Flora v. United States, 362 U.S. 145, pg. 176

In 1986, 99.5 million Americans were tricked into filing and paying federal income taxes when legally; they didn't have to do either. If this statement shocks you, it is only because you and the rest of the nation have been thoroughly deceived by the federal government (with federal courts playing the key role), and an army of accountants, lawyers, and other tax preparers. All of these have a vested interest in keeping you ignorant concerning the real nature of federal income taxes.

That an entire nation of supposedly intelligent human beings could be so thoroughly hoodwinked, must rank as the greatest and most spectacular hoax of all time, with the phenomenon of millions of Americans scurrying to IRS offices each April 15th comparable to lemmings marching into the sea.

The fact is, that no provision of the Internal Revenue Code requires anyone to file or pay income taxes. This tax, unlike other internal revenue taxes, is strictly (censored voluntary). This is because a compulsory income tax would violate the Constitution's three taxing clauses, the Bill of Rights and the 16th Amendment-all of which impose restrictions on the government's power and ability to tax income in ways few Americans understand. So, in order for the income tax not to be unconstitutional it had to be written on a non compulsory basis. However, in order to deceive Americans of this, as well as provide federal courts and the IRS with deceptive passages on which to hang illegal prosecutions and illegal seizures, the Internal Revenue Code was written to make paying income taxes appear mandatory. The government succeeded in doing this by tricking the public into believing that those enforcement provisions of the Code, that apply to other, non-voluntary taxes (such as alcohol and tobacco taxes), also apply to income taxes when in fact, they do not. However, despite such trickery, the IRS still admits that our "income tax laws"' are purely VOLUNTARY!

Indeed, every official IRS pronouncement on this issue admits to the voluntary nature of the income tax, as the following quotations and government documents prove.

"The IRS' primary task is to collect taxes under a voluntary compliance system." - Jerome Kurtz Internal Revenue Annual Report, 1980

"Our tax system is based on individual self -assessment and voluntary compliance." - Mortimer Caplin Internal Revenue Audit Manual, 1975

"Each year American taxpayers voluntarily file their tax returns and make a special effort to pay the taxes they owe." -Johnnie M. Walters Internal Revenue 1040 Booklet, 1971

"Because the American tax system is based on voluntary compliance and self-assessment, each year taxpayers make their own determination of their tax liability' and file returns reporting the correct tax. - WELCOME to the United States of America Form 1-357, Re. 7-19-80, the United States Department of Justice, Immigration & Naturalization Service