Wesley Snipes in court today
...using the Radar defense.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/business/14tax.html?em&ex=1200459600&en=46593d6088aab1ba&ei=5087%0A
From 1999 to 2004, the actor Wesley Snipes earned $38 million appearing in more than half a dozen movies, including two sequels to his popular vampire thriller “Blade.”
The taxes he paid in the same period? Zero.
But unlike other celebrities who find themselves on the wrong side of the Internal Revenue Service, Mr. Snipes has a flamboyant explanation: he argues that he is not actually required to pay taxes.
Mr. Snipes, who is scheduled to go on trial Monday in Ocala, Fla., has become an unlikely public face for the antitax movement, whose members maintain that Americans are not obligated to pay income taxes and that the government extracts taxes from its citizens illegally.
:corn: I agree wholeheartedly
no, no, I'm sure Radar will show up there to argue his defense. Once radar points out to the federal government that they don't really have to power to collect the taxes I'm sure the IRS attorneys will turn red with embarrassment before they go back to their office and tell everyone to just close down the shop, they aren't needed anymore.
I think someone should give Wesley Radars number. Radar would be better than any lawyer who actually knows about the law.
right up until he announces that he is free to kill the judge for infringing upon his freedoms by trying to enforce an unconstitutional law. the outcome of the trial might get a bit dicey then.
hmmmm...I see your point. Maybe better just leave it to the sensible people then.
right up until he announces that he is free to kill the judge for infringing upon his freedoms by trying to enforce an unconstitutional law. the outcome of the trial might get a bit dicey then.
:lol:
I don't see what the big deal is ... the courts have no right to even hear this case, since the plain interpretation of the constitution supersedes their right to decide legality in this issue.
Why did Mr. Snipes even show up? He should have just stayed home and cuddled up with a nice warm cup of Smug.
The Smoking Gun is on the case
A typically loony (and illuminating) Snipes document, which can be found here, was filed by the celebrity with Florida's Orange County comptroller. While it's unclear what the purpose was of Snipes's three-page June 2005 legal notice, the document's nuttiness is plainly evident. A fingerprint, DNA information, a blood sample, and references to Snipes's "lifebirth origin" are just some of the document's highlights. Oh, and there's a mention of the actor's nine-digit "global-tracking number." Since this seems to be a reference to his social security number, we've fogged out those digits.
eh hem - maybe Radar really is Wesley or one of his advisers.
When making $tens of millions, is there a financial manager who takes care of all this? Or did Snipes not have one?
At one point I had heard that he was apparently advised by somebody who took to Radar's school of thought on taxation. But you can't get to where he is without being a true believer as well.
I know, knew? Welders who tried that shit. Lost their homes and wages for years. Wishful thinking, Yes?
Now Snipes is using the 'I didn't know that my partner in crime is nuts' defense.
At work one day, I saw a woman with a child and heavy in credit card debt. She was thinking of doing a similar tax evasion scheme that Snipes was using. With a help of a few web sites, I persuaded her not to try.
Was that wise, deadbeater?
You talked her out of free room and board with no money problems, for probably... oh, 5 to 10 years?
xo, she had a young girl. Perhaps you could take care of her?
I'm already spending a fortune on everybody else's kids, whats one more.
At one point I had heard that he was apparently advised by somebody who took to Radar's school of thought on taxation. But you can't get to where he is without being a true believer as well.
And we all know nothing. So hows it working out for this guy Radar?
In lengthy filings to the IRS, the three defendants claimed they did not legally have to pay taxes, citing an obscure section of the tax code that establishes that foreign sources of income for U.S. citizens are taxable. Protesters take that to mean only foreign sources are taxable, and wages made in this country are not.
That's weird. I thought these sorts of arguments were typically based on the 16th Amendment being invalid.
Snipes also argued in long, bizarre letters that he was a nonresident alien; that the IRS terrorizes and deceives citizens; and that efforts to prosecute him would cause "increased collateral risk."
Ah yes. Now we finally get to the part where he's actually a nutcase who's been hiding behind a great publicist all these years.
And just what is so nutty about the traditional "efforts to prosecute me will cause increased collateral risk" defense?
