Requirement for Consent

No Taxation Without Consent 67

10.6.7

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Once you give it a little thought, one should conclude that a self-governing people must consent to their own taxes. After 2 all, what do conquered people do? They pay tribute to their conquerors right? Self-governing people don't pay tribute, as 3 they consent to their own taxation. 4 Today in America, what tax is it that takes the largest bite out of the typical American's wallet? What tax is it that is the 5 most invasive? What tax is it that incarcerates more Americans than any other tax? It is the income tax! Did we consent to 6 this tax, or are we paying tribute as conquered people do? 7 The answer to this question is both yes and no. Yes, we consented to an indirect income tax on the net income from 8 business and on the net income from investment. (However, this assumes that the 16th Amendment was properly and 9 legally ratified, which is doubtful.) The amount of such income is determined by subtracting from the gross revenue all 10 business expenses, depreciation, taxes, interest payments, etc., and then severing that income from the underlying asset that 11 produced the income in the first place. Producing taxable net income is kind of like producing wine. There is an intricate 12 process one must go through to get the final result, and there are some good years and bad years. 13 But the answer to the “consent question” is also no. The American People never consented to a direct tax on our wages and 14 salaries. Call it an income tax, call it a capitation tax, call it whatever you want to call it, the American People never 15 consented to a direct tax exempted from the apportionment rule required by the Constitution for direct taxes. 16 In order to understand the dynamics of this question, we must realize that some income taxes are direct, while other income 17 taxes are indirect. The issue is actually quite simple. A direct tax is direct. The tax falls directly on the person or the thing 18 taxed. The one who is obligated to pay such a tax is not in a position to shift it to another. 19 On the contrary, an indirect tax may either be avoided or shifted to another. A trucking company shifts the excise tax on 20 fuel to the customer who ships his product by way of the trucking company. The excise tax on cigarettes is avoided by 21 choosing not to smoke. How is the wage earner going to shift the taxes deducted out of his paycheck to another? He can't. 22 Therefore, the tax imposed directly by the government on the wage earner is a direct tax. 23 The idea that a free people would be taxed without their consent defies all logic. It simply can't be true. From the beginning 24 of recorded history people have paid taxes without their consent to their conquering masters. Today Americans are paying 25 an income tax on their wages and salaries to which they never consented to. The saddest part about this state of affairs is 26 that the American people are unaware of this fact. Thomas Jefferson was right when he said: 27

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was and never will be.”

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The remainder of this article is actually a segment out of a Petition for Writ of Certiorari filed with the Supreme Court on 29 June 21, 2002. This section covers pages 12 thru 17 of the Petition. The case is Philip Lewis Hart v. Commissioner of 30 Internal Revenue. As of this date, the case has not been given a docket number. The Petition was limited to 30 pages, which 31 is extremely short when considering that the Internal Revenue Code and supporting regulations are approximately some 32 20,000 pages. One cannot do justice to such a complex subject in only 30 pages. The following section is excerpted from 33 the Petition: 34

No tax may be imposed on the American People without their consent. 35

In the Declaration of Independence, one of the Grievances against King George III listed by the American Colonists was, 36 'For imposing taxes on us without our consent.' The Declaration of Independence further states, “That to secure these rights, 37 governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” 38

This Court has previously ruled that those Grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence provide a foundation as to 39 the purpose of the American government and also the boundaries as to its power. The Declaration of Independence is 40

67 Extract from an article by the same name written by Phil Hart, whose website is at:

http://www.constitutionalincome.com/.

Requirement for Consent

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Copyright Sovereignty Education and Defense Ministry, http://sedm.org Form 05.003, Rev. 7-23-2013

EXHIBIT:________