May 21, 2005
Hard Evidence That Form 1040
Has NO Legal Basis In Law
IRS Withdraws Criminal Allegation,
Tax Convict Walks Free
Although the People's war against the income tax fraud and IRS abuse has
been lengthy and daunting and has left many freedom fighters across our
nation battered and bankrupt, there are continuing signs that the tide of
tyranny may finally be meeting effective resistance.
On April 12th 2005, William Wallace Lear of Muskegon Michigan
appeared in federal District Court in Grand Rapids to face IRS charges
claiming Lear had violated the terms of his probation. William Lear had
served one year in a federal detention facility in Minnesota following his
conviction in 2002 for Willful Failure to File income tax returns (a
misdemeanor). His probation began in March, 2004.
The basis for the probation violation hearing was an IRS claim that Lear
failed to abide by the strict terms of his probation which included the
requirement that he file all his delinquent tax returns and pay all back
taxes and penalties owed.
Just as the hearing before Judge Gordon Quist began, the DOJ attorneys
moved to dismiss the IRS's probation violation claim against Lear that would
have sent him back to prison.
Although Lear had filed his missing returns signing them “under duress”
(which IRS does not allow) and failed to pay the taxes owing on those
returns, Judge Quist signed an order, completely releasing Lear from federal
custody. As of April 12th, Lear has been a free man.
An important question remains: Why? Why would the IRS and DOJ walk away from
a golden opportunity to make headlines and send a convicted tax protester
back to prison?
Before answering the question, let’s review some of the key developments
leading up to the April 12, 2005 probation violation hearing.
After serving his 1-year sentence and after his return to his home in
Michigan to fulfill his probation, Bill Lear and his wife Rose “dug back in”
and continued to review the extensive body of legal research that had
originally caused Bill Lear not to file.
During the summer of 2004, they constructed a “Challenge of Authority”
document relying on legal material from various sources including
comprehensive research
posted by WTP in May 2004 and that has since been sent repeatedly
by the Foundation (and others) to various officials of the U.S. government,
including the President's current
Advisory Panel on Federal Tax reform.
This research conclusively documents that IRS has no legal authority to
impose taxes on the wages and salaries of ordinary Americans.
Particularly damaging in the challenge was recently archived documentation
from the government itself clearly showing that IRS Form 1040 is a “proposed”
information collection form and that there is no legal authority cited
for its use.
On October 4, 2004, during a meeting in the offices of their Congressional
Representative Peter Hoekstra, the Lears formally served their Challenge of
Authority on three IRS agents and engaged in a significant discussion about
the limits of their authority. The IRS agents refused to respond to the
Challenge of Authority simply stating that it is not the “practice” of IRS
to respond to such requests.
What the agents did not know, however, was that two weeks earlier, on
September 24th, the Lears had filed the same document as a formal
public legal record in their local county courthouse at office of
the Registrar of Deeds.
On February 28, 2005, after additional contacts with IRS officials in which
Bill Lear repeatedly asked the IRS to provide specific legal guidance to him
so he could know which tax form the law required him to fill out, and
thereby comply with the terms of his probation, the Lears again confronted
the IRS agents in a meeting in Rep. Hoekstra's office.
At that meeting, and after a heated discussion with IRS agents, confronting
them with government documents and evidence clearly showing Form 1040 has no
authority in law, IRS ended the discussion by telling Lear that the law
required him to use “Form 1040” to file his returns.
Frustrated and agitated with the exchange, IRS Agent J. McWilliams stated
that Lear “wasn't cooperating with the IRS”, and that Lear was “going back
to prison.”
On March 2, just days before Lear's probation was due to expire, IRS filed a
probation violation complaint with the federal probation office. Lear was
promptly served Notice of the hearing that could send him back to prison.
On March 4, the Lears filed a Habeas Corpus regarding the original
conviction.
On March 9, Lear
filed a pleading
answering the alleged violation of probation.
On March 10, Lear also decided to “hedge his bet” and filed the delinquent
tax returns, but signed the tax forms “under duress.”
On March 14, 2005
- Lear appeared before Magistrate Joseph G. Scoville who found cause for the
violation and sent the case to Judge Quist for a formal hearing.
It should be noted that IRS routinely rejects tax returns signed “under
duress” due to the obvious due process implications related to the use of
force, threat of force, or other intimidation to coerce an individual to
swear to a statement made under “penalties of perjury.” It should be further
noted that although required by the terms of his probation, Lear did not
make any payment toward the alleged taxes or penalties due for the returns
he was convicted for willfully failing to file.
Finally, on March 21st, the Lears filed a
Motion to Quash the Release Revocation Hearing. Contained within this
motion was the formal “Challenge
of Authority” document that had been previously recorded in their local
county courthouse as a legal public record.
On April 12, Lear and his wife Rose appeared in court for Bill's probation
violation hearing.
Instead of publicly confronting the merits of the alleged probation
violation and asking the court to send a “recalcitrant tax convict” back to
prison, attorneys for the DOJ and IRS withdrew their complaint
alleging the probation violation.
WHY?
