A Practical method of winning an I.R.S. summons while maintaining your privacy and giving the I.R.S. no information to use against you, utilizing the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
A product of:
9582 Buttemere Road,
Phelan, CA 92371
(760) 868-4271
www.livefreenow.org
Written by:
Government officials want you to know that according to them, only an officer of one of their courts (usually referred to as an attorney), may give you any kind of “legal advice”. Therefore, the author is hereby letting you know that he is neither an officer of the government’s courts (attorney), nor by producing this work intending to give out “legal advice”.
The purpose of this work and all other works of the FREEDOM LAW SCHOOL and/or Peymon Mottahedeh are to spread the truth of the laws of nature as they apply to relations of people living on earth and inform them of how they may live free consistent with such laws.
You are strongly encouraged to fully seek out and verify the accuracy and correctness of the truths expressed in this work so that you can take full responsibility for it’s use. If you are not prepared to seek out and verify the truth for yourself, you should first consult an officer of the court (attorney).
This work is strictly protected from control and abuse by all government entities in the United States by the laws of nature and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Seek the truth and the truth shall set you free!
Common law copyright of this product is owned by the FREEDOM LAW SCHOOL and Peymon Mottahedeh, February 5, 1996, 9582 Buttemere Road, Phelan, CA 92371, (760) 868 – 4271. Please support us in our efforts to bring solid material to the freedom movement. If you want to get this material to your friends inexpensively, do not photocopy this book, but contact us for multiple copy discounts, which we are happy to provide. To obtain a copy of our classes on audio tape or CD-Rom, just write, call us or visit our website at www.livefreenow.org
HOW TO WIN AN I.R.S. SUMMONS EVERYTIME!!!
One of the most fundamental principles of American systems of law is the absolute prohibition against “forced confessions”. The early Americans were so concerned about the possible use of torture in obtaining a confession that they included in the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution an absolute prohibition against forcing someone to be a witness against himself.
The 5th Amendment, in part, states: “No person…shall be compelled (forced) in any criminal case to be a witness against himself…” To punish the government and its agents for violating this restriction upon them, the courts have ruled that if any government agent forces you to give any testimony that might be used against you, the forced testimony can not be used against you in any criminal trial. Furthermore, the courts have ruled that you don’t have to answer any question by which answering it may provide a link in a chain of information to be used against you. Read the case of Hoffman v. U.S., 341 U.S. 479 (1951) for an example of this principle.
The courts have correctly ruled that when you fill out and sign a tax return or give any information to the I.R.S., you have done so voluntarily. To verify this all you need to do is read the 2 government sources below:
At the bottom of the “1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return” after filling out the entire form, after line 66 you are asked to “Sign Here” which reads: “Under penalties of perjury (meaning ‘put me in jail if I lie’), I declare that I have examined this return and accompanying schedules and statements, and to the best of my knowledge and belief, they are true, correct and complete.” (emphasis mine)
No one can force you to sign a piece of paper and state that everything on it is true, correct and complete, and force you to sign it under oath so that if the information is even in part not true, incorrect or incomplete, you can be sent to jail for it (penalty of perjury).
So if you do fill out and sign a tax return, you have done so voluntarily and if you want all the breaks you have claimed on your tax return, otherwise known as deductions and credits, then you might have to expose your whole financial and perhaps personal, health and other private affairs to verify that you truly deserve and qualify for your breaks, deductions and credits.
If this is the case, there is not much that you can do to protect your privacy, and this book won’t be helpful to you in any significant way.
In 26 CFR (the regulations of the Internal Revenue Laws, which the IRS is suppose to follow), in section 301.7602-1 Examination of Books and Witnesses, in part, states: “This summons power may be used in an investigation of either civil or criminal tax-related liability”.
Here, plain as day, the law is saying that the IRS may use its summons power to gather criminal information on you. But, how can they do this without violating the prohibitions of the 5th Amendment by having you be a witness against yourself?
