Wesley Snipes has put tax protesters in the cross hairs of the IRS
Lance on Feb 21 2008 at 6:30 pm | Filed under: Lance's Page, Law
Actor Wesley Snipes was found not guilty of federal tax fraud and conspiracy charges earlier this month. Basically he blamed it on the tax advice he received. Whether one believes that he didn’t know that when one earns $38 million you are likely to owe some tax, much less request a 12 million dollar refund, the decision has gotten the IRS to take the tax protester movement seriously:
Treasury and Justice Department officials say the protester ranks are growing and now include white-collar professionals. And they are costing the government millions of dollars.
“Too many people succumb to the fallacy, the illusion, that you don’t have to pay any tax under any set of conditions,” Assistant Attorney General Nathan Hochman told Bloomberg. “That is a growing problem.”
The movement has been energized by the Snipes trial:
According to the Bloomberg report, in addition to the Snipes verdict in which he was cleared of tax conspiracy charges, the tax protester movement has been given a boost by the faltering economy and politicians’ vilification of the Internal Revenue Service.
And, no surprise here, the promotion of “kooky” avoidance plans has been aided by the Internet, where many firms sell strategies online and believers encourage others to join the anti-tax efforts.
“Any kooky tax protester can put up their theories,” said Jonathan R. Siegel, a professor at George Washington University’s law school. “It is much easier to get their message before a mass audience.”
You can read the full Bloomberg story on the coming tax enforcement activities here.
You also should check out Siegel’s collection of tax protester myths here.
And the official U.S. word on such efforts can be found at this special Web page dedicated to debunking frivolous tax arguments.
One Response to “Wesley Snipes has put tax protesters in the cross hairs of the IRS”
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Incredible. Truly incredible.