Regarding my professional opinion on the legal requirements of filing and paying income taxes per the Internal Revenue Code, I make the following observation:

The question of whether the filing of income taxes is mandatory according to tax law is in reality irrelevant. As the primary power of any modern government including our own is economic, no government is going to allow an erosion of that power through some quirk in the law that threatens its revenue base.

If there were some legal loophole that allowed people to "volunteer" not to file and pay taxes, it would soon be sealed by retroactive legislation to prevent any loss of revenue to the government. Thus even if one were to research and discover some arcane legal basis for not paying taxes, the I.R.S. would not allow the challenge to their power to go unanswered and their response would undoubtedly cost more than the tax avoided, in legal fees if nothing else. The bottom line is forget it. It isn't worth the trouble.

(808) 235-4835 Ted Talbott, CPA 46-005 Kawa, Suite 212 Kaneohe, HI 96744 click here to Contact Ted