Because under Rule 902 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, a court cannot
deny the admissibility of relevant evidence consisting of certified copies
of public legal records as they are presumed to be self-authenticating and
valid as evidence.
Here is the text of Rule 902, sub-paragraph (4):
Extrinsic evidence of authenticity as a
condition precedent to admissibility is not required with respect to the
following:
(4). Certified copies of public records. A copy of an official record or
report or entry therein, or of a document authorized by law to be recorded
or filed and actually recorded or filed in a public office, including data
compilations in any form, certified as correct by the custodian or other
person authorized to make the certification.
In other words,
in facing a public criminal hearing where the contents of Lear's “Challenge
of Authority” was, without argument,
directly relevant to Lear's alleged violation, and knowing the
District Court could not deny its admittance as evidence, the DOJ was faced
with two unpleasant alternatives: either produce IRS witnesses to explain
away government documentation clearly showing IRS Form 1040 is not a legally
authorized form, or walk away from the probation violation hearing.
IRS walked.
Rather than take a potential headline-making opportunity to publicly
chastise and send back to prison a convicted tax protester who had dared –
even after conviction -- to continue questioning the legal authority of the
government, the IRS and DOJ instead withdrew their criminal complaint,
thereby avoiding having to confront – on the record – the damning evidence
contained in Lear's formal
Motion to Quash and its “Challenge of Authority” exhibit. (Note the
legal argument regarding the lack of authority for Individual Form 1040
begins on page 4 of the Motion to Quash.)
By withdrawing the IRS complaint against Lear, DOJ avoided having to
publicly attempt to rebut Lear's legal research and having to admit that the
government could not cite any legal authority requiring the filing of a 1040
Individual tax return.
On April 25th, despite the facts that Lear had filed defective
returns signed “under duress” and also failed to pay the taxes and penalties
owed for the returns he was convicted for failing to file, Judge Quist
signed a formal order completely freeing Bill Lear from the terms of his
probation.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio is currently
considering whether to certify Lear's most recent Habeas Corpus motion to
vacate his conviction. That motion is also based upon the new legal research
contained in his “Challenge of Authority.”
The Hard Evidence That
Form 1040 Has No Legal Authority
In their
“Challenge of Authority” document, the Lears provide hard documentary
evidence that IRS Form 1040 has NO legal authority.
This evidence was presented by contrasting archived government documents
that have been filed pursuant to the federal Administrative Procedures Act (APA)
and Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).
Under the PRA, each and every government form that is used to collect
information from the general public under law must be linked to its
authorizing statutes and implementing regulations and have a valid Office of
Management and Budget “OMB” Form number. This requirement of law provides an
orderly means to identify which statutes, regulations and forms are related.
As one item of
evidence, the Lears produced a stamped copy of a 1987 Treasury Department
document entitled, “Request for OMB Review” which is required by the
Paperwork Reduction Act. The request was for IRS Form “1040-NR”, the tax
form used by Non-Resident Aliens to report their “income”.
Several things about this document are noteworthy:
-
The form used
for the request is OMB Form “83”
-
On line 5 of
Form 83, the administrative requester is required to cite the
statutes actually authorizing the collection of the information.
The authorizing statutes are, in fact, cited.
-
On line 27 of
Form 83, the administrative requester is required to cite the
regulations actually authorizing the collection of the information.
The authorizing regulations are, in fact, cited.
Click Here to See
the “OMB Form 83”
Treasury request for IRS Form 1040-NR for use by Non-Resident Aliens
Here's where it
gets very interesting:
The “Challenge of Authority” document also contains a similar
Treasury PRA request from 1996, but this one is for the “regular” IRS
Individual Form 1040 that millions of Americans file each year.
This Treasury administrative request is not made on OMB “Form 83”
---- but rather using an alternate OMB form, “83-1” titled,
”Paperwork Reduction Act Submission”.
Several very
important differences between the OMB request forms need to be noted:
-
OMB Form 83-1
does NOT require any specific citation of statutory authority.
-
OMB Form 83-1
does NOT require any specific citation of regulatory authority.
-
In the
“Certification” box found on page 2 of Form 83-1, there are specific
references to
both PRA Regulations “5 CFR 1320.9” and “5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).”
-
The
attachments to this OMB Form 83-1 request consist primarily of a list of
Title 26 (Income Tax) regulations and statutes that are merely (quoting)
“associated” with IRS Form 1040.
Click here to see
the Treasury request using OMB Form 83-1
for the IRS Individual “Form 1040”
Here's the punch line:
IRS Form 1040-NR (for Non-Resident Aliens) is certified as complying with
the requirements of the PRA found at regulation 5 CFR 1320.8. In its request
to the OMB for IRS Form “1040-NR”, the Department of Treasury (IRS)
clearly cites both the statutory and regulatory authorities authorizing the
use of the form to collect information and certifies its request as such.
Click Here to read the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) form disclosure
requirements found at
5 CFR 1320.8.
Please specifically note that for the
Treasury's request using alternative OMB Form 83-1 for IRS Individual Form
1040, the Treasury has formally certified the request under regulation 5
CFR 1320.9, which is explicitly reserved for “PROPOSED”
government forms.
