Harry Reid: "Paying income tax in America is Voluntary"

According to this video interview of Harry Reid, paying Federal Income Taxes is Voluntary:



Listen to Harry Reid, try to double talk about taxes being Voluntary.

Too bad the IRS doesn't see it that way.

Maybe Reid should show leadership and put that voluntary part in black and white.

Lol...I think he was really referring to politicians in general, not the public.

reply to post by jam321

Maybe Reid should show leadership and put that voluntary part in black and white.

Agreed. Maybe they can sneak it into the next Bailout Bill, along with all the other things they sneak in.

reply to post by David9176

Lol...I think he was really referring to politicians in general, not the public.

David, my friend, that was the funniest quote I've heard today....and the TRUEST one also. Definitely a star.

Hahaha, Thoreau would be loving this.
I guess civil disobedience isn't so disobedient anymore.

I wonder how he can call it voluntary when taxes are taken out of a paycheck BEFORE it is issued??

Sure I can choose not to file a return, but the .gov still gets my money each check

reply to post by ProfEmeritus


In light of everything that is happening, this is just so idiotic you can't help but laugh.

Cripes.

I'm the last person who ever wants to defend Harry Reid, but I did watch the video and I saw the interviewer as being somewhat of a dumba$$ - or he was being intentionally dense.

Reid explains why it's called a "voluntary" tax system. He says there are other countries that take their money straight from your employer who then takes it straight from your check and some countries that don't have deductions. Here in America we can either choose not to claim deductions or we can claim deductions.

It's not whether or not you want to pay taxes that's voluntary, it's how much you want to pay right now versus later. But calling it "voluntary" is kind of weird.


[edit on 17-2-2009 by sos37]

reply to post by redhatty

I wonder how he can call it voluntary when taxes are taken out of a paycheck BEFORE it is issued?? Sure I can choose not to file a return, but the .gov still gets my money each check

I believe that is what Orwell called "Newspeak" in his novel 1984.
Our present government is a combination of 1984 and Brave New World, with the worst of each combined.

reply to post by sos37

I'm the last person who ever wants to defend Harry Reid, but I did watch the video and I saw the interviewer as being somewhat of a dumba$$ - or he was being intentionally dense.

Actually, I believe that the interviewer realized what a "dumba$$" Reid was being, and pressed him on his dumb remarks. It really was great to see Reid try to pull the words back into his mouth, but all he ended up doing was making it worse. This was no worse than what Katie Kook Couric did with Sarah Palin in her interview. It's all a matter of perspective.

reply to post by ravenshadow13


Somehow, I don't think Thoreau or MLK had someone like Reid in mind:

"I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest." - Martin Luther King, Jr,

eserver.org...

reply to post by ProfEmeritus


Haha, probably not... they're probably both rolling in their graves right now. Thoreau a bit more than MLK, I imagine.

I'm about to go build a little hut on Walden Pond... but they would still come and take my money, these days.

Originally posted by ProfEmeritus

.
Our present government is a combination of 1984 and Brave New World, with the worst of each combined.

If only they took the good elements now and then. Attractive women constantly wanting sex would sure take the edge off of having to go to Room 101 all the time.

Of course it's voluntary.

You volunteer to pay or you get your door kicked in at 2AM by federal agents who, if you're lucky, wont murder your family.

It's a free country. Make your choice.

I swear the IRS is run by some guy from Jersey named Guido.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere

I swear the IRS is run by some guy from Jersey named Guido.

Actually, if Guido ran the government, at least no one would DARE to avoid paying income taxes. Can you image if Guido had to go knock on Tom Daschle's door, to collect?
Hey, there's a way to make sure everyone pays their fair share of income taxes.

Guido for Secretary of the Treasury!

I'm going to confess my own tendency toward procrastination.

For ten years, I didn't file a tax return.

I finally decided to get caught up and file all those back returns.

In that time, I had overpaid my taxes by some $12,000.

Guess what.

They kept all but a few hundred dollars of the overpaid amount.

That's the law and I didn't complain, but I think that is enough to debunk the voluntary aspect of the tax code.

I've heard that as well.
Ten years ago I worked with someone that explained it to me and he didn't pay income tax because he was set up to file exempt.
I don't know how he did it but I still remember when got the call from corporate saying it was OK.

What he explained went something like this:

The Govt want's you to get your SSN as soon as possible. I actually got mine when I was about 12, signed it and turned it in. Apparently SS is nothing more than a contract where you promise to pay income tax when you become of age and start working, but since most people sign when they are kids. it's not a legal contract.
The 1040 form is not the correct form that should be used to file because there is actually a special form that you must fill out to be exempt.
The IRS is not an entity of the US Govt because it's actually nothing more than a Govt contracted collection agency. Smoke and mirrors.
Paying income tax is voluntary unless your work involves A.T.F. in any way.
Yep, that's alcohol, tobacco or firearms.
This is how they are able to catch and make example of the so called "tax evaders", something they always neglect to report when they show them being sent down the river.
Remember Willie Nelson? Got him on tax evasion because of marijuana, nothing more.

There are few other details he told me about which I've forgotten but it makes a lot of sense. It's probably true that paying taxes is voluntary but your name would probably go on some special list somewhere?
I think the word "voluntaary" was removed from the tax form booklet you'd get in the mail.
Too risky for me to even think about trying.

Oh, and my buddy, I haven't seen him in over 10 years so I don't know what his current status is. Sure hope he's ok.

[edit on 17-2-2009 by Alxandro]