Tax Dodgers Are Blind

You need to be a bit creative to honestly deny the ability of the US Government to impose an income tax, considering it was implemented during the Civil War and enacted as an amendment to the Constitution. Tax deniers claim that the 16th Amendment was improperly enacted by some of the states, so it never really was legal. They claim it violates freedom of speech (by requiring you to report income) and taking of property without due process, among other spurious arguments.

Joseph Stack was not so much a tax denier as much as a tax protester, but his suicide letter made many references to the idea that the income tax was unconstitutional.

However, Peter Pappas, a Florida tax attorney and author of The Tax Lawyer's Blog, has gone through Stack's suicide letter and refuted every inaccuracy stated. Among his points:

Stack:

We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the “best”, high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to do exactly what the “big boys” were doing (except that we weren’t steeling (sic) from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God).

Pappas:

Again, Stack is upset that he couldn’t get away with what he alleges the Catholic Church got away with: Namely, tax fraud.

All in all, Pappas makes Stack's IRS diatribe look incredibly foolish and makes Stack look like a selfish person who just did not follow tax laws very well. While Stack's letter makes him on the surface to be harassed by the IRS, Pappas shows that most of what Stack said is pure smoke, and he was a rebel without a clue.