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Wesley Snipes sentenced to 3 years in prison

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Clawg

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24293961/?GT1=43001

"But prosecutors had urged the court to impose a stiff penalty on the actor nonetheless, because of his notoriety and the potential of a high-profile case to deter tax crime nationwide. "

This is so wrong :confused:

Besides being a victimless crime you get extra jail-time if you have a succesful career and if you can "cause" other people to do crime...

Edited by Clawg
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But U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges said Snipes exhibited a “history of contempt over a period of time” for U.S. tax laws

I would of thought it was the tax evasion that was illegal not the contempt, but apparently not. :P

If contempt of US tax laws is illegal why have Objectivist not been arrested for it? Especially the more prominent ones like Yaron Brooke, since these are people that they are more likely to notice.

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I would of thought it was the tax evasion that was illegal not the contempt, but apparently not. :P

I guess if you say that you like taxes and that you evaded taxes only because of the money you would get a lower sentence :P

Plain and simple: They want you to accept unearned guilt.

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I guess if you say that you like taxes and that you evaded taxes only because of the money you would get a lower sentence :P

Plain and simple: They want you to accept unearned guilt.

Sounds about right to me. Afterall if you have that guilt you will be more inclined to pay "voluntarily" thus making their jobs easier since they have to exert less effort tp get you to pay. Not to mention the fact they get more money that way.

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I'm so glad I live in a country where the government courteously takes my money from me before it even reaches my bank account so as to protect me from situations like this. God save the Queen! :lol:

This is why many stupid people in America think when they file their tax returns in April and get a refund check, they think the government is GIVING them money that was not theirs in the first place. They simply have taxes automatically withheld from their paychecks every week and never bother to actually look at the number being taken. I wish automatic withholding of taxes was illegal so that every citizen had to actually write a check every April for the taxes they owe. You can damn well bet things would change real fast.

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This is why many stupid people in America think when they file their tax returns in April and get a refund check, they think the government is GIVING them money that was not theirs in the first place. They simply have taxes automatically withheld from their paychecks every week and never bother to actually look at the number being taken. I wish automatic withholding of taxes was illegal so that every citizen had to actually write a check every April for the taxes they owe. You can damn well bet things would change real fast.

Yeah, well, at the least a hell of a lot more people would realise the checks they get given is their own money being handed back not a hand out.

EDIT: Oh, and of course that symptom is common here in NZ since wages are automatically withheld. Although the government refers to our tax type as "PAYE" (Pay As You Earn) rather than withholding, yet they refer to other taxes as withholding.

Edited by DragonMaci
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Witholding was actually started in the U.S. because no one was paying their income taxes . . . I'd bet a lot of people weren't even *aware* that they were *supposed* to pay income taxes. We've only *had* income tax for, what, less than a hundred years? And even at the beginning less than 1% of the population had to pay any income tax *at all*.

Someone should start a campaign to write letters to Mr. Snipes in jail and apologize for the obscene behavior that has stolen 3 years of his life. Does anyone know how to do that?

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This is why many stupid people in America think when they file their tax returns in April and get a refund check, they think the government is GIVING them money that was not theirs in the first place. They simply have taxes automatically withheld from their paychecks every week and never bother to actually look at the number being taken. I wish automatic withholding of taxes was illegal so that every citizen had to actually write a check every April for the taxes they owe. You can damn well bet things would change real fast.

Yeah, they would change real fast all right. Probably half of the people would have "blown" the money (on stuff they should be able to spend the money on, hence the sarcasm quotes), not saved it aside as they "should" have, so they could make the payment on April 15, and be caught short.

The answer--the change that would happen--would be to return to withholding, NOT to cut the damn budget and taxes by 80% which would be a weak but acceptable start.

