You're gonna tax me on what??

[Ian]

I was under the impression that we had elections every November.

Yeah, you can vote for officials. But the bureaucracy just keeps on chugging, without much notice of who its elected heads are.

Besides, even if you do manage to elect someone who actually has the willpower to make some significant change in the bureaucracy, it takes years to do. First the current guy's term has to end, and then the new guy has to take some time to make his changes. And, as the Supreme Court has mentioned, justice delayed is justice denied.

For tax issues like this, there is no justice for the common citizen. Your only real options are to knuckle under and pay whatever they demand of you, ignore the demand and hope they don't notice, or stand up to them, and have your life savings annihilated by legal costs.

Just because other governments are worse doesn't mean the US government isn't corrupt and unjust.

 

[Cellar Dweller]

A pox on use tax

Just speculating here: say I buy reloading components online, since the IL legislature in all its wisdom says I am not to be trusted buying out-of-state assembled ammunition. Northern IL has no rifle ranges within a reasonable distance from me that I am aware of; therefore I may go to WI instead.

1. not paying sales tax in state of origin
2. not paying IL use tax, since I'm not using it in IL
3. not paying WI sales tax, since I'm not buying anything there
4. not paying WI use tax, since I don't have to file there

Western Civilization just may collapse because someone won't be collecting <$5 this year. Of course, the politicians in all three states may demand <$5 + outsized penalties for being a blatant lawbreaker at some point...but we're not there quite yet...

 

[Crosshair]

I wonder how well this would stand up if someone where to plead the 5th. Since essentialy that is what they are trying to do. Or am I wrong?

 

[Third_Rail]

Crosshair, my mother works for the IRS. She said that that's correct, don't fill it out; the 5th still applies.


Heck, I don't think she even fills it out on her state tax form...

 

[Ira Aten]

Texaco Oil Company was once sued by the IRS (successfully) over their heinous act of selling oil under the standard market prices for a particular quarter, and the IRS was awarded the difference between what the going price was on the market, and the "undercharge" Texaco sold their fuel for.

Texaco was actually taxed on monies the Government PROVED Texaco Oil Co. DID NOT RECEIVE. The Government won (what a surprise) and won the appeal also.

I just love Lawyer/Judges who can "interpret" something like that as a "fair" deal.

That is why we don't have jury nullification any longer. A jury (if they knew they had the right, which they are kept purposefully from knowing) would nullify something like that in a "New York" minute.

Nobody in their right mind that was not prejudiced against a party in a suit would agree that a company, (or a human citizen) must pay taxes for income that the plaintiff proved was non-existant.

I have an a legal theory I feel is just as sound as that one. How about this argument:

The "Death Tax" should not apply to a Christian because we believe we will have eternal life, and are therefore, "not dead yet" and don't want to go on the cart.

After all, the Constitution says Congress shall pass no law establishing a religion, nor prohibit the free excercise thereof. So wouldn't taxing a guy's estate for dying when his belief is he isn't dead, be even worse than the Govenrment failing to provide a (taxpayer funded) copy of the Koran to a "Enemy Combatant" over at Club Gitmo?

 

[Derby FALs]

"On the contrary, we should have started shooting years ago."

Advocating murder? On a public forum? Are you crazy?

John

Pruning and watering the tree of liberty. Not murder.

 

[Moondoggie]

I am getting a chuckle out of Kansas soaking it's own folks with this questionable tax.

They've been doing it to every interstate truck for several years now. Kansas demands every out-of-state truck that generates revenue in their state to pay a property tax based upon vehicle valuation and percentage of total annual miles driven in KS, regardless of what state the truck is registered in (read: pays property taxes in already).

I think this violates all sorts of interstate commerce principles, but there's no one to stand up to these governments. Truckers don't represent a strong enough lobby. Nobody in congress is interested.

I'm waiting for every state with a sales tax to start requiring interstate trucks to remit sales taxes upon the revenue they generate in each state...just wait, it's coming!

 

[Autolycus]

I would see a lot more local drivers if they tried that.

Seriously this is a load of BS. We need to just tar and feather a few of them to hoepfully set the rest of them straight.

 

[chestnut ridge]

State income tax? What is that? In Tennessee we currently do not
have a state income tax. So- marry your cousin, get a house trailer,
and come join us.

 

[Chrontius]

Re: the VoIP thing:

Problem with the VoIP tax is that running one's own voice-over-IP server is trivial. Go look up iParty sometime. Further, running a video game server (UT2004 supports voice chat) could make you a provider.

Even better are the massively distributed communications systems. No telling when you're a provider and when you're a customer.

 

[beerslurpy]

So, what was the point of the Second Ammendment then?

For when we succeed at the ballot box and the losing side says "screw you, we can do what we want!" That's when you break out the guns.

Winning a military victory is harder than a political victory. If you cant win a political victory, there is no way you will get that same body of people to support you in a fight.