The notion that the 16th amendment was not properly ratified is simply incorrect. Even though this misconception is an article of faith in the anti-tax community, it remains a fact of law that income from all sources is taxable.
Marvin D. MILLER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America and Internal Revenue Service.
Marvin D. MILLER v. USA and IRS
[excerpt]
We find it hard to understand why the long and unbroken line of cases upholding the constitutionality of the sixteenth amendment generally, Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Company, 240 U.S. 1, 36 S.Ct. 236, 60 L.Ed.2d 493 (1916), and those specifically rejecting the argument advanced in The Law That Never Was, have not persuaded Miller and his compatriots to seek a more effective forum for airing their attack on the federal income tax structure. See Foster, 789 F.2d at 463 n. 6 (the propriety of the ratification of a constitutional amendment may be a non-justiciable political question). Determined and persistent tax protesters like Miller seek to utilize the federal judicial forum without consideration of the significant limitations on the authority of both the district courts and the courts of appeal. One such limitation stems from the bedrock principle of stare decisis: lower courts are bound by the precedential authority of cases rendered by higher courts. U.S. Ex Rel. Shore v. O'Leary, 833 F.2d 663, 667 (7th Cir.1987). This limitation on judicial power is one of the cornerstones of the legal structure in that it serves broader societal interests such as the orderly and predictable application of legal rules. This doctrine prevents us from disregarding the Supreme Court's opinions upholding the constitutionality of the sixteenth amendment. The Court's decisions are binding on us and the district court absent strong evidence that the Court will overrule its own cases. Colby v. J.C. Penney Co., 811 F.2d 1119, 1123 (7th Cir.1987). We perceive no signs that the Supreme Court is harboring any such intentions with regard to the validity of the sixteenth amendment.
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Read the above case in full and the other cases concerning the 16th amendment at: Whether you agree with the Judges rulings or not these are the type of rulings one can expect when using the very old "16th Amendment was never properly ratified" argument to evade the Income tax.].
Tax Protester Hall of Fame
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See, e.g., United States v. Buckner, 830 F.2d 102 (1987). In its opinion in this case, the court noted that several specified beliefs, including the beliefs that the tax laws are unconstitutional and that wages are not income, would not be objectively reasonable.
[Footnote 7] The opinion stated, 882 F.2d 1263, 1268-1269, n. 2 (CA7 1989), as follows:
"For the record, we note that the following beliefs, which are stock arguments of the tax protester movement, have not been, nor ever will be, considered `objectively reasonable' in this circuit:
"(1) the belief that the sixteenth amendment to the constitution was improperly ratified, and therefore never came into being;
"(2) the belief that the sixteenth amendment is unconstitutional generally;
"(3) the belief that the income tax violates the takings clause of the fifth amendment;
"(4) the belief that the tax laws are unconstitutional; [498 U.S. 192, 199]
"(5) the belief that wages are not income, and therefore are not subject to federal income tax laws;
"(6) the belief that filing a tax return violates the privilege against self-incrimination; and
"(7) the belief that Federal Reserve Notes do not constitute cash or income.
Miller v. United States, 868 F.2d 236, 239-41 (7th Cir. 1989); Buckner, 830 F.2d at 102; United States v. Dube, 820 F.2d 886, 891 (7th Cir. 1987); Coleman v. Comm., 791 F.2d 68, 70-71 (7th Cir. 1986); Moore, 627 F.2d at 833. We have no doubt that this list will increase with time."
U.S. Supreme Court CHEEK v. UNITED STATES 498 U.S. 192 (1991)[see footenote 7]