Futia Gets Day in Court, Claims Income Tax Unconstitutional
By Dan Murphy
In April of 2022, we reported on North White Plains resident Tony Futia, and his protest against the IRS. Futia, 86 and a Navy Veteran, has refused to file a Federal Tax Return since 2014, and has not voluntarily paid his Federal Income Taxes during this time.
Futia’s protest centers on his belief, and the belief of the We The People Foundation for Constitutional Education that he is a member of, that there is no law requiring most US citizens in the 50 states to pay their Federal Income Tax.
For the past 8 years, Futia has tried to get his day in Federal Court, to debate the legitimacy of his argument. But the IRS has either ignored, or been so behind in its enforcement, that while Futia kept receiving notices of his taxes due, Uncle Sam did nothing to try and collect on the almost $100,000 in overdue taxes and fees that Futia owes….until now.
Based on our reporting this story, in print and online at Yonkerstimes.com, and in paid advertisements explaining his rationale, Futia got the news from the IRS placing liens on his bank accounts and on his monthly social security check.
In April, Futia explained that he had to wait for the IRS to act, and by imposing the liens, he has the right to his day in court. “If I bring an action against the IRS for what I believe are their unlawful actions, I will lose, because the Federal courts always side with the IRS and cite lower court decisions. But if the IRS comes after me, I have the right to request a Jury Trial, and we can get this out in the open. I have a first amendment right to be heard,” said Futia.
The case of Anthony Futia vs the United States and IRS Revenue Officer Raymond Roberts, who is handling Futia’s case, was filed on August 16, with a complaint and a jury demand.
Futia’s complaint states that on June 1, 2022, he received a warning letter that the IRS, “as part of its attempt to ‘collect taxes you owe’ the IRS will be contacting “other persons such as a neighbor, a bank, an employer, or employees, over the next year, from July 1, 2022-July 1, 2023.
On July 20, 2022, IRS Officer Roberts signed two Notices of Levy, freezing his JP Morgan Chase account, and The Bank of Greene County bank account, and withholding 59% ($1,534.80) of his monthly social security check.
Futia responded to the Liens by asking the court to prevent the IRS from collecting tax revenue from his bank accounts until his Federal Court case is heard. “I have been waiting for more than 20 years for the government to show me the law, written by Congress, that requires the average citizen of the 50 states to pay a personal income tax. That will be the main question which I will request the government to produce for review before a jury trial. Since 20 years of research has produced no law because there is no law, I look forward to my day in Federal Court here in Westchester,” said Futia.
Futia does have a pension from the Town of North Castle, where he worked for 45 years, that the IRS cannot place a lien on. “There is no statute or federal law that requires Americans to pay federal income taxes. When you file, or sign a W-4, you do so voluntarily. Only Federal employees must file and pay federal income taxes. For the rest of us, there is no law that requires us to do so,” said Futia, who waited until his wife Martye passed away in 2011 before taking on the IRS.
Futia transferred most of his assets to his children and stopped filing a 1040 eight years ago. Taxes, fines and penalties due to the IRS now are estimated to total more than $500,000.
Futia, and We The People want their day in court to argue that the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1913, does not require every American to pay a federal income tax. The amendment establishes “Congress’s right to impose a Federal Income Tax.” Prior to 1913, there was no Federal Income Tax in the US.
The 16th Amendment does not say, impose a Federal Income Tax on every American citizen. It is this ambiguity, and the fact that Congress had never passed a law requiring everyone to pay a federal income tax, that Futia and We the People, have been asking the IRS, and the courts, to answer for more than 20 years.
Futia explains that when most of us file our federal taxes, we do so voluntarily and the IRS reviews what you have agreed to pay and audits you if their figure don’t agree with your figures. Most of the challenges from the IRS come in the form of underpayment from those who filed a return.
But for those who like Futia, have not filed any return, the IRS really isn’t sure how to proceed. “There are many of us who do not file a return every year, but I’m doing this on principle.
“There is no law that says that the average American citizen has to pay an income tax. Most people don’t want to hear about this. They want to go about their lives and pay their taxes and be left alone. But I think there are many of us out there who wonder, where are my tax dollars going? I’m willing to take that risk for my children and grandchildren.
In 2019, Futia wrote to President Donald Trump about his view. “Hopefully, Mr. President, you will assign someone in your administration to investigate the corruption of/in the IRS, which has been documented and recorded over the past 20 years by the We The People Foundation for Constitutional Education.”
“Mr. President, the IRS has created a masterpiece of obfuscation. Our tax experts and ex-IRS professionals have discovered, this country can be financed as it was intended to be by our Founding Fathers-within Article 1, Section 8 of our constitution.”
“Article 1, Section 8 states that “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States”
President Trump did respond to Futia’s letter and acknowledged receipt. But Futia didn’t get the IRS to take the action he wanted until 2022.
Several IRS agents have also joined the We The People movement and agree with Futia that the Federal Income tax is not mandatory for most Americans. Joe Banister was an IRS investigator who resigned and wrote a book, Investigating the Federal Income Tax, and was successful in court against the IRS.
Other IRS agents have also resigned and refused to file in protest, but lost in court and spent time in prison, which underscores the danger of fighting the IRS, and is why most people, ‘Don’t mess with the IRS.’
One question we asked Futia and We the People is, how would we fund our government without an income tax paid by all? Their answer is-most education costs are paid for by property taxes. Our roads and bridges are paid for by gas and property taxes, and most of the federal government is not funded by our income tax. In fact, we are borrowing Trillions to operate the federal government, so many of the programs that you may enjoy are being paid for by future generations through the Federal debt, now at $30 Trillion, that they will have to pay.
“The federal income tax revenues collected only pay for Federal employee benefits and pensions and for payments on the federal debt,” said Futia.
The other legal argument that Futia and We the People want to make is that the costs to operate the federal government should not be paid through a federal income tax but by equally apportioning the costs to the states, with the hope that wasteful federal government spending could be found, reduced, and halted.
The debate between the IRS and We The People has been ongoing for decades. Futia provides the court with a voluminous set of exhibits and letters, including a letter from US Senator Daniel Inouye, from Hawaii, in which he writes, “Based on research performed by the Congressional Research Service, there is no provision (in the Internal Revenue Code) which specifically and unequivocally requires an individual to pay income taxes.”
Another interesting story came from NY Times reporter David Cay Johnston, “To Thwart Fraud, I.R.S. and State Will Share Leads.” Johnston writes, when “asked why the IRS has not answered the group’s uestions in writing,” two IRS employees claimed that the answer was in IRS publications, and that the matter was well-settled. Johnston’s story ran in 2003.
Twenty years later, there has been no answer to Futia and We The People’s claims. They deserve to be heard and it appears that Futia will finally get his day in court. “Finally, after more than 20 years we will be able to face in court a government that forces us to account to them for the way we spend our money, but refuses to be accountable to the American people for the way they spend our money,” said Futia, who ran paid advertisements in our newspapers explainging his views, which can be viewed at yonkerstimes.com.
For more details regarding Futia and We the People’s arguments, visit www.givemeliberty.org, or call (518) 361-8153. We will continue to monitor Futia’s case.