Printed just
below is the title header for federal regulation
“5 CFR 1320.9”:
[Code of
Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 3]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5 CFR 1320.9]
[Page 155]
TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
CHAPTER III--OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
PART 1320_CONTROLLING PAPERWORK BURDENS ON THE PUBLIC--Table of Contents
Sec. 1320.9 Agency certifications for proposed collections of information.
As part of the agency submission to OMB of a proposed collection
of information, the agency (through the head of the agency,
the Senior Official, or their designee) shall certify
and provide a record supporting such certification)
that the proposed collection of information [...]
In short, if IRS Individual Form 1040 was actually authorized under
U.S. law, the Department of Treasury would have submitted it for OMB
certification using OMB “Form 83” which requires explicit citation of the
Form's authorizing statutes and regulations.
Instead, the IRS used alternative OMB Form “83-1” -- which is designated
ONLY for “proposed” government forms – and which does NOT
require any formal citation of legal authority allowing its use.
Furthermore, even though an
attachment to the Treasury's request for IRS Form 1040 (on OMB
Form 83-1) contains a lengthy list of statutes and regulations, and “Box 12”
on the form is marked indicating the form is “mandatory”, a careful reading
of the submission to OMB will make it clear that the Department of Treasury
is ONLY certifying that:
-
Form 1040 is a
“proposed form” and that, IF authorized, it would meet the
collection criteria established by regulation 5 CFR
1320.9, and
-
That Form 1040
is only “associated” with the statutes and regulations cited
in the 1040 request, and
-
If Form 1040
were actually authorized by law, it would be “mandatory”.
As a final
observation, it should be noted that both the 1987 Form 1040-NR request as
well as the 1996 Form 1040 request were signed by the same IRS officials,
one Garrick R. Shear, the IRS Reports Clearance Officer and one Lois K.
Holland as/for the Departmental Reports Management Officer. Lear's pleadings
contain additional OMB certifications, also signed by Shear & Holland.
In short, the Department of Treasury's clear and
willful intent to use OMB Form 83-1 (rather than OMB Form 83) to legally
certify IRS Individual Form 1040 as a valid government document, is
compelling proof establishing that IRS Form 1040 is merely a PROPOSED
tax form, and that there is NO LEGAL AUTHORITY that authorizes
its use.
A Nation of Law?
The documentation presented above is additional evidence weighing against
our government, in favor of the People’s Petition for Redress of Grievances
regarding a system of taxation that is without reasonable question, devoid
of constitutional and statutory authority.
In this article we have shown once again, that the government simply
refuses to answer legitimate questions regarding its authority to force
People to pay a direct, un-apportioned tax on their labor --- questions
that are based on compelling documentary evidence establishing that the
government is abusing the People by violating its power to tax.
As the government continues its refusal to properly respond to the
People’s
Petitions for Redress, the Petition process has unfortunately reached
the point where the People have been forced to begin retaining their money
as the means to peacefully enforce their Right to secure proper Redress --
i.e., to obtain answers to the People’s legitimate questions regarding an
array of substantive violations of the founding principles and abuses of the
limited powers delegated to the government by those that created it to serve
them.
Thus far, the government has improperly responded to the People by
using the People’s First Amendment Right to Petition for Redress of
Grievances as grounds for still further acts of abuse. The government
continues to apply heavy-handed enforcement actions against the sovereign
Petitioners who are exercising their Natural Rights and dominion over their
servant government.
The actions of the U.S. government are wholly unacceptable for a free People.
Under the circumstances, the People are morally, legally and
Constitutionally justified in retaining their money until their grievances
are redressed and their questions are answered. There is no other
non-violent way for the People to hold their government accountable to the
Constitution with its guarantee of Individual Rights.
The We The People Foundation is committed to peacefully securing freedom and
reestablishing our founding principles -- no matter the cost. It is a sign
of hope and the power of Righteousness that in the name of Liberty, a
single, dedicated and determined Michigan family has taken just a few
tidbits of the body of evidence this Foundation has made publicly available
and has made a compelling case in a federal court that the DOJ and IRS chose
to walk away from.
Ours is a Nation
of Law. The People must not, and cannot, tolerate a government that ignores
its own laws -- or the fundamental Rights of those it is intended to serve.
No Answers, NO Taxes.
We ask you again, to support the work of the Foundation and please consider
a modest one-time or monthly
donation to help us continue our
ongoing battles in the courts of law and public opinion against those that
would seek to slow our progress or silence our voice as we demand
Constitutional Order and reclaim Freedom.
Article related links:
Please note: the documents below are
moderately sized, in Adobe .pdf format.
It is suggested you RIGHT-Click on the links below in order to
download the
document to your computer before opening it.
The Treasury's
OMB request for Form 1040-NR (for Non-Resident Aliens)
The Treasury's
OMB request for Form 1040 - (for Individual Returns), and the
Attachment
The
Motion to Quash the probation violation hearing
The
Challenge of Authority exhibit
(Please note: does not contain all the original attachments)
Certificate of Service for the Challenge
IRS's
Probation Violation Complaint
Lear's Probation Violation
Response
USDC
Order Freeing Bill Lear