The answer is very simple. If you are a sucker, in love with your IRS agent, think the government will never trick you, or uninformed of your natural rights and the restrictions of the 5th Amendment on the government, you can exercise your natural right of free speech as protected by the 1st Amendment, and blabber about yourself and place the rope around your own neck, voluntarily.
Remember, every piece of information you give to the IRS, you gave voluntarily.
So, how come the IRS SAYS YOU CANNOT USE THE 5TH AMENDMENT IN A SUMMONS? Because many freedom lovers have tried to use the 5th Amendment in a way which the courts have not approved of. These people refused to answer anything the IRS asked of them (a blanket assertion of the 5th).
The courts have ruled that since taxes are the “lifeblood of the government (and the courts)” [somehow this reminds me of Dracula movies], you must submit yourself to the Dracula, excuse me I mean IRS, so that they may determine your share of the taxes. But, you may refuse to answer any question that may be used against you in a criminal trial, one question at a time.
Many freedom lovers, by asserting a blanket 5th Amendment objection, have refused to answer any question that the IRS wanted to ask of them and the courts have punished the freedom lover with jail by finding him in contempt of court after the freedom lover refused to buckle under and submit.
It is a shame that so many wonderful Americans knew enough of the truth to understand it, but not well enough to keep themselves out of jail.
Here is the key: Please listen up and etch this in your mind very deeply. You have to exercise the 5th Amendment against the IRS questioning one question at a time.
Basically, the courts have forced you to play this game with the IRS. A game which you can win every time, if you do it right. The IRS relies on people’s fear and ignorance of the law to sucker people in hanging themselves.
There are basically only 3 kinds of questions, which the IRS agent might ask you:
Request that you show them (produce) your documents (books or records)
Request that you provide testimony (talk and tell them what they want to know that might relate to a “tax liability”, and
Questions, which are not relevant to determining a “tax liability”.
Let’s address each of these, one at a time:
If they ask you to produce the documents, which they want, even your mere acknowledgement that such a document exists, is sufficiently testimony that can provide the link in a chain of information, which can be used against you.
So, when asked to produce the documents or “do you have the documents which we summoned you for today, with you today?” Your proper response would be, “I object to this question. I decline to answer this question. I am invoking the 5th Amendment on the grounds that such information or documents, should they exist, could possibly be used against me in a criminal prosecution.”
If they ask for your testimony (“where do you work?” or “did you have any income?”), again any such information, which you provide may be the link in the chain of information, which may be used against you.
So, when asked to testify about your job, income, stocks, investments and the like, your proper response would be: “I object to this question. I decline to answer this question. I am invoking the 5th Amendment on the grounds that I do not wish to provide any evidence, or link in a chain of information, which may possibly be used against me in a criminal prosecution.”
If they ask you irrelevant questions, such as: “what is your telephone number?” or “who is your closest of kin and his address and phone number?” or “who do you live with?” or a host of other nosy questions, which are designed to either gain control of the summons or acquire information about you to better locate you in the future or… You should object that the question is not relevant to the summons.
The IRS has as much legal right to know the answer to those questions as they have the right to know how many times you made love with your spouse last year. Basically, it’s none of their business, not related to the summons, and the summons did not require you to provide any such information.
If the IRS agent asks you any question, which is not directly relevant to the summons, simply ask him “I don’t see the relevancy of this question to the summons. Would you please explain how this question relates to the summons (or, where in the summons am I required to answer such a question)?
The agent either will back off, or will try to overcome you with his attitude of authority and righteousness. If his question is truly irrelevant, don’t be fooled, don’t let him intimidate you and don’t back off until he drops that question.
If you discover that his question is relevant to the summons, no problem, just assert the 5th Amendment as stated above.
Your proper assertion of the 5th Amendment as stated above, will sooner or later frustrate the IRS agent. He realizes that he is not getting far with you and will declare the summons (or the “interview”) over. This can take less than 5 minutes or over an hour, but always be patient and courteous, yet assertive and firm.