That's a bit like saying he's going to shoot them if they try and take his money away isn't it?
Gee...didn't someone else say that around here?
That's a bit like saying he's going to shoot them if they try and take his money away isn't it?
Gee...didn't someone else say that around here?
Why yes in fact he did say something to that effect.
No, even though he's a Snipser, he was saying Radar is going to shoot them, if the don't drop the case.
I think someone should give Wesley Radars number. Radar would be better than any lawyer who actually knows about the law.
Unlike most lawyers, I actually do know the law. For instance there is no law that compels Americans to pay income taxes. Several former IRS agents found this out and quit their jobs. Joe Bannister, John Turner, and Sherry Jackson are a few of the more famous ones who asked to be shown the law, and were told they could resign.
Radar, he didn't use the "taxes are unlawful" defense. He used the "i got screwed by my advisors" defense. He was convicted of 3 counts of failing to file, but will face little time in jail. He will, however, have to pay all taxes an penalties.
To be convicted of the felony charge he was facing the IRS would need to prove that he knew taxes were non-voluntary and chose not to pay them. Pretty high burden of proof.
Co-defendants Eddie Ray Kahn, the founder of a tax protest group, and Douglas P. Rosile, a delicensed accountant, were convicted by the same jury of tax fraud and conspiracy.
I got it! I'm going to not file any further taxes, and when they ask me why not, I'll tell them I was advised that filing is non-voluntary by my advisor and now co-defendant, Mr. Paul Ireland.
And hopefully the penalties will come out to less than the interest you made investing that money, and all will be well!
Those who use the reliance defense (which Snipes didn't) aren't found guilty of anything (including failing to file) and aren't forced to pay any taxes.
Except for the part where they are sometimes found guilty, and always forced to pay all the back taxes they owe in any case, usually with late penalties. Like
this guy. Or
these people.
From the above link:
The Rizzos also admitted that they provided opinion letters, materials and documentation that claimed, among other things, that taxpayers could lawfully stop filing income tax returns and stop their employers from withholding income taxes from their wages. This claim was based upon the long-rejected notion that the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution had not been legally ratified.
I found this interesting, goes along with some "discussion" we had in another thread too.
Radar, why were his advisers found guilty then?
Except for the part where they are sometimes found guilty, and always forced to pay all the back taxes they owe in any case, usually with late penalties. Like this guy. Or these people.
You're linking to a webpage run by a moron who doesn't know shit. The only real loser at Quatloos is the guy who made the website.
John Turner, Joe Bannister, Peymon Mottahedeh, Bob Schulz and many others have successfully used the reliance defense and were never made to pay a single penny of income taxes.
Bob Schulz actually took out full page ads in the USA Today telling the IRS that he would not pay income taxes, and he had employers state that they would not withhold income taxes from the paychecks of their workers. Not one of them has ever been made to pay taxes.
All of the tax protesters shown on that website are correct with the law, though Judge Rizzo screwed up his defense and by doing so, made it tougher for others.
The government violated several laws in its attack on Irwin Schiff. They even said he couldn't publish his book
(violation of the 1st amendment) Irwin was wrong to suggest that people file zero returns. They shouldn't file any returns because we are not compelled to do so by the law and because the bottom of the 1040 tax form says the information will be shared with law enforcement officials. If we make a mistake on our taxes it will be viewed as a violation of the law, and according to the 5th amendment, we are not required to do anything that might incriminate ourselves.
From the above link:
I found this interesting, goes along with some "discussion" we had in another thread too.
That site has no credibility. The 16th amendment actually was not legitimately ratified, and contrary to the lies told on that website, this was never "debunked".
When you ask the IRS to provide the law that compels individuals to pay income taxes, they refuse to do so.
Radar, why were his advisers found guilty then?
Because the courts are corrupt. Judges get their paycheck from the government and do put the interests of the government ahead of the interests of the people. They claim to have the authority to allow unconstitutional laws when they are in the interest of government despite not being given this kind of power by the Constitution.
So, I'm not sure I understand. They acquitted him on felony conspiracy and tax fraud charges, but they've sentenced him to 3 years in prison on
misdemeanor charges?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/business/25snipes.html?hpTax dodger gets 3 years in prison. Sounds good to me.
