"Fear is the key element for the IRS in achieving its mission. Without fear, the IRS would have a difficult time maintaining our so-called system of voluntary compliance ...". "Given the opportunity, the IRS will take the easy way out and grab whatever it can... the IRS does not really care about you and what your future....... may be".

March 29, 1974 Federal Register, Donald C. Alexander, Commissioner of Internal Revenue:

"The mission of the Service is to encourage and achieve the highest possible degree of voluntary compliance with the tax laws and regulations..."

[emphasis added]

Roger M Olsen, Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division, Department of Justice, Washington D.C., Saturday, May 9, 1987 to an assemblage of tax lawyers

"We encourage voluntary compliance by scaring the heck out of you!"

SUPREME COURT CASES DEALING WITH THE WORD "VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE"

POLLOCK v. FARMERS' LOAN & TRUST CO. [157 US 429]
COMMONWEALTH CORP. v. CASUALTY CO. [393 US 145]
MATHIS v. UNITED STATES [391 US 1]
SEE v. CITY OF SEATTLE, [387 US 541]
U.S. v. FIRST NAT. CITY BANK [379 US 378]
ATLANTA MOTEL v. UNITED STATES [379 US 241]
TEAMSTERS UNION v. MORTON [377 US 252]
FLORIDA AVOCADO GROWERS v. PAUL [373 US 132]
COMMUNIST PARTY v. CONTROL BOARD [367 US 1]
MINE WORKERS v. ARKANSAS FLOORING CO. [351 US 62]
AMERICAN POWER & LIGHT CO. v. SEC [329 US 90]
BUCKLEY v. VALEO [424 US 1]
JOHNSON v. RAILWAY EXPRESS AGENCY [421 US 454]
EMPORIUM CAPWELL CO. v. COMMUNITY ORG. [420 US 50]
ALEXANDER v. GARDNER-DENVER CO [415 US 36]
TRAFFICANTE v. METROPOLITAN LIFE INS. [409 US 205]
UNITED STATES v. ALLEGHENY-LUDLUM STEEL [406 US 742]
UNITED STATES v. GENERES [405 US 93]
LOVE v. PULLMAN CO. [404 US 522]
DONALDSON v. UNITED STATES [400 US 517]
OREGON v. MITCHELL [400 US 112]
CANNON v. UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO [441 US 677]
GLADSTONE, REALTORS v. VILLAGE OF BELLWOOD [441 US 91]
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA REGENTS v. BAKKE [438 US 265]
UNITED STATES v. LASALLE NATIONAL BANK [437 US 298]
LORILLARD v. PONS [434 US 575]
UNITED AIRLINES, INC. v. McDONALD [432 US 385]
OCCIDENTAL LIFE INS. CO. v. EEOC [432 US 355]
G. M. LEASING CORP. v. UNITED STATES [429 US 338]
ELECTRICAL WORKERS v. ROBBINS & MYERS, INC. [429 US 229]
UNITED STATES v. MILLER [425 US 435]
BADARACCO v. COMMISSIONER [464 US 386]
W. R. GRACE & CO. v. RUBBER WORKERS [461 US 757]
NAACP v. CLAIBORNE HARDWARE CO. [458 US 886]
FORD MOTOR CO. v. EEOC [458 US 219]
KREMER v. CHEMICAL CONSTRUCTION CORP. [456 US 461]
CARSON v. AMERICAN BRANDS, INC. [450 US 79]
EEOC v. ASSOCIATED DRY GOODS CORP. [449 US 590]
GENERAL TELEPHONE CO. v. EEOC, [446 US 318]
STEELWORKERS v. WEBER, [443 US 193]
GREAT AMERICAN FED. S. & L. ASSN. v. NOVOTNY, [442 US 366]
VOLKSWAGENWERK AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT v. SCHLUNK [486 US 694]
PAPERWORKERS v. MISCO, INC. [484 US 29]
JOHNSON v. TRANSPORTATION AGENCY [480 US 616]
FIREFIGHTERS v. CLEVELAND [478 US 501]
AUTOMOBILE WORKERS v. BROCK [477 US 274]
WYGANT v. JACKSON BOARD OF EDUCATION [476 US 267]
UNITED STATES v. NATIONAL BANK OF COMMERCE [472 US 713]
BUSHEY v. NEW YORK STATE CIVIL SERVICE COM'N [469 US 1117]
SEC v. JERRY T. O'BRIEN, INC. [467 US 735]
EEOC v. SHELL OIL CO. [466 US 54]
BUSH, GOVERNOR OF TEXAS v. VERA [517 US 592]
GILMER v. INTERSTATE/JOHNSON LANE CORP. [500 US 20]
SULLIVAN v. STROOP [496 US 478]
MISSOURI v. JENKINS [495 US 33]
PATTERSON v. McLEAN CREDIT UNION [491 US 164]
BROWER v. INYO COUNTY [489 US 593]
SPALLONE v. U.S. [487 US 1251]
GEBSERET v. LAGO VISTA IND. SCHOOL DISTRICT [Syllabus] [524 US 247]
DAVIS. v. MONROE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION [526 US 629]
ALDEN v. MAINE [527 US 706]
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH INC v LAIDLAW ENV. SRVCS INC [528 US 167]
RALEIGH v. ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE [530 US 15]
BUCKHANNON BOARD & CARE HOME, INC. v. W. VIRGINIA DEPT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN RESOURCES [532 US 598]

