…You’re stuck, and look fairly stupid.
At least once a week, the Tax Court tells a tax protester that, “Yes, Virginia, there is an income tax, and you must pay it.” And your arguments that (a) it’s unconstitutional, (b) you don’t live in the United States but in the state of [fill in the blank], or (c) it was never approved, etc. (see the Tax Protester FAQ for a complete list of the reasons) won’t work.
This week’s case is Hodges v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2005-168. We won’t bore you with the constitutional issues; rather, there’s an interesting issue that develops because of the petitioner’s claims regarding the unconstitutionality of the income tax. The amount of tax is dependent on when one of the petitioner’s relatives passed away. The Court chooses to not believe the petitioner as to the date of death. As pointed out by the Court, “We need not accept self-serving testimony, even if unopposed.” Would the Court have felt this way had their been no constitutional issues raised? We don’t know, but making stupid arguments to a court and then trying to get them to rule in your favor isn’t a good idea.
Oh, yes; the petitioners also received penalties for failing to file a return, for failing to make estimated payments, and for taking a frivolous petition.
So, Virginia, do you still want to claim there’s no income tax?