been more difficult than any...Stints of incarceration for years, IRS levies for hundreds of thousands of dollars, substantial sanctions and fines imposed by (1) the Second Circuit for bringing frivolous appeals and (2) the United States Tax Court for presenting groundless and frivolous arguments demonstrate that Schiff's belief system is impervious to negative feed back. Schiff's expectation seems to be that someday the federal courts will experience an epiphany and acknowlege that he has been right all along."
His main argument that paying taxes are "illegal" stems from his views that paying taxes is voluntary as the federal income tax is not authorized by the constitution's taxing clauses. Unfortunately for Schiff, judges and juries have rejected his theory, as we see in this news relase from Febrary 24, 2006.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Longtime tax protestor Irwin Schiff was sentenced in federal district court in Las Vegas to total of 163 months in prison—151 months for tax fraud and an additional 12 months for contempt of court—the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. In addition, Schiff was ordered to pay more than $4.2 million in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release..
In October 2005, Schiff was convicted of conspiring to defraud the United States, aiding and assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns, filing his own false tax returns, and evading the payment of millions of dollars in back taxes owed. This marks the third time Schiff has been convicted for committing federal tax offenses. Schiff previously has spent more than four years in jail for his tax crimes. Two associates of Schiff, Cynthia Neun and Lawrence Cohen, were also convicted of aiding and assisting other taxpayers in the filing of false tax returns. On February 3, 2006, Cohen was sentenced to 33 months in prison. Neun was sentenced yesterday to 68 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution..
“Last October, a jury of his peers found Mr. Schiff guilty of serious tax crimes related not only to his own tax evasion, but also to his encouraging and enabling others to file false returns. The prison sentence handed down today reflects the seriousness of those crimes,” said Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “The Department of Justice is working vigorously to vindicate the interests of law- abiding Americans who file returns and pay the taxes the law requires.”
Keeping tax records and paying taxes isn't easy nor fun, but it is necessary, the price we pay for our civilization. There are ways to legally mitigate paying taxes, and I make it a practice each year to order Publication 17 to school myself on new tax laws. But the answer isn't to follow such tax protesting hapless Pied Pipers as Irwin Schiff.
Schiff and other such zero tax prophets offers an alternative reality more akin to a religious or poltical cult than to investment advice. You see this in Schiff's web site and also in his insanity defense, Schiff makes the claim that he suffers from a mental disease or defect and exhibits symptoms of chronic severe delusional disorder. He further contends that he has chronic acute bipolar disorder, depression and a delusional personality disorder. Within the 400 pages of exhibits to support his plea of insanity were affidavits even one from one of his own attorneys stating: "When confronted with contradictions in his conclusions, Schiff either ignores the challenge or moves on to new exhortations of what the law is and his omniscient 'expertise' on the meaning of income, taxable income, the court's applying the wrong standard, banking and/or money... Schiff's belief system appears to be completely circular: within that system Schiff is right, the government and the courts are wrong and he remains impervious to rational discussion...My attempts at rational discussions with Mr. Schiff have been more difficult than any...Stints of incarceration for years, IRS levies for hundreds of thousands of dollars, substantial sanctions and fines imposed by (1) the Second Circuit for bringing frivolous appeals and (2) the United States Tax Court for presenting groundless and frivolous arguments demonstrate that Schiff's belief system is impervious to negative feed back. Schiff's expectation seems to be that someday the federal courts will experience an epiphany and acknowlege that he has been right all along."
His main argument that paying taxes are "illegal" stems from his views that paying taxes is voluntary as the federal income tax is not authorized by the constitution's taxing clauses. Unfortunately for Schiff, judges and juries have rejected his theory, as we see in this news relase from Febrary 24, 2006.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Longtime tax protestor Irwin Schiff was sentenced in federal district court in Las Vegas to total of 163 months in prison—151 months for tax fraud and an additional 12 months for contempt of court—the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. In addition, Schiff was ordered to pay more than $4.2 million in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release..
In October 2005, Schiff was convicted of conspiring to defraud the United States, aiding and assisting in the preparation of false income tax returns, filing his own false tax returns, and evading the payment of millions of dollars in back taxes owed. This marks the third time Schiff has been convicted for committing federal tax offenses. Schiff previously has spent more than four years in jail for his tax crimes. Two associates of Schiff, Cynthia Neun and Lawrence Cohen, were also convicted of aiding and assisting other taxpayers in the filing of false tax returns. On February 3, 2006, Cohen was sentenced to 33 months in prison. Neun was sentenced yesterday to 68 months in prison and ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution..
“Last October, a jury of his peers found Mr. Schiff guilty of serious tax crimes related not only to his own tax evasion, but also to his encouraging and enabling others to file false returns. The prison sentence handed down today reflects the seriousness of those crimes,” said Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “The Department of Justice is working vigorously to vindicate the interests of law- abiding Americans who file returns and pay the taxes the law requires.”
Keeping tax records and paying taxes isn't easy nor fun, but it is necessary, the price we pay for our civilization. There are ways to legally mitigate paying taxes, and I make it a practice each year to order Publication 17 to school myself on new tax laws. But the answer isn't to follow such tax protesting hapless Pied Pipers as Irwin Schiff.
Labels: taxes
posted by My Mall and News at
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