Six Questions Ignored

On The Instructions Say page I introduced you to a specific law that lists the income that is not tax exempt and which dovetails exactly with what the Form 1040 instructions say must be reported.

The IRS absolutely refuses to answer questions about that federal regulation.

Sometime around September of 2003, over one thousand, two hundred (>1,200) people sent six questions to then Secretary of Treasury John Snow and then Commissioner of the IRS Mark Everson. I was one of those twelve hundred people. 

The IRS reply to those six questions is just plain goofy. I only need to present the first two questions to show this.

As you read the first question, please note that you do not need to know anything about the cited sections of law to understand that the question simply requires a "Yes" or "No" answer. Either I am to use those sections or I am not. 
("§" means section.)

1) Should I use the rules found in 26 USC § 861(b) and 26 CFR § 1.861-8 (in addition to any other pertinent sections) to determine my taxable domestic income?

As you read the second question, please note that it presumes the answer to the first question should be a "Yes", but anticipates an answer of "No" and basically asks for proof of a negative answer.

2) If some people should not use those sections to determine their taxable domestic income, please show where the law says who should or should not use those sections for that.

The following is a transcription of the 3175 letter sent in response to the questions.

Dear Taxpayer(s):

This is in reply to your recent correspondence.

Federal tax laws are passed by Congress and signed by the President. The Internal Revenue Service is responsible for administering federal tax laws fairly and ensuring that taxpayers comply with the laws. We do not have authority to change the laws.

The Internal Revenue Service strives to collect the proper amount of revenues at the least cost to the public, and in a fair manner that warrants the highest degree of public confidence in our integrity, efficiency, and fairness. In accomplishing this, we continually strive to help taxpayers resolve legitimate account problems as effectively as possible. While tax collection is not a popular function of government, it clearly is a necessary one. Without it all other functions would eventually cease.

There are people who encourage others to deliberately violate our nation's tax laws. It would be unfortunate if you were to rely on their opinions. These persons take legal statements out of context and claim that they are not subject to tax laws. Many offer advise that is false and misleading, hoping to encourage others to join them. Generally, their advise isn't free. Taxpayers who purchase this kind of information often wind up paying more in taxes, interest, and penalties, including fines and possible imprisonment.

Federal courts have consistently ruled against the arguments you have made. Therefore, we will not respond to future correspondence concerning these issues.

Sincerely yours,

D. L. P.

Operations Manager,
Exam SC Support

Click here to see the scanned original.

Does this letter look like it was sent by anyone who made any effort to read what they were replying to? Do you see ANYTHING that even begins to answer whether I should use the cited law?

Neither do I.

With that informative reply in your mind, check out this quote of the IRS mission statement:

IRS Mission

Provide America’s taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all.

Now check out this quote of the IRS' Taxpayer Correspondence Policy Statement:

1.2.21.1.3  (Approved 03-14-1991)
Policy Statement 21-3 (Formerly P-6-12)

1. Timeliness and Quality of Taxpayer Correspondence
2. The Service will issue quality responses to all taxpayer correspondence.
3. Taxpayer correspondence is defined as all written communication from a taxpayer or his/her representative, excluding tax returns, whether solicited or unsolicited. This includes taxpayer requests for information, as well as that which may accompany a tax return; responses to IRS requests for information; and annotated notice responses.
4. A quality response is timely, accurate, professional in tone, responsive to taxpayer needs (i.e., resolves all issues without further contact).

As of the date the above reply was mailed to me, policy statement 6-12 had been in effect for 12 years. Does the above scan show a "quality response" to the questions asked of the IRS?

Now check out this quotation of a court case where the IRS was involved:

Silence can only be equated with fraud where there is a legal or moral duty to speak, or where an inquiry left unanswered would be intentionally misleading. . . We cannot condone this shocking behavior by the IRS. Our revenue system is based on the good faith of the taxpayer and the taxpayers should be able to expect the same from the government in its enforcement and collection activities." U.S. v. Tweel, 550 F.2d 297, 299. See also U.S. v. Prudden, 424 F.2d 1021, 1032; Carmine v. Bowen, 64 A. 932.

The IRS has a history of failing to speak and not answering inquiries when it has legal and moral duties to do so as evidenced by the above court quotation.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I have personally experienced such "shocking behavior" of the IRS myself on other occasions in addition to the non-responsive letter shown on this webpage.

Because the IRS refused to answer questions about section 861, and because section 861 indicates that what I get paid for my labor is NOT taxable, I started really researching the written words of the tax law. The IRS response to the section 861 evidence was my introduction to the concept that 'government' is a lying, conniving bunch of thieves.

Policy Statement 6-12 can be found at the IRS website in the online Internal Revenue Manual (IRM). I think of the IRM as the IRS employee rulebook. The numbers: 1.2.21.1.3 show the location of Policy Statement 6-12 in the IRM.