Cindy Sheehan, the well-known anti-war activist who created a stir in 2005 after her son died in combat during the Iraq war, recently posted on her Facebook page that she received an Intent to Levy Notice from the IRS. Although still unknown, the IRS could be coming after her for income taxes she may not have paid on speaker’s fees and her book contract.
According to her Facebook page, it seems that the IRS is stating that she owes around 104,000 dollars. However, she openly admits to not paying her taxes:
“I just got a notice from the IRS that I owe them 104 grand and they are going to levy my bank accounts and property. I don’t have any property, and there’s less than 150.00 in my bank accounts. It looks like Fed Prison is in my future. I would rather go to prison than fund the crimes of this government. I am going to send them a notice that they owe me infinity dollars for killing my son.” She then follows up with another comment later, “It seems like they are charging me a lot of percentage on that money–which I have no idea how much I made. I don’t keep track cuz I don’t pay taxes, duh.”
Supposedly Cindy stated that the IRS forwarded the “Intent to Levy” letter to her speaker’s agent address:
“This is how “smart” the IRS is: they sent the “Notice to Levy” to my speaker’s agent to forward to me.”
The details of the case have yet to be revealed. Cindy has every right to be angry after losing her son in the war that is costing thousands of American lives and millions of tax dollars. However, unfortunately for Cindy, the IRS will not allow a taxpayer to avoid or lessen their tax liabilities because they disagree with how the tax revenue may or may not be used. Section 1 of the IRS code imposes taxes on all taxable income. There is no provision or authority for an individual or entity to avoid or lessen their income taxes because the US government may use their taxes in a way that is contrary to the taxpayer’s religious or moral beliefs.
The IRS has informed taxpayers about frivolous tax arguments time and time again. The IRS earlier in the year released an 84-page document called “The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments” found here.