Website Advocating Tax Free Life and Claiming Federal Income Taxation Unconstitutional Ordered to Stop

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The givemelibery.org (Give Me Liberty .org) website, which advocates a tax free life, claiming that the Federal income tax is unconstitutional, and providing people with information about how, it claims, to legally stop paying income tax – has been ordered to remove the information from the Internet.

Robert Schulz, the individual behind GiveMeLiberty.org, and the founder of both We The People for Constitutional Education and We The People Congress, has sworn to appeal the decision. The gist of Schulz’s beef is that the 16th Amendment, which grants to the government the power of taxation, was never properly ratified and is thus unconstitutional.

(While there had been many a tax act previously, including those imposing such diverse taxation as gasoline taxes and a marijuana tax act, in addition to an income tax, it is the 16th Amendment from which Congress modernly draws its broad power of taxation.)

You may recall from elementary school U.S. history class that it was the issue of taxation without representation that ultimately and famously led to the Boston tea party and, eventually, the American revolution.

Schulz’s claim is that the issue now is taxation without ratification.

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The 16th Amendment states that “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.”

In its lawsuit against Schulz, the United States claimed that, through the Give Me Liberty website and We the People organizations, Schulz “causes harm to the Untied [sic] States by assisting customers to evade taxes and obstructing the IRS’s efforts to administer the federal tax laws.”

(Yes, the decision really does say the “Untied States” – we assume that it is an unfortunate error.)

The Court, not surprisingly, sided with the Feds.

“The First Amendment does not protect speech that incites imminent lawless action,” said Judge Thomas McAvoy.

After eviscerating the First Amendment in favour of the 16th, Judge McAvoy laid down his ruling, and issued the following injunction against Schulz, GiveMeLiberty.org, and We the People:

“Because Defendants have actually persuaded others, directly or indirectly, to violate the tax laws, Defendants words and actions were directed toward such persuasion, and the unlawful conduct was imminently likely to occur, the First Amendment does not afford protection. That being said, any injunction must be narrowly drawn to separate protected speech from unprotected speech and to protect Defendants’ First Amendment rights.

Accordingly, the Court rejects Defendants’ First Amendment defense and denies
their motion to dismiss in its entirety.

Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that:

a. Defendants and their representatives, agents, servants, employees,
attorneys, and those persons in active concert or participation with them
are hereby permanently enjoined from directly or indirectly:

1. engaging in activity subject to penalty under 26 U.S.C. § 6700,
including the organizing, selling, participation in the organization, or
participation in the sale of any plan or arrangement and making a
statement regarding the securing of any tax benefit that they know
or have reason to know is false or fraudulent as to any material
matter;

2. engaging in activity subject to penalty under § 6701, including
preparing or assisting in the preparation of a document related to a
matter material to the internal revenue laws that includes a position
that they know will, if used, result in an understatement of tax
liability;

3. promoting, marketing, organizing, selling, or receiving payment for
any plan or arrangement regarding the securing of any tax benefit
that they know or have reason to know is false or fraudulent as to
any material matter;

4. engaging in any other activity subject to penalty under IRC §§ 6700
or 6701 or other penalty provision of the Internal Revenue Code;

5. advising or instructing persons and/or entities that they are not
required to file federal tax returns or pay federal taxes;

6. selling, distributing or furnishing any document, newsletter, book,
manual, videotape, audiotape, or other material purporting to
enable individuals to discontinue or stop withholding, or payment
of, federal taxes;

7. instructing, advising, or assisting anyone to stop withholding or
paying of federal employment or income taxes; and

8. obstructing or advising or assisting anyone to obstruct IRS
examinations, collections, or other IRS proceedings.
b. Defendants shall, at their own expense, notify all persons who have
purchased or otherwise obtained their tax plans, arrangements, and
materials of this Memorandum, Decision and Order and provide them with
a copy of this Memorandum, Decision and Order;
c. Defendants shall produce to counsel for the United States a list identifying
by name, address, e-mail address, telephone number, and Social Security
number, all persons and entities who have been provided Defendants’ tax
preparation materials, forms, and other materials containing false
information and otherwise likely to cause others to violate the tax laws of
the United States;
d. Defendants, and anyone in active concert or participation with them, shall
remove from their websites and all other websites over which they have
control, all tax-fraud scheme promotional materials, false commercial
speech concerning the internal revenue laws, and speech likely to incite
others imminently to violate the internal revenue laws;
e. Defendants shall remove from its websites all abusive tax shelter
promotional materials, false commercial speech, and materials designed
to incite others to violate the law (including tax laws), and, for a period of
one year from the date of this Memorandum, Decision & Order, display
prominently on the first page of the website an attachment of this
Memorandum, Decision and Order;
f. Defendants shall immediately implement the terms of this injunction and
provide the Court with an affidavit of compliance within twenty-one days of
the date of this Decision and Order; and
g. This Court shall retain jurisdiction concerning Defendants’ compliance
with the injunctive relief.

What is interesting to consider here is a) how much of a tax loss has the United States actually suffered through Schulz’s actions, and b) how much is this lawsuit going to cost the United States – that is, U.S. taxpayers?

There is a bit of unpoetic irony in that taxpayer money is being used to defend the government’s right to that taxpayer money, against someone whose website is questioning the constitutionality of that ultimate tax act – the 16th Amendment – under which they are claiming that money in the first place.

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One thought on “Website Advocating Tax Free Life and Claiming Federal Income Taxation Unconstitutional Ordered to Stop

  1. So they were ordered to take down what amounted to *speech* because the court didn’t agree with what they were advocating? But you can find instructions for building weapons of terrorism online, and that’s ok??

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