To: The Honorable Judge THALKEN
Ref: Case 8;13CR273
US Court House
111 South 18th Plaza
Omaha NE 88102
Your Honor,
This is in reference to case 8;13CR273 where I, Chet Lee West, have been charged with three counts of Tax Evasion. Sir, I cannot tell you how excited I am about this event. It is the culmination of a dozen years of myself, my friends and my associates asking questions of the United States Government (USG) through their collections arm the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). These questions were never answered in any responsive way. It was always misdirection, gibberish, threats or malignments. However, the tables have now turned! Please allow me to explain.
Around the turn of the present century, I was looking at the Constitution of the United States and the Income Tax as it was being implemented and discovered some incongruities. The Constitution gives authority and places restrictions on all humans that become part of that organization. One of which is “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” However, the Income Tax implementation says “You made money and you will give us some or else!” So as to better understand this apparent conflict, I began a study of the subject and became aware of several legal findings concerning the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and the Income Tax in particular of which I ask the court to take notice.
The first were:
"The revenue laws are a code or system in regulation of tax assessment and collection. They relate to taxpayers, and not to nontaxpayers. The latter are without their scope. No procedure is prescribed for nontaxpayers, and no attempt is made to annul any of their rights and remedies in due course of law. With them [nontaxpayers] Congress does not assume to deal, and they are neither of the subject nor of the object of the revenue laws". Economy Plumbing and Heating Co. v. United States, 470 F. 2d 585 (1972)
And:
GOULD v. GOULD , 245 U.S. 151 (1917)
“In the interpretation of statutes levying taxes it is the established rule not to extend their provisions, by implication, beyond the clear import of the language used, or to enlarge their operations so as to embrace matters not specifically pointed out. In case of doubt they are construed most strongly against the government, and in favor of the citizen.”
Next:
"The laws of Congress in respect to those matters [Federal Income Taxation] do not extend into the territorial limits of the states, but have force only in the District of Columbia, and other places that are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the national government." Caha v. United States, 152 U.S. 211, 215, 14 S. Ct. 513 (1894)
Then:
Federal Crop Ins. Corp v. Merrill, 332 U.S. 380, the Supreme Court held: “Whatever the form in which the government functions, anyone entering into an arrangement with the government takes a risk of having accurately ascertained that he who purports to act for the government stays within the bounds of his authority, even though the agent himself may be unaware of the limitations upon his authority.”
From these, and a plethora of others, I drew the following enlightenments:
1. There are two distinct classes of persons in the USA; Taxpayers and Nontaxpayers. Only Taxpayers are subject to the IRC by virtue of meeting the definition of Taxpayer. That definition being found at section 7701(a)(14) “Taxpayer: The term ‘‘taxpayer’’ means any person subject to any internal revenue tax.”
2. That there must be a clear definition of the class of person on whom the tax is applicable, as in who, what, where and when, in the statue. Only in this way can the citizen be certain as to whether they are “subject to” or “liable for” the tax, or not.
3. There are limits on the jurisdiction of the USG’s taxing power.
4. If the USG agent that is bringing a claim on my property cannot verify their authority, there is no reason to comply with the demand.
Wishing to be sure of any valid requirement, I consulted the IRC and others that had studied it, as to the class of person on which Congress had laid the Income Tax. Subtitle A of the IRC is labeled “Income Tax” and one would believe it reasonable to find the definition of that class.
These extensive investigation returned that only one person is “made liable” for the Tax and that is a “withholding agent” that has responsibility over money flowing to various “foreign persons” (§ 1461. Liability for withheld tax). So do these “foreign persons” constitute the class of persons on which Congress laid the Income Tax? The research indicated that they do, which would put it in line with the Constitutional authority of Congress to tax the privilege of a “foreign person” making profit in the USA and the money flowing out of the country. For the record I have never assumed the responsibility of a “withholding agent” and being born in the great State of Florida of parents born in the same State, “foreign person” does not seem to describe me.
Armed with my “due diligence”, I asked the IRS to supply me with verification that I was a Taxpayer by sighting the “class of person” on which Congress had laid the Income Tax and what events brought me into that class. They refused to do so, most often by saying “The 16th Amendment authorized Congress to tax income from whatever source derived.” Which is fine that Congress has that power, but what did they DO? What class of person did they impose the Income Tax on? The IRS gave no substantive answer, therefore, I ceased contributing or offering any “return” that is “required” by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), as there has been no proof offered that I am subject to that statute or its corresponding regulations.
Over the years I continued to bring my enriching products and services to the market in order that I might receive valuable consideration. With this consideration I sustained myself and my family along with providing for several charitable activities. If statistics from the Department of Labor can be believed, that consideration was in the top 4.37% of Americans.
The IRS would occasionally send me letters requesting “returns”, requiring that I pay non-adjudicated bills and threatening to take my property. I responded to some of these with a variety of phrasing the question “Am I subject to the Income Tax?” The responses I received were typically unsigned versions of “Our records indicate that you had income so pay us money!” or “We have decided that you owe us money and told you to pay. As you did not we will seize your property and rights to property!”
Pursuant to the last remark the IRS filed several “Notice of Lien” in various jurisdictions totaling more than $300,000. However, not once did they state the “class of person” on which Congress laid the Income Tax, nor the events that took this free and independent human being into that class.
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