Of course, you gave the IRS agent at least a 10-day notice of your intent to audiotape the summons (so that they have enough time to secure a tape recorder to record the summons too. Remember, bureaucrats are never known to be very fast).
You start the interview by introducing the summons time, location and identify all persons present in the room. Identify the agents by their ID badge and read their ID number on the record (or if not given their lack of cooperation is wonderfully reflected on the record. This makes you look better). You or your witnesses (which I recommend bringing 2 of them), just need to state their names and do not need to show any IDs.
The only information you (the summoned person) should give them is your name and address. They already have your slave surveillance number (SSN), so you don’t need to give it.
Before the end of the summons, firmly yet courteously state that you would like to make a statement (IRS agents love to let you talk. They hope they might catch something out of your statement). Now, start giving a photocopy of your most powerful authorities, which support your position on the proper assertion of the 5th Amendment as it applies to an IRS Summons.
These authorities, which are only a partial listing of cases supporting the proper use of the 5th Amendment, are listed below and their copies are included in this book for your copying needs. Read these cases carefully and make sure you have a clear and firm understanding of the 5th Amendment before you consider utilizing it. If you come up with higher and newer authorities on this subject, please let us know so that we may publicize it in our next edition. Here are the cites:
26 CFR Part 301.7602-1 Examination of books and witnesses: Here straight out of the horse’s mouth the Code of Federal Regulations states: “This summons power may be used in an investigation of either civil or criminal tax related liability.” It further states that the IRS can use this fishing tool to suck information out of you to use against you, so long as they have not yet referred your case to the Justice Department for investigation or prosecution.
So, the IRS will delay the referral to the Justice Department until they got as much information out of you as they can during the summons and then they will refer you to the Justice Department for investigation and prosecution.
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE’S “HANDBOOK FOR SPECIAL AGENTS (CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTELLIGENCE DIVISION) on page 9781-88, section 342.12 Books and records of an individual states: “An individual taxpayer may refuse to exhibit his books and records for examination on the grounds that compelling him to do so might violate his right against self-incrimination under the 5th Amendment and constitute an illegal search and seizure under the 4th Amendment…” There it is, the IRS telling their own best agents that they cannot legally force you to give them any documents.
United States v. Argomamiz, 925 F.2d 1349 (11th Circuit, 1991): This court case shows how a witness may properly assert the 5th Amendment in an IRS summons and that a blanket refusal to produce records or testify is not the proper way to assert the 5th Amendment.
Internal Revenue Service memorandum: From an IRS attorney in Denver, which he states that the 5th Amendment protects the individual discussed in that case and in effect, “The summons are not enforceable…”
United States v. Doe, 465 U.S. 605, 104 S.Ct. 1237, 79 L.Ed.2d 552 (1984), shows how the 5th Amendment protects a person asserting privilege from producing certain business records, and that even the act of production of documents involves testimonial self incrimination.
United States v. Troescher, 94-2 USTC (August 1994), A hot court case out of U.S. District Court in Pasadena (L.A. area), California, which the court stated that the proper time to bring up the 5th Amendment is when you are “presented with specific questions”.
Hoffman v. United States, 341 U.S. 479, 71 S.Ct. 814 (1951): This 1950s Supreme Court case show that even gangsters have a right to assert the 5th Amendment. The court explains the evils of forced testimony and why it was adopted in the American System of Laws.
United States v. LaSALLE NATIONAL BANK, 437 U.S. 298, 98 S.Ct. 2357, 57 L.Ed.2d 221 (1978): Here the Supreme Court verifies what you already knew in the CFR quoted above; that an IRS summons is civil and criminal in nature, and until the IRS recommends investigation of you to the Justice Department, the IRS can use this summons power to gather information about you.
I strongly recommend that you leave a copy of all the above authorities with the IRS agent at the end of your interview, and read the name and the legal cite (or title) of the authority on the record. On items 1) and 2), read the relevant section on the record. Let the IRS agent hear you quoting out of their CFRs and handbook for special agents.
