The following story illustrates why, when you choose to stop filing a tax return it is wise to address any and all tax returns you filed in the past:

From: Yoda

To my friends, and those who are concerned:

Today, I lost my case in Michigan district court, City of Grand Rapids, verses Me. The charge: 2 counts of Willful failure to file city income taxes for the years 1991 and 1992.. The cost of this: a $425.00 fine and penalties, total, for both. Maximum was 500 dollars and 90 days jail, for each of the 2 counts..

The judge agreed, that I created a reasonable doubt, as to whether or not a known duty to file income tax for the city was known, based on the fact that income, is not defined within the City code, and that the city code references federal law many times..

However, He also stated, (and that which caused me to loose the case) that since the time of the required filing date, I did not ever choose to challenge the existing State or federal returns. Therefore they were an admission that I knew of an existing duty to perform a task: filling the tax forms.

I explained that at the time of filing, I was doing so under presumption of information given to me by others, and that since that time, I have studied the tax laws, and a conflict has arisen, that makes it difficult for me to fill out the forms without committing some kind of false statement, etc.. I also said, that since the Internal Revenue code only allows 3 years, to correct an overpaid return, that even if I had filed an updated form, they would have claimed it to be frivolous, and would have fined me 500 bucks for each of the 2 years.

The judge said, that had I gone ahead and done that, despite the frivolous filing penalties of the IRS, I would have established a written and proven reasonable doubt as to the accuracy of the 1991 and 1992 Federal and state 1040's, and as such, I would have also proven a reasonable doubt as to the accuracy of the assessment made by the city income tax office.

Therefore, While I lost this case, I also won, in a way, because the court showed me, that once you know something to be wrong, even if it was 10 years ago, you have to establish that you now dispute it.. Then, if it is ever used against you, you can prove that you no longer stand by the original data.. Remember, silence is default, silence is consent.. And that is what got me..

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