If you're reading this, something about your tax situation has you worried. That's fair — the IRS is intimidating until you know how the rules actually work. I'm Darrin Mish, a Tampa tax attorney. I've handled cases like yours for 32 years. Let me walk you through it.
In a stark display of the rule of law, a former IRS agent and CPA is serving 4 years in prison for what she believes to be right. Mrs. Sherry Peel Jackson firmly believes that the law never stipulates that a person has to file income tax returns so she did not do so for herself for 4 years.
According to Jackson, she was convinced of the rightness of her actions when she came across an advertisement offering $50,000 to anyone who could find a law saying that US citizens must file income taxes. Amazed that no one including herself was able to find such a law, she promptly stopped making her own tax returns. At the same time, Jackson realized that just about all that she was doing in her enforcement duties as a tax agent were not in accordance with the IRS’ own codebook but yet those was the very things she was expected to do by the IRS.
One must wonder whether Mrs. Jackson will file her income tax in future after she gets out of prison.
In another incident related to the law and the IRS, US District Court judge Sim Lake made a judgment that dismissed the claims of a former IRS employee of religious and employment discrimination. The occasion that gave rise to the lawsuit was when Kawaljeet Tagore wore a kirpan to work and was censured for it. A kirpan is a small ceremonial sword and an article of faith in the Sikh religion. Kawaljeet Tagore is of the Sikh faith.
As a result, in January this year Tagore filed a lawsuit against the IRS, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Protective Service and several other individuals involved in the incident including the Secretary of the Treasury. The lawsuit is based on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 1964.
In his judgment on August 23rd, Judge Lake granted a motion to dismiss the suit in all claims except that under Title VII against the Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner and the claim under the RFRA against the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Protective Service and their respective officials and employees. The IRS, Department of the Treasury and all individuals named in the lawsuit in their personal capacities were freed from all claims against them.
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