Now you may want to note that many of these supreme Court cases I have listed above do not necessarily identify or define the phrase "voluntary compliance". The court cases above have at least one mention of the phrase. Perhaps some of the dicta I sight below from a select few of the above cases, can possibly give us a better understanding of the phrase "voluntary compliance". Here are only a selected few that caught my interest:

Pollock vs Farmer's Loan & Trust [157 US 429]

"It was also alleged that if the company and its directors, as they propered and had declared their intention to do, should pay the tax out of its gains, income, and profits, or out of the gains, income, and profits of the property held by it in its fiduciary capacity they will diminish the assets of the company and lessen the dividends thereon and the value of the shares; that voluntary compliance with the income-tax provisions would expose the company to a multiplicity of suits, not only by and on behalf of its numerous shareholders, but by and on behalf of numerous minors and others for whom it acts in a fiduciary capacity, and that such numerous suits would work irreparable injury to the business of the company, and subject it to great and irreparable damage, and to liability to the beneficiaries aforesaid, to the irreparable damage of complainant and all its shareholders."

[Emphasis Added]

See vs City of Seattle [387 US 541]:

"...when voluntary inspection is relied upon this "one rebel" is going to become a general rebellion. That there will be a significant increase in refusals is certain and, as time goes on, that trend may well become a frightening reality. It is submitted that voluntary compliance cannot be depended upon."

[Emphasis Added]

Mathis vs United States [391 US 1]

"Fortunately, voluntary compliance with civil regulation is widespread in this country. Nevertheless, compliance must be supplemented and encouraged by constant and widespread investigations."

[Emphasis Added]

Oregon vs Mitchell [400 US 112] [Justice Stewart Concurring

"Congress has now undertaken to extend the ban on literacy tests to the whole Nation. I see no constitutional impediment to its doing so. Nationwide application reduces the danger that federal intervention will be perceived as unreasonable discrimination against particular States or particular regions of the country. This in turn increases the likelihood of voluntary compliance with the letter and spirit of federal law."

[Emphasis Added]

United States vs Generes [405 US 93]

"...the logical tax consequence ensues and prevents the mere presence of a business motive, however small and however insignificant, from controlling the tax result at the taxpayer's convenience. This is of particular importance in a tax system that is so largely dependent on voluntary compliance."

