Justice Department Provides Tax Protester with Prime Opportunity to Finally End the Federal Income Tax!

During the last two Presidential elections (1996 and 2000), one of the hottest topics among Presidential candidates has been with what to replace the federal income tax--a flat tax or a national sales tax. It was a foregone conclusion among the candidates (and among many Americans as well) that the incomprehensible and unwieldly income tax must be replaced. Former IRS Commissioner Shirley D. Peterson described the Internal Revenue Code as "indecipherable." And in the late 1990's, Congress even enacted legislation to do away with the federal income tax altogether. However, it neglected to provide a replacement for the tax.



With the 2004 Presidential Primary just around the corner, the replacement of the federal income tax is sure to be a hot topic of conversation again this time around. And a New Hampshire income tax protester believes that the U.S. Government has provided him with a prime opportunity to do away with the tax once and for all.



For a number of years, Steven A. Swan of Auburn, New Hampshire was a follower and promoter of the income tax theories of nationally-known income tax protester Irwin Schiff. While promoting Schiff's income tax theories, Swan separately came to the realization that, subsequent to the Industrial Revolution, the original intent of the 16th Amendment was only to authorize Congress to impose an income tax on the earnings of the wealthy. Swan also discovered that for 30 years after the 16th Amendment was ratified, the income tax was only imposed upon the earnings of the wealthy. However, after World War II, Americans had largely forgotten about the original intent of the 16th Amendment, which allowed Congress to slowly and incrementally (and Swan believes, unconstitutionally) expand the income tax to a point where today, the earnings of virtually everyone are subject to it.



Swan surmised that since the original intent of the 16th Amendment was only to authorize Congress to impose an income tax on the earnings of the wealthy, and that for 30 years after the 16th Amendment was ratified, the income tax was only imposed upon the earnings of the wealthy, and that, since the 16th Amendment had never been changed or modified since it was ratified, then the federal income tax as it is imposed today is unconstitutional because it is not imposed in accordance with the original intent of the 16th Amendment. So Swan instituted a petition drive to force America's elected representatives to come to the realization that the federal income tax is unconstitutional and to either amend the Constitution in order to rectify the situation or to do away with the tax altogether. Swan's petition and the evidence which led up to it can be seen at Swan's Web site www.zeroincometax.com.



Because of Swan's promotion of the income tax theories of Irwin Schiff (which have nothing to do with Swan's belief that the federal income tax is unconstitutional and which Swan now realizes were erroneous), in January of 2002, IRS Special Agents executed a search warrant at Swan's home and informed him that he was the target of a criminal investigation for violations of the internal revenue laws. In March of 2003, a federal grand jury indicted Swan on 18 felony counts of allegedly violating the internal revenue laws while he was following and promoting Schiff's income tax theories. Swan pled "not guilty" to all charges.



Swan sees his indictment as providing him with a prime opportunity to bring his belief that the federal income tax is unconstitutional because it is not imposed in accordance with the original intent of the 16th Amendment before a federal judge so that the tax can be deemed unconstitutional once and for all. Swan has researched the legal literature and cannot find where this issue has ever been raised in a federal court. If Swan is correct and if the federal courts are just, Swan believes that the end of the federal income tax is near and that he will go down in history as the person who singlehandly did away with it. If Swan is not correct or if the federal courts are not just, then Swan will probably be spending a lot of time in federal prison.



For more information on this matter, one can go to www.zeroincometax.com. Swan can be contacted at (603) 483-0550. His e-mail address is stevenswan@earthlink.net.