45 Years, 45 Days: A 1976 Introduction to Tax Revolt
For the next 45 days, we'll be celebrating Reason's 45th anniversary by releasing a story a day from the archives—one for each year of the magazine's history. See the full list here.
"The following is an introduction to tax revolt and includes some how-to information," wrote Karl J. Bray in his article "Taxes Are Revolting" from Reason's April 1976 issue. "In publishing it, REASON is not advocating that any of these tactics be pursued by specific individuals; nor is REASON proffering legal advice." Here's a sample of what Bray had to say:
The fifth amendment approach is quite straight-forward: the ex-taxpayer merely places the fifth amendment objection to self-incrimihation in each blank space in the 1040 return where his answer to the question may tend to incriminate him. The U.S. Supreme Court and the appeals courts, in the Sullivan, Bishop, Miranda, Murdock, and other landmark cases, have upheld this approach, providing it is invoked properly. From that point on, Big Brother is responsible for proving a tax liability and initiating civil or criminal action. But a shrewd practitioner of tax avoidance will have covered his trail nicely.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?