[Emphasis Added]

Alexander vs Gardner-Denver Company [415 US 36]

"Congress enacted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq., to assure equality of employment opportunities by eliminating those practices and devices that discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 800 (1973); Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424, 429 -430 (1971). Cooperation and voluntary compliance were selected as the preferred means for achieving this goal. To this end, Congress created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and established a procedure whereby existing state and local equal employment opportunity agencies, as well as the Commission, would have an opportunity to settle disputes through conference, conciliation, and persuasion before the aggrieved party was permitted to file a lawsuit. In the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, Pub. L. 92-261, 86 Stat. 103, Congress amended Title VII to provide the Commission with further authority to investigate individual charges of discrimination, to promote voluntary compliance with the requirements of Title VII, and to institute civil actions against employers or unions named in a discrimination charge."

[Emphasis Added]

Emporium Capwell Company vs Community Organization [420 US 50]

"Congress chose to encourage voluntary compliance with Title VII by emphasizing conciliatory procedures before federal coercive powers could be invoked."

[Emphasis Added]

Johnson vs Railway Express Agency [421 US 454] "Voluntary Compliance" - The phrase, in this court opinion, was used exactly nine times and is not even defined once.

GM Leasing Corporation vs United States [429 US 338]

QUOTE "Indeed, one may readily acknowledge that the existence of the levy power is an essential part of our self-assessment tax system and that it enhances voluntary compliance in the collection of taxes..."

[Emphasis Added]

Occidental Life Ins Co. vs EEOC [432 US 355]

Footnote 18... Senator Dominick objected to the substitution of the word "shall" for "may" and suggested that "in the interest of flexibility in the Commission's schedule, and in the interest of flexibility in working something out through voluntary compliance, it would be far better to put in the word `may.'"

[Emphasis Added]

University California Regents vs Bakke [438 US 265]

"The legislative history of Title VI, as well as the statute itself, reveals a desire to induce voluntary compliance with the requirement of nondiscriminatory treatment. 13 See 602 of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 2000d-1 (no funds shall be terminated unless and until it has been "determined that compliance cannot be secured by voluntary means"); H. R. Rep. No. 914, 88th Cong., 1st Sess., pt. 1, p. 25 (1963); 110 Cong Rec. 13700 (1964) (Sen. Pastore); id., at 6546 (Sen. Humphrey). It is inconceivable that Congress intended to encourage voluntary efforts to eliminate the evil of racial discrimination while at the same time forbidding the voluntary use of race-conscious remedies to cure acknowledged or obvious statutory violations... Indeed, the requirement of a judicial determination of a constitutional or statutory violation as a predicate for race-conscious remedial actions would be self-defeating. Such a requirement would severely undermine efforts to achieve voluntary compliance with the requirements of law. And our society and jurisprudence have always stressed the value of voluntary efforts to further the objectives of the law. Judicial intervention is a last resort to achieve cessation of illegal conduct or the remedying of its effects rather than a prerequisite to action."

[Emphasis Added]

WR Grace vs Rubber Workers [461 US 757]

"Voluntary compliance with Title VII also is an important public policy. Congress intended cooperation and conciliation [461 U.S. 757, 771] to be the preferred means of enforcing Title VII. "

[Emphasis Added]

Badaracco vs Commissioner [464 US 386] [Justice Stevens Dissenting]

"If anything, considerations of tax policy argue against the result reached by the Court today. In a system based on voluntary compliance, it is crucial that some incentive be given to persons to reveal and correct past fraud."

[Emphasis Added]

Joe Bannister, Ex IRS Agent, in his book entitled Investigating the Federal Income Tax: A Preliminary Report, quotes a March 5, 1997 article from USA TODAY, where Senator Bob Kerrey co-chaired the National Commission on Restructuring the IRS, in an interview conducted by Anne Willette. Here is the exchange that took place:

WILLETTE: The commission’s goal is to ‘ensure the American public’s faith in its government to collect revenue in a fair and courteous manner’ Why does being fair and courteous matter?’

KERREY: It is a voluntary system. If people do not perceive it to be fair, people will not voluntarily comply. We are struggling to maintain ground on voluntary compliance.

[Emphasis Added]