Re: [TruthTalk] A Good Read/Taxes

[Judith H. Taylor]

"Bruce Woodford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Dear Sister, who says that voluntary taxes belong to Caesar?? Do they belong to government any more than your  voluntary giving "belongs" to the minor baseball league, the cancer society, or any other charity that asks for your donations??   Judy: I think we need to get a grip here Bruce. Taxes are not voluntary giving.  They are the law in the USA. I won't dispute what you say about Canada because I don't know but this is the response to what you are saying in the US, the following is from the ABC, Meredith wrote a book titled "Eagle in Vulture's Cothing": Voluntary or Mandatory? Her pitch revolves around a few basic principles: First, she says — believe it or not — federal income tax, isn't mandatory, but voluntary. Second, Meredith claims the money you earn is not really "income," but an even trade for your labor, and thus not liable to tax. And finally, she says any assets you do have can be safely protected in a made-up version of a legitimate trust fund called a "pure trust." Is a pure trust legal? "Yes. A pure trust is perfect legal," she said, adding, "The pure trust legally is not required to file a tax return." But that is not how the IRS sees it. Last April — the 15th to be exact — agents arrested Meredith and six colleagues on 16 counts of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government by, among other things, failing to file income tax returns and encouraging others to do the same. The indictment calls the trusts "bogus," Meredith's advice "misleading," their tax returns "fraudulent."     Bruce: God is our creator and the acknowledgment of that fact  is due to Him. But volunteering to acknowledge government and government agencies as our creator, and relying on government for aid in time of need is rendering  unto Caesar what is God's!!   Judy: Government is God ordained whether I as you say "volunteer to acknowledge that fact" or not. Are you telling me that God never ever uses the Government Bruce? You may rely on whomever you choose in case of an emergency. I believe healing comes from God but I am not going to throw stones at doctors. Living Large — and Proudly Meredith claims the IRS is simply harassing her, and has filed a civil suit against the agency for what she calls the violation of her liberties during a 1998 raid on her home. In defiance, she proudly flaunts her collection of vintage cars, garaged in her spacious apartment building just a block from the beach in Southern California. "I don't keep a low profile because you don't have to drive beat-up cars," she told me as we tooled around in her black Jaguar. "You don't have to live in squalor." Meredith admits she's made money from her enterprise, but she doesn't call it "income" and she disputes the IRS charge that she earned at least $6.2 million. She also notes that she pays sales, auto and property taxes. But no income tax. 'A Great Big Lie'? The IRS wouldn't discuss her case with us since it's pending, but attorney Jay Adkisson, who has tracked plenty of what he calls "tax scams" (including Meredith's) on his Web site, told us, "Lynn Meredith is a scam artist. Nothing more, nothing less. Lynn Meredith says she's telling people "the truth" when she says that paying federal income tax is a matter of choice. (ABCNEWS.com) She is somebody that has taken the U.S. Constitution and she has wrapped it in the flag and she is prostituting it. She's selling it for money." As for the "pure trusts," Adkisson pointed out, "Anybody who says that neither are being taxed, or that the trust is not being taxed, and I cannot be taxed, they're telling a great big lie. And they'll end up in jail. He also said, "The income tax system is voluntary in the sense that we can choose to fill out a form and send the money in, and avoid the tax collector coming out to our house. Voluntary does not mean that we can avoid the tax. It's a crazy claim. It's a goofy claim." Waiting on the Courts Today Lynne Meredith's operation has been shut down — her offices are closed, her seminars ended by the IRS. It cost her brother half a million dollars to get her out on bail — and even now, as she awaits her trial scheduled for June, her freedom is severely curtailed. Meredith is not permitted to sell her books, or her trusts, and must be home by 11 p.m. She is also prohibited from traveling outside the county, and her movements are tracked by a government-issue ankle bracelet. Still, she says she remains confident, despite the fact that a number of other tax-avoidance promoters have been sent to prison. If she loses at trial in June, she said, "I will appeal it to the 9th Circuit, and then I will appeal it to the Supreme Court of the United States." And if she loses there? "Well then I guess I'll have to go to jail."