By doing so and spending the extra $5 on copies, you are letting the IRS agent know that you know the law, and if they decide to go to the U.S. District Court, they are wasting their time as well as providing the freedom movement a newer WIN like the Troescher case.
After the interview, have a transcriber (you can find them in the yellow pages under “court reporters”, “stenographers”, or “transcribers”) transcribe your audiotape of the summons into written form. Now, mail a copy of the written transcript to the IRS agent along with a cover letter, in which you are asking the IRS agent to review the transcript and make any corrections on it that they wish, to let you know within 30 days, that the transcription was a true reflection of the utterances of all parties present in the summons.
The IRS is very busy processing over 100 million returns every year. The agent is under such pressure from superiors to produce, that after seeing how prepared and knowledgeable you are about the law and proper assertion of it, that they most likely will leave you alone after the summons and go after an easier target, much like the Snyder case, (copy of that case is in this book for your education), until a new agent gets hold of your file and decides to look into you anew.
Sometimes you might get a letter from the IRS attorney after the Summons, which he incorrectly accuses you of: “you failed to give testimony and to produce the documentation requested, we are considering recommending the commencement of an enforcement action [taking you to court]. To prevent such recommendation, you must appear before Revenue Officer… at… on…, and produce the documents and records described in the Summons. If you do not so appear, we will recommend that the United States Attorney begin a judicial action in the United States District Court to enforce compliance with the summons.”
Don’t get scared with this huff and puff of the IRS Attorney. We recommend that you go to the new summons date and go through the same song and dance with them. It is less hassle to show up one more time and play this silly game, which they are playing, hoping that you blink first, than go to court. They will very likely drop the whole thing after this new summons (as they did in the Ericson case, which it’s transcription is included in this book along with it’s explanations in the accompanying audio tape).
If they decide to take you to court anyway, consider yourself lucky. You are hereby selected to be the next Argomaniz or Troescher to be made famous by the IRS in the freedom movement. Who knows, you might be the lucky one, which the IRS chooses to take up to the U.S. Supreme Court to lose the case and broadcast this inherent weakness of this IRS intimidation tactic throughout the United States. Remember how Ms. Roe’s case in one day overturned many states’ abortion laws?
However, if the IRS does decide to take you to court to “enforce the summons”, then contact a competent and experienced council to assist you or contact Freedom Law School for a referral to a competent and experienced council.
The last part of this book is the transcript of the summons of Mr. Ericson and Mr. Snyder. Study them carefully. There is so much involved in the handling of a summons that rather than attempting to write down all my observations about those cases in writing, I have included the audiotape of these cases along with an analysis of them during a Level 2 class of the FREEDOM LAW SCHOOL, (which use to be called Practical Applications of Citizenship, Law and court procedures).
I want to thank Mr. Ericson and Mr. Snyder for permitting me to publish the written and audio transcripts of their summons to educate you and other freedom lovers in America. It was a pleasure to serve you both. Thank you for your courage and commitment to the cause of freedom.
I, alone cannot take full credit for this work. My learning and application of the 5th Amendment was made possible by the hard work and dedication of many freedom lovers. Many of them I probably will never personally know, but there are several individuals, which I wish to specifically mention: Bill Conklin, Jerome Daly, Shawn O’Connor, Steve Hempfling and Stan Justice.
There are many other ways of winning an IRS Summons without losing your privacy and without giving the IRS any information to use against you, just the same as there is more than one way to skin a cat. Some of the approaches that are touted out there are so technical or dubious in legal authority that renders their use risky. I wish them all the best of luck.
The reason I utilize the 5th Amendment approach is because, it works every time if done properly.
It is relatively the easiest and simplest method of winning an IRS Summons. If the going gets tough and the IRS chooses not to let up, we know exactly what to do. Unfortunately, I cannot say that about many of the other approaches, which I have heard about. After the freedom lover’s challenge to the IRS’ jurisdiction (on whatever basis it might be) is denied, the freedom lover does not know the proper next step to take and often pays a sad price for his lack of knowledge.
