Do we have to pay income taxes?

Mutt

Yes. It's called the U.S. Tax Code.

rickinnocal

Yes we do.

ALL the various tax protester lines about there being no law that says we don't are rubbish - and people who believe them go to jail.

The actual law is - like ALL American laws - passed by Congress, signed by the President, and then published in the US Code. In fact, the whole of Title 26 of the US Code covers taxes.

The link below is to the actual language of the law that imposes the income tax.

It is NOT (as xuserx said) a link to the "IRS Code". It is a link to the "US Code" - the law of the land.

The term "IRS Code" would refer to Title 26 CFR, (CFR - "Code of Federal Regulations") which are the "Regulations" written by the IRS itself to administer the LAWS recorded in Title 26 USC - which is the "Law".

To 'xuserx' -
1) There is no legitimate controversy over the legality of the ratification of the 16th Amendment. The questions about the different spelling and punctuation of the versions voted on by the various States were raised before the Supreme Court in 1914, and the court ruled them to be "de minimus" (a legal term meaning trivial differences that do not affect the legality of something) and held that the 16th was, in fact, properly ratified.
2) The 16th has NOT been abused from it's original intent. The 'corporate income / private income' argument is a meaningless strawman. The Congress introduced an income tax in 1895 on individual incomes. The Supreme Court struck it down as unconstitutional. The 16th Amendment was written and passed SPECIFICALLY to allow Congress to re-introduce a private income tax without running into the same block.

Richard

N. Cognito

The 16th Amendment gave Congress the power to derive taxation from any source. There was and remains some question about the legality of the ratification of the Amendment.

However, having the power to do something and taking action to do it are two different things. The laws actually passed by Congress do not require most Americans to pay income tax, and the actions of the IRS are therefore both illegal and criminal.

But I'm willing to bet that, like the Mafia, they have more guns than you do.

There are only 2 things you have to do in life, die & pay taxes.

Citicop

Article XVI.

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.

This is the sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. No court has ever bought the argument that it is not valid.

oldmarine08

Yes

saharaaj

we do not pay income tax , tax is taken ( forcebly)
this is the outcome of competant government

mylilbubbers

Yes, there was an ammendment made to the constitution, some people merely argue if it was constitutional - there are valid arguments both ways. If you don't pay taxes, you will find out real quick.

xuserx2000

The first poster's link is to the IRS code for taxes, it has nothing to do however with the constitutionality of income taxes.

Amendment 16 has been interpreted by the federal government to allow personal income to be treated as if it were corporate income. The original intent of the constitution was to have two forms of taxation... taxes on coporate wealth, and excise taxes which are taxes you can avoid by personal choices you make... like sales tax, or property tax. You don't have to own property and you choose to buy stuff.

That being said, the IRS has become an enforceable branch of federal government. They have been given plenty of legal authority to enforce their tax code, though it is not part of the constitutional law.

Good arguments can be made for and against the constitutionality of income tax on personal income...however, I personally feel that it has become a burden on our economy in general and runs contrary to the priciples of capitalism. For example,...much of the economic potential, of each dollar earned is lost by income taxation, because the person who earned it never got the chance to spend it back into their local economy. It was taxed once, and probably spent/wasted on some social program that doesn't benefit the person being taxed. If we were to move to a federal sales tax system, that income would be spent, and taxed, and respent, and taxed, and respent again and again...until eventually it would be taxed back into the fed's pocket anyway... The difference is that these dollars being spent and taxed in this manner helped to sustain several jobs along the way.

Income tax is counterproductive in a capitalist economy, and was originally intended to be unconstitutional by the founding fathers. 1913 was a very bad year for America's history....and the 16th amendment has been misused for it's original intended purpose.

MenifeeManiac

Under the Constitution, Congress is empowered to levy taxes.

As stated above, there is a Tax Code that deals with the intricacies of the tax laws.

The people who do not pay taxes cannot own property and are one step away from being prosecuted for tax evasion.

Ask Willie Nelson about evading taxes...

diogenese_97

It was made constitutional last century. In 1913 the 16th amendment made it legal to tax income.

cli168

Yes and here is straight from IRS:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/friv_tax.pdf

wizjp

Amendment to consitution

mikeburns55

While it might not be the case that the written law forces you to pay taxes, the REAL law as it is applied is very clear: you have to pay taxes or go to jail.

That is, unless you're one of the ruling elite, like the Clintons. Then no laws apply.

Josh

Yes of course. I wish people researched things before posting them on Y!A.

G-gal

Yes if you have income, if you live in the US.

If you doubt it, try not paying.

Michael C

Yes, there is a law. It's in the US tax code. And yes, income tax is legal. There was a constitutional amendment giving the government the power to collect income tax.

CGordo

Yesss, if you have income. Sad but true.

LadyZania

No, there is no law! I don't know which video you actually watched, but you should also watch America: Freedom to Fascism by Aaron Russo, and you should watch the six part/12 hour video series called Just the Facts! You can find them both, and watch them both for free, by googling them. You can also go to google video and find videos by and/or about Joe Bannister....a former IRS agent! The information that you can find in these videos is excellent and very comprehensive. This whole system is corrupt, and benefits only the perpetrators of the corruption, and the only defense that We the People have against this corruption is awareness through educating ourselves and others! This means all the research you can do! You always have to dig deeper to find the truth, because those who benefit from this corruption do not want the masses to dig deeper, and they intentionally mislead! *sm*

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