Survivor Spurns Self Reliance – Richard Hatch Loses Appeal
Originally published on Passive Activities and Other Oxymorons on May 15th, 2011. ____________________________________________________________________________ U.S. v....
If You Kill Your Parents It’s Your Own Fault You are an Orphan
This was a protester who was complaining about having to file all his delinquent returns as a condition of his supervised release. He figures the IRS already did substitute returns and that it was going to be hard to dig up records from that long ago. The Court had no sympathy as they cited one of my favorite jokes.
We hold that the district court correctly calculated the applicable sentencing range and did not abuse its discretion in imposing an obligation to file all unfiled tax returns and pay all outstanding tax arrears as a condition of supervised release.
We note that any difficulties that may arise from the age of the necessary documents or the passage of time are entirely self-inflicted; had he complied with his duty to file the returns when they were initially due, there would be no such troubles. His contention on appeal that this state of affairs amounts to a “burden” imposed by the district court is absurd, like killing your parents and complaining of being an orphan.
Follow Me
Over and over again courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging one’s affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everybody does so, rich or poor; and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions. To demand more in the name of morals is mere cant.