Has anyone ever been able to win their freedom from paying taxes (legally)?

You can take an oath of perpetual poverty in Canada…you are tax free from then

Yes, but it isn’t publicized. The group is in Oregon.

The Amish, I believe.

Oh… and this guy.

I know this isn’t the answer to your question, but I am putting my 2 cents worth in anyway. I may be the only one in the world, well, maybe not the only one, that doesn’t mind paying taxes. I don’t love it really, but I like what I get back for it. I like that National Weather Service, I like not having to inspect my own meat, I like not having to patrol my own perimeter and build my own roads, and then salt and shovel them when it snows. I like having the the fire department around and, not always, but more often than not, I like having the police around. I like that kids full of hormones and mischief are at least in, or supposed to be in, school getting educated to be the leaders and slackers of tomorrow and not looting and ransacking my house and raping my livestock. Well, that’s a bit of hyperbole, I don’t have any livestock, but you get the picture. That’s just me though.

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.

Burry everything else beneath the flowers in your garden.

I understand that it’s very easy to legally avoid paying taxes. Simply don’t earn any taxable salary. There are thousands of people in the cities of the U.S. who not only don’t pay any taxes, but receive money, lodging and food from those of us who do pay taxes.

Thanks for the responses, all.

By legally, I meant in a court case. Sorry, should have said that.

I enjoyed the link, @kevbo.

This question has nothing to do with why people pay taxes, or why people don’t want to pay taxes, or whether or not they should, or what good may come of taxes, etc. I never said I didn’t like to pay taxes, or felt that I shouldn’t have to pay taxes, and I am annoyed by the reply that presumes that this is my position, that in asking this question out of curiosity I am presumed to be ignorant to the plethora of obvious benefits taxation has produced. I am even more disappointed that four other people thought an answer that was completely irrelevant to the question was great.

@lilikoi I can only assume that you are referring to my response and the responses to my response. As I said, I know that it was not the answer to the question that you asked, I stated that upfront. I was just putting in my two cents worth. No need to be so defensive and assume that I have assumed anything about you or your question. Very often on Fluther, as I’m sure you very well know by now, you will receive answers that do not directly answer or address your question. That is the way it goes. I hope that you get answers that directly address your question.

Often, it seems, Great answers are awarded simply to friends and have no real bearing on whether the answer was great!

And some people believe that every contribution is worthy, simply because with them, there would be no Fluther.

I never said I didn’t like to pay taxes, or felt that I shouldn’t have to pay taxes, and I am annoyed by the reply that presumes that this is my position,
The question is literally anti-tax, of course the presumption is there.

@lilikoi Your question says that not paying taxes would be “winning freedom”. That’s such absurd hyperbole, how could you not expect people to assume your position is that taxes are unfair and shouldn’t be paid?

@davidbetterman Great Answers are awarded for a variety of reasons. It can be an actual superb answer to the question asked. Or it can be, as it was for me in the case of @lillycoyote‘s answer, a comment that is well thought out and well explained and that I personally agree with, regardless of whether or not it directly answers the question asked.

Legally, no, because there is no freedom from paying taxes. Government cannot exist without taxes.

And back to the original question – there is a history of people who declare that taxes are unconstitutional and they make money off the gullible with books and seminars. After a few years of living tax-free as “proof” of their claims, they end up losing their property and even going to prison.

An example would be creationist Kent Hovind, who claimed he worked for God and was thus tax exempt. After many years of sponging off gullible evangelicals, Mr. Hovind currently resides in a taxpayer-funded home, eating taxpayer-provided food and wearing taxpayer-provided clothing. He is scheduled for release in 2015.

That is coming up in the near future for us, so I was surprised to see this question. My husband and I have done everything humanly possible to get him legal here in the U.S. since 2005. Over two years ago, his driver’s license expired (it seems to make perfect sense to law makers to disallow people who want to work no opportunity to do so, while at the same time allowing people with no social security number to draw state and federal benefits to keep thier bills paid and their families healthy).

When his license expired, he could no longer work full time with our family business, which meant that what little money we made from it HAD to go towards food and necessary bills to keep a roof over our heads. Hence, there was barely enough money for that (I was standing in food lines at a local church in order to feed my children), much less, to pay taxes.

He now has a year to pay the 2 years of back taxes he owes before he can get legal. We’ve lost our home, the work truck, and everything of value that we had to sell, so the good news is that we have few monthly expenses and can pour even more money into the system (you wouldn’t believe me if I told you how much those assholes have cost us since 2005). If he can show the judge he’s made regular montly payments to the IRS, he’s in, and will, as you say, earn his freedom. Though we had always paid our taxes up until 2 years ago, law makers cannot grasp that, had they left well enough alone, there wouldn’t have been any tax problems in the first place.

Some military personnel serving in combat zones have an exemption from federal (and some states) income taxes. It’s not a permanent exemption though.

I’m with @lillycoyote

@jaytkay The question is most certainly not anti-tax. All I am wondering is if anyone has challenged the tax code in court and won. I could have worded the question better, indeed. I am not interested in the renegade psychos that hold seminars and cooky crap like that (obviously if they are being shut down, they are outside the letter of the law), only documented court cases.

@MrItty See above. You read a little too hard into the use of the words “win” and “freedom”. Question titles are like headlines – they need to be succinct and catchy or no one is going to give your inquiry the light of day. Obviously, this backfires sometimes.

Stop working