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Wesley Snipes was sentenced to 3 years in federal tax court in Ocala, Florida. Who's the clear winner in this judgement? Taxpaying USA citizens.
The dust has settled on the Wesley Snipes tax court case. To follow are the facts and circumstances of this case with an illustration as to how USA citizens pay tax on earned income.
Recap of the Wesley Snipes Tax Case
Snipes hooked up with two tax advisors and just decided that he just didn’t have to file tax returns or pay taxes on approximately $38M in income. To add insult to injury, he also filed amended tax returns asking for $11M in refunds for prior years' returns already filed. That $11M in tax paid – imagine what the taxable income amounted to.
The Tax Court Decision
Mr. Snipes had his day in tax court culminating with a sentence of 3 years, two of which to be served in prison. Snipes maintains his tax home in Florida therefore the case was tried at the US Federal Courthouse in Ocala, FL.
Who’s the Clear Winner in this Judgment?
The Justice Department? The Treasury Department? Before one answers that question consider for a moment Joe or Mary Smith - that W-2 wage earner that automatically has federal withholding tax deducted from each and every paycheck and takes on the burden of filing a complete tax return each year.
As an example, in 2004 (one of the Snipes years in question) Mary Smith, a single person, has $50,000 in taxable income. The tax due is $9231. Mary Smith nets $36,944 after deducting all payroll taxes and pays $9,231 in federal withholding tax. Snipes, earning millions of dollars, pays $0. The clear winner in this case is the USA taxpayer who is now not held to any greater standard of tax reporting than that of a rich public figure.
Before one gets started on the government $10,000 toilet seat issue consider how one got to work this morning, or if one has taken recreational or business airline trips, any children in public schools, has received Social Security disability or survivor benefits or unemployment insurance? All these and more are subsidized by federal tax dollars. Is it too much to expect all USA citizens to support the luxuries and freedoms that the tax dollars support?
The Fall out from the Snipes Case
The two promoters of the tax scheme also received jail time in addition to incurring the associated legal fees to defend themselves. Hopefully, this will serve as a wake-up call to those pondering whether the risk is worth it (taxpayer and tax preparer alike).
If one doesn’t agree with the USA tax structure, work to change it. Or how about this – revoke one's citizenship and move to a different country – in the USA one has the freedom to do so.
Source:
2004 Form 1040 Instructions
The copyright of the article Wesley Snipes Tax Court Sentence in Taxes is owned by Maire Loughran. Permission to republish Wesley Snipes Tax Court Sentence in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Comments
Jun 11, 2008 11:19 AM
Guest :
You're doing a wonderful job of misleading people about the legitimacy of
federal income taxes. How many states ratified the 16th amendment? Do your
research. This direct, un-apportioned tax is unconstitutional and was never
ratified by a sufficient number of states. By the way, all our tax dollars
go to pay the governments debt to the private organization called the
Federal Reserve, and these public institutions you name that our
"taxes" pay for are not wanted by true Americans who despise the
system of ultimate government control over all aspects of our lives. If
Americans ever learned just how illegitimate the federal income tax laws
truly are, the government could lose control. Greedy - Elitist -
Egotistical - Deceitful - Liars!!! Politicians & International Bankers
are trying to deceive Americans into becoming modern slaves, forever
controlled by the value of money and life-long debt. You, Maire Loughran,
are a stooge under their control.
Jun 11, 2008 12:40 PM
Maire Loughran :
thank you for the feedback and for reading my article.
Nov 16, 2008 9:03 PM
Guest :
Don't mention that 100% of the taxes collected goes to interest on a debt
because of wasteful spending. The american people do need a wake up call.
Everyone should stop. paying and filing instead of leaving it to the few
brave enough to do it for them. America lost in this deal. Americans pay a
large portion of their earnings and sometimes have to do without just to
pay interest that makes a few elite bankers rich. Don't believe that? Read
Reagan's Grace report. The proponents to the income tax should have their
citizenships revoked. The true patriot who stands up against the IRS
deserves to stay in this country. If the government needed the working
classes money to operate it would have been set up that way from the
beginning. There are many ways a government can make money without taxing
the working class. Corporate taxes support the military and there are
numerous other taxes that don't burden the working class. Not one dime of
our money goes to services we expect. There are people struggling just to
live on what they earn without supporting a wasteful system that has
infected this country. Leave? Hell no stand up and fight like a good
patriot. If your not willing to fight what is wrong you don't deserve to
live in this country. The men that threw the tea in the harbor were
patriots. Those same patriots wouldn't spit on the spine less American that
just pays out because their told they have to and feel like everyone else
should pay because they don't have the nerve to fight it. If you don't pay
and get away with it, Bravo. Stop feeding the monster that is running the
country in the ground. Our economy would flourish without the income tax.
We would spend our money here on American made stuff. That is where we need
the money. Wake up man you should be rooting for Wesley he is the patriot.
The winner here is the ones that are getting paid the interest on the
National debt.
Mar 14, 2009 4:33 PM
Guest :
I am a relatively newcomer to the understanding of the illegality of the
federal income tax. Please know Ms. Loughran that the laws you so eagerly
talk about following simply do not exist regarding the income tax. Please
petition the IRS to produce the law at any time and see what luck you come
up with. I contact my federal, state and local representatives including
Congressmen, Senators, and local representatives every single week in
regards to both the illegality of taxation and other significantly
concerning issues. We get nowhere because Congress has never considered
standing up to the Federal Reserver and actually reversing the illegal
Federal Reserve which has created this horrible marginal taxation system.
The IRS and the Federal Reserver violate the US Constitution and all
applicable founding father laws. Wake up, read a book and start
understanding what is going on. Very few elected officials even understand
what is going on nor are they interested in doing anything about it.
Eventually, the truth will become common knowledge and people will do the
right thing. By the way, the gas tax pays for road systems, local property
taxes pay for schools. The federal government is only allowed to tax
(corporate taxes) to cover 3 things in the Constitution. Go read it and you
will see what they are.
4 Comments
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