They couldn't prove he was not just misled, and not a conspirator, when he violated the law.
From Wiki...
This distinction is principally used in criminal law in the United States legal system, where the federal government generally considers a crime punishable by more than five days up to a year in jail to be a misdemeanor, while considering crimes punishable by greater than a year in prison to be felonies; crimes of five days or less in jail, or no jail at all, are considered infractions
up to a year, yeah, but they gave him 3.
okay, that makes sense. but, geesh.
...using the Radar defense.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/business/14tax.html?em&ex=1200459600&en=46593d6088aab1ba&ei=5087%0A
Correction, he didn't use the Radar defense. That is why he's going to jail. His mistake was that he wasn't consistent. He didn't file on some years, and did file other years. Claiming you believed you didn't have to and then did, and then didn't again, doesn't do well for your case.
He got 3 years. He'll do 1 and get probation...if that.
The Radar defense is the same defense Joe Bannister used to beat the government when they took him to court for not filing.
So, I'm not sure I understand. They acquitted him on felony conspiracy and tax fraud charges, but they've sentenced him to 3 years in prison on misdemeanor charges?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/business/25snipes.html?hp
One way or another...
Correction, he didn't use the Radar defense. That is why he's going to jail.
The other two did and got 4.5 and 10 years.
The other two did and got 4.5 and 10 years.
:lol2: I love it. I hope they rot.
Paying taxes on income isn't patriotic, it isn't legal, and it's not ethical. It is slavery, it's coercion, and it's extortion.
We don't owe any portion of our income to the government, and people don't pay taxes because they think it's a good idea, or because they like the things the government spends that stolen money on. They do it because if they don't, men with guns will come and lock them up. It's no different than the Mafia asking for protection money. Neither of them have a legitimate claim on the money, but they use force or the threat of force against their victims to demand money.
The IRS even says that paying income taxes is voluntary.
Great, glad you think that way. You can rot in jail with Mr Snipes, you could be "friends". :lol2:
OMG! Radar, I agree with you about something! Maybe there is hope in the world.
You know who else thought that way? George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Patrick Henry, Paul Revere, John Jay, John Hancock, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Samuel Adams, Thomas Paine, John Marshall, etc.
I'll just ask this - who pays for the roads and parks and gov't salaries and stuff then....? just askin where that $$$ is supposed to come from.
I'm already spending a fortune on everybody else's kids, whats one more.
EXACTLY why I'm back here. That, and I'm seriously needing some get back from my project.
xo fucking HIGH larious Bee ruce.
Paying taxes on income isn't patriotic, it isn't legal, and it's not ethical. It is slavery, it's coercion, and it's extortion.
We don't owe any portion of our income to the government, and people don't pay taxes because they think it's a good idea, or because they like the things the government spends that stolen money on. They do it because if they don't, men with guns will come and lock them up. It's no different than the Mafia asking for protection money. Neither of them have a legitimate claim on the money, but they use force or the threat of force against their victims to demand money.
The IRS even says that paying income taxes is voluntary.
a. It's the "golden Rule" principle. I.e. You have the gold, you make the rules.
b. You can voluntarily pay your taxes or you can go to jail. Easy as falling off a rock and often as painful.
My wish is to have a tax bill of half a million dollars based upon my income alone, not penalties or fines. I promise I wouldn't piss and moan. If I make enough $ to have that large a tax bill I gaurantee it wasn't the result of the sweat of my brow. I know how much money a person makes who actually consumes his or her body to make a living. I have also worked in the film industry and I know who does the "work" and who gets the pay. (hint not the same folks) I'd love to make enough money that I'd owe a million in taxes. It wouldn't hurt a bit. YES it's a shakedown, but so what? I'm still making millions of fucking dollars.
When you get rich, Foot, I'll send the mob and Jesse Jackson to your place too. That's if you still don't mind shakedowns by then.
I agree with radar. Historically, taxes have been used as a way to enslave the masses and then guess what? Take your crap anyway. Why not just let the guy pay out and not go to jail. That's all they want, the money. I don't even think it was a crime or moral issue. If you could just shove the money into their greedy mouths and not go to jail that would be awesome.
