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I blame the Turbo-tax software.....oh wait that has already been used.
Someone has to fund the federal government (and yes, it should be vastly more limited in its scope).
The law is settled that income taxes are legal.
Join Wesley Snipes and the Browns if you think otherwise.
I don't exactly enjoy paying taxes but I don't expect our military men and women to defend our freedoms on their own dime.
Freedom has a cost in blood and sweat, but in dollars too.
I'll pay my share and expect others to do the same.
The arguments that we shouldn't pay because the government isn't pure, others don't pay etc. only serve as a giant cluster f....
The majority of our tax dollars are not going to our defense, but to useless programs, pork, businesses who should fail, studies on prostitution in China (yes, seriously!) etc. You might as well shovel your dollars into a furnace. You need to wake up. If only more would stand up like the Browns.
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The punishment however is so far out of line with the crime that it is hard to tell the story with a straightface.
Basically, this couple decided for whatever reason, not to pay taxes. For this they will both die in prison. Sure. That seems reasonable...
The majority of our tax dollars are not going to our defense, but to useless programs, pork, businesses who should fail, studies on prostitution in China (yes, seriously!) etc. You might as well shovel your dollars into a furnace. You need to wake up. If only more would stand up like the Browns.
A 'bit' of an exaggeration, no?
They took it a bit further than simply not paying their taxes.
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In short, they refused to pay taxes, were prosecuted and convicted, marshals came to arrest them, they refused, living in a home that (like many NES'rs) was self sufficient and well armed. Friends brought food over a period of time. They were eventually arrested without any violence by officers pretending to be supporters.
Not quite sure what you mean by "They took it a bit further than simply not paying their taxes."
I will allow that some of Ed Brown's stated opinions go just a little bit astray of mainstream but I hardly think (for all intents and purposes) sentencing him to death in prison is equitable.
It's called an "offer in compromise" and getting one accepted is very very difficult unless you can convince the feds that there is reasonable doubt as to the tax owed, or your current assets and future income prospects present little chance of full collection.TV is awash in commercials for attorneys who promise they can lower your tax liability to pennies on the dollar.
Most folks would have come to their senses somewhere before the first 'overdue' notice and being dragged off to prison.
TV is awash in commercials for attorneys who promise they can lower your tax liability to pennies on the dollar.
I don't think it was by mistake they didn't pay their taxes, I'm guessing it was for the same reasons other people have stated the federal government is a corrupt unconstitutional organization that involves itself in thievery and they were protesting.
PS. Anyone look at their pay stub since the new year? New withholding laws the feds are keeping more of your money directly from your paycheck. It might be $5 or $50 but it's there.
I suggest everyone go through their withholding elections to ensure they are not lending the government money for free all year. Your goal should be to get a small refund at best, ideally pay a little without fines, fees or penalties.I don't think it was by mistake they didn't pay their taxes, I'm guessing it was for the same reasons other people have stated the federal government is a corrupt unconstitutional organization that involves itself in thievery and they were protesting.
PS. Anyone look at their pay stub since the new year? New withholding laws the feds are keeping more of your money directly from your paycheck. It might be $5 or $50 but it's there.
TomH,
So I assume you don't pay... or is your post just bluster?
I'm not arguing that the goverment is perfect.
I'm not arguing that there's anything wrong with civil disobedience in the form of tax protests.
I AM arguing that we are a nation of laws, and at some poiint in the 'tax protest' process, one either yields to that law, or pays the consequences.
The Browns are in prison as a result of their own actions. They chose to go to prison for a point of principle.
Fine. They have made their bed. Let's just not start whining now, that their punishment is unjust.
I'm as outraged as anyone about the injustice in the system, and the double standard represented by Geithner et al.
They remain gross injustices.
Every one of us can pay their taxes or act like the Browns.
It's an individual decision.
The Browns CHOSE to not pay ANY taxes and fight the issue to the end.
I can only assume they're happy with the result, since they made conscious decisons all along the process.
A 'bit' of an exaggeration, no?
They took it a bit further than simply not paying their taxes.
I pay, I'm just not dumb enough to call it right, or "just" that someone would go to prison for not paying.
Really? Did they kill anyone? Shoot any marshals? Or just hole up and not come out?
Sorry, they're not a threat to society at large and shouldn't be locked up. They're more of a threat to the way of life that our legistraitors love to lead.
Certainly you understand that our tax system is based on voluntary compliance.
The only way for a compliance-based system to work is to have the penalties be harsh.
Certainly you understand that our tax system is based on voluntary compliance.
The only way for a compliance-based system to work is to have the penalties be harsh.
When anyone deliberately opposes the law and takes it to the level the Browns did, there are consequences.
Consequences that the Browns could have predicted at multiple points along their protest. ...
Claiming that a system with harsh penalties is "voluntary" is no different than being mugged at gunpoint, then saying you "donated" money to the underprivileged.
Rape and murder are crimes that the majority of us comply with (by not comitting those crimes).
A muderer could easily get less jail time than the Browns.
A rapist (at least in Mass) could get an apology from the Judge for his mistreatment at the hands of justice.
The Browns wouldn't pay money to a government that they believed had become corrupt.
You can't POSSIBLY think justice was served?
Go ahead and think Ed Brown was a tin foil conspiricist if you like. Hell, he probably was a sandwich short of a picnic. For that matter, if he was *completely* nuts that makes this all the worse. The "State" should have found a way to "Help".
What, do you work for the IRS or something?
This government, the justice system and society failed the Browns.
You shouldn't take everything so literally.
'Voluntary' simply means the tax guy doesn't come to your house and stand over you while you right a check. It means individuals fill out and file tax returns and send along their payment when applicable.
The other take is that the Browns earned a lot of money and decided they'd rather keep it all than pay the tax due on the income (great idea, if you can pull it off).
The Browns then decided to use a 'tax protest' as their excuse for non-payment. They flaunted the law and paid a price.
There were opportunities for the government to 'help' as you phrase it.
There were also opportunities for the Browns to come to their senses and negotiate a reduced tax and/or payment plan.
No, I don't work for the IRS....just a common sense taxpayer, like you...assuming you're not also refusing to pay what you 'owe'.
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What, do you work for the IRS or something?
And the magic of this system of complexity coupled with deduction "so you won't notice it" is not lost on them...I have to spend yet MORE money for an accountant to put together a tax return that resembles a small telephone book, just to ensure I get back SOMETHING.
The scrivener in me has to mention the word is 'flout', not 'flaunt'...
I think he's heavily invested in KY lube stock.
FYI, according to Mirriam Webster...
FLAUNT...
1 : to display ostentatiously or impudently : parade <flaunting his superiority>
2 : to treat contemptuously <flaunted the rules — Louis Untermeyer>
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Wow.
Notwithstanding your research, your points about how fairly the Brown's were treated are just incredible.
Hey, any thoughts on that issue? You sort of stopped presenting any kind of fact or logic after stating that the government was right because we all have to do the same thing "because".
I contend that four decades in prison is not a just punishment for their "crime".
I FLAUNT in your general direction!