A better version: require people to send in *monthly* checks. More people can look that far ahead; almost everyone is used to monthly bills. (Mind you many would end up delinquent anyway....) The ONLY solution I can think of, given that in this day and age it would be politically simpler to reimpose withholding than it is to cut the 99% portion of BS from government, is to end withholding--but if you screw up and don't make your payment, withholding is re-imposed on you alone with a 10 percent penalty.

Only that way would a withholding-less system last long enough to have the quite desirable effect you were thinking of.

Another point I have heard Rush Limbaugh make is that having your taxes withheld and then getting a refund is the equivalent of giving the government an interest free loan until next April.

He's not the only one who makes this point.

I try to arrange things so I "owe" the governments (fed and state) some piddling amount (50-200 FRNs). (One year I had to send the feds a check for $8; maximum success!) Ideally you should set it up to owe them a LOT of money but they will hit you with penalties if you overdo it, and I don't feel like saving up for April 15.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24293961/?GT1=43001

"But prosecutors had urged the court to impose a stiff penalty on the actor nonetheless, because of his notoriety and the potential of a high-profile case to deter tax crime nationwide. "

This is so wrong :thumbsup:

Besides being a victimless crime you get extra jail-time if you have a succesful career and if you can "cause" other people to do crime...

It's disgusting. The crime here is what is being done to Wesley Snipes. Somehow these sort of things never change anyone's mind. Taxers keep on taxing without any sign of stopping. Hillary, Obama, et.al., are still out there pushing for more blood!

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In the U.S. you can make some choices on the W-4 form you file when you start a new job that make adjustments to how much of your income is witheld. There are also a few other ways to make alterations to your witholdings dependent upon your exemptions and a bunch of other semi-comprehensible gobbledygook.

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In the U.S. you can make some choices on the W-4 form you file when you start a new job that make adjustments to how much of your income is witheld. There are also a few other ways to make alterations to your witholdings dependent upon your exemptions and a bunch of other semi-comprehensible gobbledygook.

All the more reason why anyone that can afford it should get an accountant to help them with their taxes then.

Speaking of accountants, that reminds me of something I wanted to ask any of this site's US members. When you get an accountant, lawyer, or firm to help you with your taxes are their fees deductable like they are in New Zealand?

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  • 2 weeks later...
Someone should start a campaign to write letters to Mr. Snipes in jail and apologize for the obscene behavior that has stolen 3 years of his life. Does anyone know how to do that?

I'm confused about what type of content you'd like to see in the letters you proposed. Am I to apologize for my indifference (relative to the strikers in A.S.) to the federal tax code? Am I supposed to apologize on someone else's behalf for a sentence I did not hand down?

Is the paying of federal taxes a form of appeasement to a tyrant and terrorist? Is W. Snipes' decision to not pay taxes rational?

Do you all think W. Snipes was content going down as a martyr?

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I watched part of a video about how personal income taxes are unconstitutional in the US and how there is actually no law requiring that they be paid. That was about a week ago and now I cannot remember its name, but it was a video that I think all Americans should see. I am going to do a search for it and then post it here when I find it.

Edited by DragonMaci
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  • 3 weeks later...

Now i'm curious if there is a law requiring people to file a 1040. I'm not speaking about whether income tax is constitutional or that whole "position 861" thing. Snipes was convicted of "willfully failing to file federal tax returns" Is that a real law? What is the criminal code number? The best source I'v found so far is at 5:08 of this interveiw with Ron Paul. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=styYIG-fiEc He says there is no law. I'm Canadian so this does not affect me. But I do find this very curious.

So to quote the tax freedom crusaders "show me the law!"

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So to quote the tax freedom crusaders "show me the law!"
To quote and translate Bill Ockham, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse". The Man says so. Now I imagine that that is a summary drawn from the Code of Federal Regulations and USC Title 26, somewhere likt 26 USC 6012. But if you want to be shown, you will have to pay for the the highly specialized research skills of a tax attorney or accountant, who for a fee can no doubt show you the law. Unless I actually managed to find the essential piece of code (you can send me $5 if you want).
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