Income Tax ‘Defiers’ Include D.C. Detective

D.C. police Detective Michael C. Irving was looking for a way to keep more money in his pocket when he settled on a little-known “program” that he claimed exempted him from income taxes.

During a three-year period, while earning more than $450,000, he did not pay a dime to the U.S. Treasury or D.C. government. Irving had not stumbled upon an obscure tax loophole. Authorities say the respected homicide investigator was participating in an extreme form of tax cheating that they worry could be going mainstream.

As millions of Americans sweat out their tax returns due today, federal authorities say they are keeping a close eye on a relatively small group of residents who refuse to pay any income taxes.

Known as tax defiers, deniers or protesters, they cite myriad reasons for their stance that income tax is illegal. Some argue that the 16th Amendment, which allowed Congress to collect income taxes, was never ratified. Others believe paying taxes should be voluntary. A few argue that only D.C. residents or federal employees are subject to the tax laws.

The U.S. government says the theories are bogus, and the IRS recently updated a 77-page book on its Web site rebutting dozens of such arguments.

The movement had its roots in the 1960s and 1970s with angry farmers upset about losing their land, extreme libertarians and members of militia groups and white supremacist organizations, authorities and experts say. The ideas were spread in seminars and, lately, on the Internet to a nationwide audience of people interested in avoiding taxes.

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