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You don’t have to agree with Irwin Schiff’s views on the federal income tax, to feel sympathy for Peter Schiff’s request that his father be released from prison. Peter Schiff took his appeal to the Alex Jones show yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38JHBp-Ce7w
About Irwin Schiff And His Theories
Irwin Schiff is probably the father, or if not, the grandfather of the modern tax protester (or you might prefer “tax honesty”) movement. Irwin appears to be quite sincere in his belief that the federal income tax is extremely limited in its scope and most people who are what I like to call conventionally tax compliant are being tricked into compliance.
Unlike most tax professionals, I have taken the time to study Irwin’s books* and learn about his arguments. I remain unpersuaded.
Irwin Schiff’s primary argument on the limited, voluntary nature of the income tax rests on his reading of a few Supreme Court decisions somewhat before and slightly after the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment. The best analysis I have ever seen of his arguments was done by his own attorneys appealing his conviction …even though these cases, properly understood, do not support Mr. Schiff’s professed beliefs, they do contain language which, if honestly misconstrued and read out of context, could lead someone without legal training to believe that taxable income is limited to corporate profits.
About Peter Schiff
Peter Schiff is the CEO and chief global strategist of Euro Pacific Capital Inc. He tends to be bearish on the prospects of the US economy and bullish on gold. He shares his father’s view on the legality of the income tax as it is currently enforced. He also apparently believes that that discretion is the better of part of valor and is himself conventionally tax compliant. Peter’s book The Real Crash: America’s Coming Bankruptcy – How To Save Yourself And Your Country is dedicated to Irwin. Part of the dedication reads: Recommended by Forbes.
Unfortunately, as a quasi political prisoner, Irwin can’t speak for himself. I’m happy to be able to do it for him. Hopefully his courage and his idealism will play a part in restoring the American spirit…
Let Irwin Go Home
I can’t help but sympathize with Peter Schiff’s appeal. In the Alex Jones interview, Peter indicated that, but that he is now letting the request go through.
BOP updated its compassionate release policy back in March and it seems like Irwin might qualify.
Does Harsh Treatment Of Tax Protesters Work?
The general impression I get is that once someone latches onto the “tax honesty” views, that may well have been developed by Schiff, there is no letting go. Doctor Ward Dean served a long sentence for embracing Schiff’s views and still believes that Schiff is right.
Kent Hovind, a friend of Doctor Dean’s also served a long sentence. He no longer speaks about the income tax law being invalid, but tends to focus on his structuring conviction. Paul Hansen, a trustee of Kent Hovind’s ministry, faces sentencing on August 21 for contempt of court for filings he made trying to affect title to property seized from Hovind’s ministry. Ironically, a similar charge against Hovind was dismissed by the same judge who will be sentencing Hansen.
It seems to me that IRS collection action can make people’s lives miserable enough and that in the end the criminal prosecutions end up penalizing people for their sincerity. On the other hand tax protesters end up taking IRS inaction as proof that they are right. It is a tough dilemma. Nonetheless, letting Irwin Schiff stay with his son does not appear to be something that will greatly damage the cause of conventional tax compliance, so I hope his request is granted.
Update – How Likely Is Compassionate Release?
I heard from one of my criminal law experts on how likely compassionate release is for Irwin Schiff.
As written, the federal sentencing law provides few and tightly defined occasions for the reduction of a sentence that has been imposed and upheld on appeal. The Bureau of Prisons is assigned the responsibility of identifying (or perhaps recommending; even that is a contested interpretation) prisoners whose “extraordinary circumstances” would/might (again, controversial) justify a reduction. A motion can then be filed with the sentencing court by the U.S. attorney on behalf of the director of the BOP, which opens the door to the judge (in his/her discretion, in light of the purposes of sentencing) to reduce the sentence. A terminal illness with a short remaining life expectancy has always been the paradigm example of this. The BOP recently relaxed their internal standards and policies, in response to sharp criticism of their rare deployment of this power.
Yet the current BOP Director — who just recently announced his retirement — approved fewer of these motions last year than the year before! Many prisoners die while awaiting approval by the Director of the BOP of their applications for this relief, more than receive the benefit of a motion. There are some rumbling of backlash against this situation by federal judges and others. Even so, the current situation is not good.
You can follow me on Twitter @peterreillycpa. For non-tax matters check out We Are The Future Generations. Tax stories not quite forbes worthy on Your Tax Matters Partner.
*Irwin Schiff’s book “The Federal Mafia” http://www.paynoincometax.com/pdf/federal_mafia.pdf
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