But there is no federal law or statute that requires you to obey the tax code; or describes punishment for not paying federal income tax.
Full Stop.
Full Stop.
That may be so. The important thing is that the IRS assessed 31 million civil penalties and got nearly 2,000 criminal convictions last year. 80% or more of convictions involve prison time.
I'm all for avoiding taxes, but I would be careful about it for that reason.
Oah I know....
But; in a legal defense, I have yet to hear a prosecutor cite or rebut anything substantial when asked in court if they could cite a proper law or statute that requires the defendant to obey the tax code.
There have been a few people that have had their cases dismissed only to be charged again and keep going through the same procedure, but most tend to take a plea deal to just end the process because of time, and money. The IRS is very persistent to force cases to reach some sort of resolution that gives no precedence against them in this matter.
Look into: Vernice Kuglin, She is one of many acquitted by a jury in this manner. The above is the correct question to ask, as there is no answer to this date that conclusively provides such a law or statute. Any rational jury would not be able to convict you of a crime that is not described by any federal law or statute.
