By Dan Murphy
The Internal Revenue Service, IRS, has consistently been held by Americans as the least popular government agency. Mark Twain said it best when he quipped, “What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist leaves the skin.”
As April 15th approaches and all of us are preparing to file our federal income taxes, we sat down with longtime Westchester resident Tony Futia. Futia, 86, is a longtime resident of North White Plains, in the Town of North Castle. He served our country in the Navy and worked for 45 years in the Town of North Castle and served on the Valhalla School Board.
But Tony Futia will not be filing his federal income tax return on April 15, or anytime this year. In fact, he has not filed a federal return since 2014, and has undertaken the ultimate protest against the IRS by refusing to pay his Federal Income Tax based on his belief, and the belief of his organization called, We The People, that there is no law that requires most US citizens in the 50 states to pay their Federal Income Tax.
“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 2013 before taking on the IRS.
Futia transferred most of his assets to his children and stopped filing a 1040 in seven years. The IRS sends me notices of taxes past due, now at $88,000 for 2014 & 2017, but has taken no other action. Futia’s primary source of income is his pension from North Castle, which the IRS cannot garnish.
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 wants that day in court against the IRS to make this argument. But he has to wait for the IRS, or the US Department of Justice, to bring a criminal action against him for tax evasion. “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.
When most of us file our federal taxes, 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. The IRS doesn’t want people to know about this, and I challenge the people of Westchester to imagine if you find out that you have been paying your federal income taxes for all of these years and you didn’t have to?
“Show me the law that requires me to file a tax return and I will do it. I will give anyone $10,000 if they can show me a law that requires me to pay my Federal Income Taxes,” said Futia, who knows that he could go to jail if he is convicted, but still refuses to pay. I’m willing to take that risk for my children and grandchildren.
And if Futia is somehow ‘made famous’ by what he is doing, it may result in more attention given to him by the IRS. Famous Americans who get in trouble with the IRS are prominently audited and prosecuted. Just ask Martha Stewart, Willie Nelson and now Hunter Biden.
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. This is why most people, corporations, and the media don’t want to report on or support what Futia and We the People want a discussion on. The ‘Don’t mess with the IRS’ slogan has been followed by millions of Americans for more than 100 years.
One logical question to Futia and We the People’s argument 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.
“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 and how much of it is wasteful spending.”
Twenty years ago, We the People had thousands of members. They were placing full page ads in the NY Times and USA today, and were having events at the national press club, televised on C-Span. Then several roadblocks were placed in their way by the IRS, according to Bob Schulz, founder of We the People Foundation. “By the end of 2002 we had collected thousands of signatures and had four petitions before the government. The people are entitled to answers to our legitimate questions. We never got answers and in 2003 the IRS summoned our organizations records and my records,” said Schultz, who had previously gone on a hunger strike to try and highlight this cause.
Over the next 15 years, the roadblocks by the IRS appeared to work. There has been little written about the constitutionality of the Federal Income Tax, and We the People slowed to a halt. But now Futia and We the People are making a comeback, with events to be scheduled.
In 2007, Futia asked the Town of North Castle to stop withholding federal income taxes from his paychecks. That request was denied. In 2022, Futia wrote back to the North Castle Town Board, “I have learned of the IRS’s unconscionable practices of harassing, abusing and silencing many accomplished learned Americans..and a growing number of people questioning why they should fund a government that violates their rights and then refuses to be held accountable.”
With both Futia and Schulz in their 80’s the time is now for a confrontation with Uncle Sam and the IRS. and Futia believes that he has a right to be heard in court based on the last ten words of the First Amendment which give every citizen the right to be heard “and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. “We have that right, and I challenge the people of Westchester, and our elected officials to learn more about this and educate yourselves.”
Futia and We the People will be taking an advertisement out next week in our papers and online at YonkersTimes.com with more details on the $10,000 reward.
There are many more details regarding Futia and We the People’s arguments, which can be found at We The People of New York,Inc. 2458 Ridge Rd., Queensberry, NY 12804. (518)361-8153.
www.givemeliberty.org
