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DeTaxUS Newsletter "If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself." CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION Our Mission is to Abolish the Federal Income Tax
August is one of the few months without a national holiday. Other than my birthday on the 6th, there is nothing to celebrate until Labor Day on September 2. In fact, since Easter bounces back and forth between March and April, August is the only month that has no recognized holiday. August 15 is the last day for automatic extension for filing individual 1040 returns. So let's declare this August 15th "Tax Awareness Day." Though DeTaxUS is primarily concerned with the income tax, as the most onerous and anti-American of all the taxes imposed on the American People, there are many others that the People accept without really thinking about them. Let's become more aware of the taxes we are paying and find out just what they are supposed to be paying for. For example, the Federal Universal Service Fund and Federal Access Charge on your monthly phone bill. They don't say "tax" and aren't listed in the "Tax Summary" on your phone bill, but they are taxes nonetheless as they are imposed by the federal government under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations. They are federally mandated charges that phone service providers must charge their customers. The Federal Universal Service Fund makes funds available to qualified K-12 schools and libraries and to eligible health care providers for telecommunications services and other items. It also subsidizes low income subscribers [in addition to any welfare payments they may receive from various government agencies]. The Federal Access Charge (which was $4.35 for your first phone and $7.00 for your second line but increased on 7/1/02 to $5.00 for your first line and is scheduled to increase $.50 a year for the next two years), actually goes to your local phone company to help subsidize the cost of providing and maintaining the local telephone network. [Seems to me the phone company is quite capable of determining how much to charge its customers to cover its costs without federal mandates.] Check your utility bills, automobile service bills and other bills you receive and take note of all the miscellaneous charges labeled "federal", "state" or "municipal." All these hidden taxes add up. Let your local, county, state and federal representatives know that you are aware and concerned about the creeping tax burden. Personally, I would like to see all taxes abolished except property taxes; gas taxes and similar use taxes with specific purposes defined; excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco; and duties on certain competing imports. If the true cost of government were rolled into just those taxes, and landlords were required to inform tenants how much of their rent was going to pay those then huge property taxes, the individual tax bills would be so high that there would be a revolution tomorrow. People would see that the cost is totally out of line when compared with the services we receive. The People would stand up en mass and demand an accounting. As long as our local, county, state and federal governments can hide their true cost in hundreds of small and incremental taxes, the People remain ignorant and don't protest too much. On August 15, add up the numerous taxes you are paying, and you'll conclude that the bulk of your income goes to pay taxes. Are you and your family getting your money's worth? Send your comments to mailto:editor@DeTaxUS.com Warmest regards, Cory Layne "On every unauthoritative exercise of power by the legislature must the people rise in rebellion or their silence be construed into a surrender of that power to them? If so, how many rebellions should we have had already?" 1. TAX NEWS Latest News From The IRS Consumer Alert : Identity and Financial Theft Scam Be on the alert for a scam that uses phony bank correspondence and IRS forms to trick unwary bank customers into disclosing their personal and financial information to the scam promoters. The information is used to steal the customer's identity and bank account deposits, run up charges on credit cards, apply for loans, services or benefits in the customer's name, file fraudulent tax returns and more. The phony IRS forms used in this scam may be labeled W-9095, W-8BEN or W-8888. Report instances of this fraud to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484. A copy of the phony bank correspondence and W-9095 may be viewed on the Comptroller of the Currency's web site at ============== Courtesy of Tax-News.com Tax Simplification Bill Proposed After House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Bill Thomas, introduced his tax bill monstrosity, another member of the Committee, Rob Portman of Ohio, has decided to make a try at SIMPLIFYING the US tax code. For details of the Tax Simplification bill, go to: It's quite sweeping - ATM elimination, credits, exemptions, phase-ins, education, capital gains... 2. JOKE OF THE MONTH
Teaching Math in 1950: Teaching Math in 1960: Teaching Math 1970: Teaching Math in 1980: Teaching Math in 1990: Teaching Match in 2000: 3. MONEY SAVING TIPS Benjamin Franklin said, "A penny saved is a penny earned." Actually, a penny saved is about 1.4 pennies earned, after taxes. The easiest way to raise your standard of living is to reduce your spending. When you reduce your unnecessary expenses, you free up after-tax dollars to use in other ways. Think about it. Your groceries are purchased with after-tax dollars. Your car is purchased with after-tax dollars, and so is the gas it guzzles plus the gas taxes on every gallon. Every $1.00 you can reduce those expenses, reduces the amount of pre-tax dollars you need to earn by about $1.40. This leaves more money in your pocket, or in your investment accounts. ============== Drink water instead of soft drinks. Rather than buying bottled water, install a kitchen water filter, then re-fill your bottles. Keep a pitcher in the refrigerator so you have cold water whenever you want! ============== Buy used books, or trade with friends, neighbors and co-workers. Many cities have used bookstores that are well organized and take trade-ins. A library card is free and it's a great place to find out what's going on in your community. ============== Review your car insurance for the best rates. Increase deductibles, consider canceling unneeded "extras" like towing or rental reimbursement. If you have auto roadside protection (AAA or other), you may be paying for duplicate coverage and not using it. Every few years, call around and get free price quotes, or go online to see if you could save money with a different company. (Just make sure it is a