Typically there are two types of tax protesters.  Those who refuse to pay taxes as a method of protesting polices of the government; such as using taxes to fund wars.  The second type is people who refuse to pay taxes because they believe taxes to be voluntary, invalid or unconstitutional.  This type of protester is typically referred to as frivolous protester.

The typical frivolous tax protester argument involves a belief that federal income tax does not apply to them or an attempt to rationalize and justify that taxes are unconstitutional in some way.
One commonly used tax protester argument is based on a quotation that is taken out of context by the U.S. Supreme Court.  “Our tax system is based upon voluntary assessment and payment and not upon distraint.”  However, this quote is not complete! The actual meaning of this quote is that Congress can collect taxes using force, but that Congress intended to give taxpayers the opportunity to pay voluntarily before force is exercised.  Many have tried to use this as their tax protester argument to no avail.

Another tax protester argument is that income tax is another form of government sanctioned extortion.  They say that a citizen is forced to pay taxes or be put in prison.  This is untrue and has also never held up in a court of law.  The reality is that being unable to pay taxes is not a crime and although the government will use aggressive collection methods, they are civil legal actions, not criminal.  However, the willful failure to pay taxes or to file a false tax return is considered a crime and will be punished by criminal law.

Generally speaking tax protester arguments are not accepted by the IRS or the government.  Often times, people trying to use these frivolous arguments are hit by additional penalties and interest on their tax debt.

The IRS website addresses these tax protester arguments and makes it crystal clear that frivolous protests will not be tolerated.

Most tax protestor arguments are simply a way to use conflicts with the IRS to get into a court room and be able to air their personal and political frustrations.  Experts say that these protesters are usually not motivated by the financial aspect but rather due to psychological and emotional motivations.

Many of the arguments are based upon a misunderstanding of the constitution, while many are simply an attempt to get out of paying taxes.  The government does not reward an honest misunderstanding of the law, and penalties and interest will still be applied once the argument is found to be invalid.

If your tax protestor argument is found to be frivolous or groundless you could face up to $5,000 in additional damages by the IRS.  If it is determined that your argument was a willful attempt to evade paying taxes you could get up to five years in prison and/or up to $100,000 in fines.

The government takes these tax protestor arguments very seriously and once declared invalid, serious penalties and fines will be the end result.