R. Lee Wrights
Contributing Editor

R. Lee Wrights is a writer and political activist living in North Carolina. He is co-founder and editor-in-chief of the free speech online magazine Liberty For All and an editor at Free-Market.Net.

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Losing the War on Tax Evasion

Being active in politics, especially third-party politics, can be very frustrating. For us Libertarians, who believe that personal responsibility reigns supreme and that accountability in government is the number one goal, politics can be particularly aggravating. It can become almost overwhelming when the political victories are so few and government abuses seem to ravage the very citizens it is supposed to serve and protect. It is almost enough to make you throw your hands up in the air and openly proclaim, “All is lost!” In fact, it is a wonder more people do not just give up on a legislative system that has become a morass of regulatory red tape feeding an ever-expanding bloated bureaucracy.

Among all the evils effacing freedom, erected by the beast Bureaucracy, perhaps taxes are the most egregious offender of all. The idea that the State can take your earnings before they ever reach your hand; and, redistribute a portion of your wealth to others under the pretense that you are giving your fair share is called socialism. Most Americans do not even realize as they criticize socialistic nations around the world that they labor under the same system here at home.

But hope springs eternal. Or so it would seem, at least.

According to the Associated Press on September 25^th Charles Rossotti, Commissioner of the federal Internal Revenue Service, reported that his agency is “losing the war on tax evasion.” Be still my heart. I could hardly believe my eyes. The chief of one of the largest governmental bureaucratic agencies ever created by legislators has told the world that the State cannot do the job it has taken upon itself to do. To some of us this means that bureaucrats are not as good at thievery as we had previously suspected and gives us cause to celebrate. Especially when we see that the reason the commissioner says the State is losing the war on tax evasion is because the methods employed by tax-cheats have become so sophisticated that the IRS simply does not have the resources to keep up.

I read this and it was as though a prophecy had been realized. A high-placed bureaucrat, in charge of the most offensive department of government ever concocted by a human brain, has admitted he cannot do his job because the citizens are smarter than the government. Have we finally found a chink in the protective armor of the State?

Mr. Rossotti, in a report to the IRS Oversight Board, claims that a “declining work force” coupled with “complex avoidance schemes” are the factors causing the government’s defeat in its war on tax evasion. While he claims that the IRS is “winning the battle but losing the war,” these factors have created what he calls “a huge gap between the number of taxpayers whom the IRS knows are not filing, not reporting or not paying what they owe, and our capacity to require them to comply.” In other words, the State cannot keep up with all the people it is attempting to rob. I find this refreshing news.

As an example of the problem Commissioner Rossotti said in would require an IRS hiring frenzy of more that 34,500 full-time workers to meet the increasing demand expected by 2010. He blames a “broad growth of complicated tax shelters” for further exacerbating his agency’s shortcomings when pursuing tax-evaders, particularly wealthy individuals and businesses that use the shelters to hide income. Now, let’s think about this. Why do people try to hide their income? To protect the fruits of their labor from thieves, of course. It appears the American citizens are finally realizing how unfair and unjust the United States Tax Code is, and that theft, whether by individual or faction, is a direct affront to their personal liberty and freedom.

Now, the liberals will protest that the abominable state the IRS finds itself in is proof positive that citizens must be forced to be generous or they will not render their fair share. Nonsense! Americans have proven this position to be nothing more that a notion produced by the perpetuation of big-government propaganda. As I said earlier this year:

“In the aftermath of what is being heralded as the greatest terrorist tragedy in the history of the world, Americans did what they always do in times of national peril – they rose to the occasion. America’s citizens quickly answered the call for aid and comfort as they generously gave of themselves in an attempt to ease the pain and shock caused by a handful of religious zealots on September 11^th. They sent food, water, and clothing to the rescue and recovery effort at the site of the tragedy. They gave money, blood, and their time in support of the victims in America’s greatest city.”

Americans showed the world how a generous populace answers the call for assistance in time of need. The liberal fairy tale that citizens must be forced to give their fair share is exposed as blatant falsehood in the face of such recent evidence. No, the IRS is not losing the war on tax evasion because people are unwilling to contribute to a worthy cause. Mr. Rossotti’s mob is losing because citizens are resisting the encroachment of an enemy State that seeks to steal from the many in the name of a few. Americans are fighting back and the government can’t keep up. It is a beautiful thing.

The IRS commissioner said in his Associated Press article, “The IRS is simply outnumbered when it comes to dealing with the compliance risks.” He says his agency has had to struggle to implement a whole new set of tax and reform laws, while still being able to increase collections by $527 billion since 1997, in spite of a sixteen-percent reduction in his full-time work force. See how all those “new” laws create a nice tidy revenue even with fewer members in the gang? No wonder citizens are always looking for bigger and better ways to protect their hard-earned income!

The commander-in-chief of the IRS army Charles Rossotti has rendered his assessment of America’s status in the war on tax evasion and the news is bleak for the beast Bureaucracy. He has issued a warning to the bureaucrats. His report to the IRS Oversight Board states, “If these problems and conditions are left unaddressed, we could face an enormous crisis in confidence in the tax system.” So beware. Just because the State is losing the war on tax evasion, do not expect the government to run up the white flag and surrender your stolen funds peacefully. Oh no. The bureaucrats may be losing, but they are not about to just give up.

Still, my money is on the people. They know when enough is enough. So, citizens should not surrender either. I truly believe the only way the American people can be defeated is if they quit. They have proven it by winning the war on tax evasion. Keep up the good work!