well-rated company.) ============== Never shop for groceries when you're hungry. It's cheaper to grab a burger on the way than to go to the grocery store hungry and buy a lot of snack foods and the like. 6. EDITORIALS and ARTICLES "Those who take the most from the table, teach contentment. ============== An article written by Samuel Adams after protests against the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Revenue Acts of 1770 had been criticized by the governor of Massachusetts as a protest against our then supreme authority, the King and the Lords in Parliament. He cites the works of John Locke (1632 - 1704), author of "Treatise of civil Government" and other works greatly admired by our founding fathers and often paraphrased freely (without due credit) in the writings of Thomas Jefferson and others. "The supreme power," says Mr. Locke, "is not, nor can possibly be absolutely arbitrary, over the lives and fortunes of the people - The supreme power cannot take from any man any part of his property without his own consent. For the preservation of property being the end of government, and that for which men enter into society; it necessarily supposes and requires that the people should have property, without which they must be supposed to lose that by entering into society, which was the end for which they entered into it. Men therefore in society having property, they have such a right to the goods which by the law of the community are theirs, that no body hath a right to take their substance or any part of it from them without their consent. "Without this, they have no property at all: For I have truly no property in that, which another can by right take from me when he pleases, against my consent." These are the principles upon which alone, the Americans founded their opposition to the late acts of parliament. How then could governor Bernard with any colour of truth declare to a minister of state in general terms, that "the authority of the King, the supremacy of parliament, the superiority of government, were the objects of the attack?" Upon the principles of reason and nature, their opposition is justifiable: For by those acts the property of the Colonists is taken from them without their consent. It is by no means sufficient to console us, that the duty is reduced to the single article of Tea, which by the way is not a fact; but if it should be admitted, it is because the parliament for the present are pleased to demand no more of us: Should we acquiesce in their taking three pence only because they please, we at least tacitly consent that they should have the sovereign control of our purses; and when they please they will claim an equal right, and perhaps plead a precedent for it, to take a shilling or a pound. At present we have the remedy in our own hands; we can easily avoid paying the TRIBUTE, by abstaining from the use of those articles by which it is extorted from us: - and further, we can look upon our haughty imperious taskmasters, and all those who are sent here to aid and abet them, together with those sons of servility, who from very false notions of politeness, can seek and court opportunities of cringing and fawning at their feet, of whom, thro' favor, there are but few among us: we may look down upon all these, with that sovereign contempt and indignation, with which those who feel their own dignity and freedom, will for ever view the men, who would attempt to reduce them to the disgraceful state of SLAVERY. -- Samuel Adams (Article signed "Candidus," Boston Gazette, September 9, 1771) ============== Contentment is a blessing, but apathy and complacence are not. We must stand for something, or we stand for nothing. It is quite possible to love America and at the same time hate what our present government is doing to her and her People. Our only duty as Americans is to respect the rights of all other Americans. We have no duty to financially support the "looters" and "power mongers" in Washington who want to use force and coercion against sovereign citizens to promote their personal agendas. In 1776 the American colonists were armed with the same muskets, swords and cannon that the British soldiers had in their arsenals. Plus we had the advantage of fighting on our own soil, and we were fighting for our liberty, our personal survival as well as that of our new nation. Today there is no way the citizenry could win an armed revolt against a despotic government. For many years, the People have been forbidden to own automatic weapons, bombs, artillery pieces, missiles, tanks, grenades, tear-gas, nerve-gas, and other deadly weapons available to government military forces. An armed revolt would be put down in a day. After all, we would be facing government entities that have no compunction against using deadly military or paramilitary forces against unarmed or under-armed civilians, as was shown at Ruby Ridge, Waco, the Freeman standoff, and the Elian Gonzales affair. So this tax revolt must use peaceful means to accomplish the same task our forefathers undertook through war. Our only weapons are our voices, the pen and the vote. We must win this war for financial liberty or forever be slaves to our tax-masters. Whip-wielding Simon Legree had nothing over our tax-wielding congressmen who would bleed us of our last drop of capital if they could do so without risking their cushy positions at the power trough. We must make them understand that their positions are at risk, and we are not content to just "acquiesce in their taking three pence only because they please." You can look up contact information for your Congressman and Senators at: Cory Layne P.S. Your comments and suggestions are welcome. We will try to respond to all of them personally and will include a selection of them in future newsletters and on the DeTaxUS website. Send email to: Editor P.P.S. Let us know how you feel about the income tax. Your opinion is always welcome. You can join our online forum to discuss tax issues by going to: P.P.P.S. You can help by sharing our vision with other over-taxed Americans. DISCLAIMERS: The information contained herein is general in nature and is not intended as legal, accounting or tax advice by DeTaxUS, Inc. The reader should seek professional guidance prior to taking any action based upon this information. DeTaxUS, Inc. shall have no obligation to inform the reader of any changes in tax laws or other which may affect the information provided. Portions of this newsletter may have been extracted from articles received for republication. Credit is given where the author is known. Unsigned articles and information gathered from government publications and websites are accepted as public domain. Copyright© 2002 by DeTaxUS, Inc. Copyright
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