I wonder how many taxes he has paid? How much money? Probably more than I make in 2 years.
It's funny that it's only a crime not to file when you owe them and not when they owe you.
I'll just ask this - who pays for the roads and parks and gov't salaries and stuff then....? just askin where that $$$ is supposed to come from.
100% of the Constitutional parts of government
(roads, legislature, judiciary, etc.) can be paid for with the tariffs and excise taxes we already collect without raising taxes a single penny.
Income taxes go to pay the interest on the loans the government has taken out from other countries to pay for the unconstitutional parts of government including unconstitutional wars of aggression directed at those who posed no threat to our own.
The American government borrows money in our name, and then gives it away to other countries in food or guns...mostly guns. It arms both sides of every dispute, and sticks our nose where it doesn't belong. It pays for our bloated military that is 8 times larger than it needs to be to defend America well.
I agree with radar. Historically, taxes have been used as a way to enslave the masses and then guess what? Take your crap anyway. Why not just let the guy pay out and not go to jail. That's all they want, the money. I don't even think it was a crime or moral issue. If you could just shove the money into their greedy mouths and not go to jail that would be awesome.
I wonder how many taxes he has paid? How much money? Probably more than I make in 2 years.
They want to make an example of him, and of anyone that doesn't allow them to steal the fruits of your labor without a fight.
And what of this SS I continually pay into that I will never see a dime of? How lame am I? I know that the people of my generation and younger aren't going to see a bit of it, and I pay to keep people off my ass. Which I shouldn't. It's so fucking wrong. They don't adjust for inflation.
By my calculations on their calculations...By the time I file for SS benefits my monthly income will amount to a candy bar and a tank of gas a month. lol! Maybe they will pay out!! lol!! Here's a check that will expire as soon as you cash it. The bank will process your check for the amount of money on the check. Have a nice day.
I'm just pissed that my husband and I worked hard all year last year...Paid a lot in taxes and somehow owe them even more money for being married and claiming it.
SSI is just another tax on our income. It's used to pay for a bankrupt ponzi scheme.
A Ponzi Scheme is exactly what it is.
The entire world economy is a pyramid scheme. Otherwise, why would anyone want the economy to grow?
Speaking of SSI (that's just social security, right?), I started paying into that, in a small way, when I was 16 years old. Paid into it most of my life. Now I pay into PERS. I've heard I won't get both. WTF? Does anyone know? I tried looking into it but I didn't understand it, partly because I'm stupid and partly because they don't want me to, and partly because I might not want to know. Is it true?
The entire world economy is a pyramid scheme. Otherwise, why would anyone want the economy to grow?
That ... I ... just ...holy crap. The sheer amount of ignorance in those two sentences is almost more than I can fathom.
Economics is not a zero-sum game. Every dollar earned is not "taken" from somebody. It is possible, in fact, it is the norm, for free markets to increase in the general prosperity of ALL involved. That's what it means to "grow the economy."
Lord, I hope you were just being sarcastic.
Stop talking like that you neo con prick! you're just glad to crush the middle class so you can enslave them along with the working poor we already have! Every time a rich man makes a dollar, two are stolen from the poor, and a bunny rabbit is killed! ____________insert completely BS, rant against wealth creation here _____________________________.
HLJ....I think he was kidding. At least it's back to the old reactionary cellar I know. I was worried that there wasn't enough flaming going on lately! (outside of our beloved Sheldon)
;)
That ... I ... just ...holy crap. The sheer amount of ignorance in those two sentences is almost more than I can fathom.
Economics is not a zero-sum game. Every dollar earned is not "taken" from somebody. It is possible, in fact, it is the norm, for free markets to increase in the general prosperity of ALL involved. That's what it means to "grow the economy."
Lord, I hope you were just being sarcastic.
Any fool can fill a page with ignorance. It takes a special kind of genius to condense it into two brief sentences.
Any fool can fill a page with ignorance. It takes a special kind of genius to condense it into two brief sentences.
But I still think the world economy is a pyramid scheme...
... which is now collapsing.
The world finance market has been gambling without knowing the odds. And now the debts are due.