Do yourself a favor and DO NOT REINVENT THE WHEEL. Use the 5th Amendment method and your success will lead you to other successes.
Even though the 5th Amendment approach is a relatively easy and simple approach, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO UTILIZE THIS APPROACH AND ALL OTHER APPROACHES WITHOUT COMPETENT AND EXPERIENCED ASSISTANCE. As reading and hearing the transcripts of the Snyder and Ericson Summons show, the IRS agents tend to be manipulative, overbearing, intimidating, sly or conniving. They will attempt to confuse you and get you off point.
In these kind of situations it literally pays to spend a little to get COMPETENT AND EXPERIENCED ASSISTANCE, than to try to do it solo, make a mistake and hire the same help at twice the cost to dig you out of the hole you just dug yourself.
If you do not know of a competent and experienced council in your area, contact Freedom Law School at (760) 868 – 4271 for a referral and give serious consideration to becoming a member of the American Justice Foundation.
In the 1860s, Congress imposed the first income tax in U.S. history to pay the expenses of the Civil War. After the War, Congress did not repeal this tax (no surprise here). However, the American people put up such a lawful resistance to this tax that they practically made the collection of taxes a task not worth it’s operating expenses.
Today, we have many well-meaning freedom lovers who based on a friend or a ‘friend of a friend’s word’ (which knows a little more about law than they do), attempt to fight the IRS with theories that even if correct (which many are not), are not provable in a court of law and the courts (the only authority the IRS recognizes and adheres to), do not recognize these theories.
Furthermore, by lack of our willingness to read and learn law and the proper procedures and the desire in all of us to do it the easy way (the silver bullet syndrome), we often end up losing to the IRS. The IRS and their agents are so incompetent and inefficient that you can easily beat them.
Just don’t rely on any silver bullet solution to save you. These silver bullets are, but not limited to:
I am a Sovereign state citizen of (fill in the name of your state), not a U.S. citizen.
The Federal Government and the IRS have no authority outside Washington D.C. and it’s territories.
I do not recognize or give jurisdiction to your admiralty/maritime court represented by the gold- fringed flag in the court.
Utilizing the U.C.C. to rebuke the IRS.
Believing that the Quiet Title or Diploma which your Common Law Court or one supreme court of necessity made of a jury of your peers gave you, will convince the IRS that they have no power to touch you or your property.
That the IRS will recognize your Township, Jural Society or Group (whatever you want to call it) as a sovereign entity, which takes away their jurisdiction or power over you.
You have canceled your driver’s license, marriage license, social security number, and/or birth certificate, you do not use a ZIP CODE or live in a “Buck Act” State so the Government has no contract with you to give them jurisdiction over you.
Or many other systems or methods which “take away” their jurisdiction over you. Every other month I hear of another silver bullet that is supposed to “deprive them of their jurisdiction over me”.
How do I know that these methods don’t work? Although I did not try them myself (I was more cautious), I closely observed my other friends who did try them and failed miserably. And it was not just because they did not do it right (which the propounding gurus of these theories said were the reason why things did not work), but because they were simply wrong.
I know I did not make a lot of new friends with the above statements; in fact, I have probably made a few enemies. But if I can save someone’s home, bank account or paycheck from being seized by the IRS or save someone from going to jail, by them not using the “Silver Bullet” theories as the solution, then I have done my job.
If instead of chasing the “Silver Bullets”, we simply apply the proper remedies available in law with the proper procedure, I believe we can bring about the abolishment of the IRS and the income tax in the same manner as the Americans of the 1870s did with their Income tax.
I believe you will find freedom by a close observance of the following quotes:
Freedom is not free
If a nation wishes to be ignorant and free, they want something
which never has and never will be
Seek the Truth and the Truth shall set you free
Yours in Freedom,
June 1, 2003