Home> Thug Tactics> The Silence Treatment> Response #2

October 11, 2001

IRS, Chris Roginsky
600 Arch Street, Room 3208
Philadelphia, PA 19106

Dear Mr./Ms. Roginsky

I am writing to you concerning our meeting scheduled for 10/18/01, regarding what you allege to be violations by myself subject to 26 USC §§ 6700, 6701 and 7408. This letter is intended to make that meeting more meaningful and efficient. There are several issues which you should be prepared to address at the meeting.

1) Publication in the Federal Register

The IRS is required to publish all "Substantive rules of general applicability" in the Federal Register (26 CFR § 601.701(a)(1)(iv)). Unless a person has "actual and timely notice of the terms of any matter referred to in subparagraph (1) of this paragraph which is required to be published in the Federal Register, such person is not required in any manner to resort to, or be adversely affected by, such matter if it is not so published or is not incorporated by reference therein" (26 CFR § 601.701(a)(2)(ii)). I have been unable to find where the penalties in Sections 6700 and 6701 have been given general applicability via publication in the Federal Register. At the meeting, please be prepared to provide me with copies of the pages of the Federal Register where the penalties described in Sections 6700 and 6701 have either been published, or incorporated by reference. (There are no regulations implementing Section 6700 or Section 6701 in Parts 1 or 301 of the Title 26 Treasury regulations. According to the Parallel Table of Authorities, Section 6701 has only been implemented by Part 70 of the Title 27 regulations.) Absent such publication in the Federal Register, your false allegations against me are moot, as the penalties would not have been enforceable, even if I had been involved in any "abusive tax shelter" (which is not the case).

2) Burden of Proof

In any penalty under Section 6700 or Section 6701, the burden of proof is on the government (see 26 USC § 6703 and IRM § [120.1]6.1.4(E)).

a) Section 6700 imposes a penalty on one who creates or sells an organization or plan, and falsely tells other that they would be entitled to some tax deduction or exemption "by reason of holding an interest in the entity or participating in the plan or arrangement." (See also IRM, §§ [120.1]6.5 and [120.1]6.5.2.) I have never done anything of the kind. If you have evidence to the contrary, please be prepared to present it to me at the time of the meeting.

IRS, Chris Roginsky 2 October 11, 2001

b) In addition to other criteria (such as the above), the penalties in Sections 6700 and 6701 are limited to those who make statements they know or "have reason to believe" are false (see IRM § [120.1]6.6). Your letter of 10/4/01 stated that the meeting is to give me "an opportunity to present any facts or legal arguments" which would show that the penalties do not apply in this case. Although I deny that exercising my First Amendment rights by publicly expressing my conclusions constitutes "advising" anyone, I nonetheless expect to be given the opportunity to explain the basis of my position (see IRM § [120.1]6.6.3.2(4)), and I expect you to present evidence which should have made me doubt my conclusions, and which would indicate that my conclusions are "without reasonable basis" (IRM §§ [120.1]6.6.3.2(2), [120.1]6.6.3.2(4)).

Please be prepared to address the above at the meeting set for October 18, 2001. I am also enclosing a statement of facts concerning myself and my web site.

Sincerely,

Larken Rose
[address redacted]

(P.S. In my prior letter, I indicated that I would be bringing two witnesses. I now plan to bring three witnesses, and I still intend to audio-record the meeting.)

Statement of Facts

1) I am the primary author of the material on the web site "www.taxableincome.net" including the "Taxable Income" report available for download from that site.

2) The purpose of the "taxableincome.net" web site is to make public my conclusions regarding the gross misapplication of the federal income tax laws, and the very limited nature of the tax. Such an exercise of my First Amendment freedom of speech rights cannot be infringed upon by any government action.

3) My web site is used solely to publicly express opinions and conclusions regarding the proper application of the federal income tax. The "front page" of the site states that I am not a lawyer or a licensed tax professional, and also states the following: "You are personally responsible for determining your tax liability. Blindly believing assertions (whether from tax professionals or Mr. Rose) does not negate that responsibility. We advise determining the amount of your tax liability based entirely upon the actual federal statutes and regulations."

4) While I have shared, both on the web site and in private correspondence, my conclusions about the law, my knowledge about IRS procedure, and even the specific ways in which I would explain an issue or make some procedural request in writing, I have never charged for any such information, I have never represented myself as a CPA or attorney, and I have never instructed people to rely on my opinions and conclusion without coming to their own conclusions based entirely on the federal income tax statutes and regulations; on the contrary, I make it clear that I cannot represent them or act on their behalf, that they should not be "taking my word" for anything, and that unless they understand and agree with everything in a letter (regardless of who helped to put it together), they should not sign it.

5) I have actively sought out opposing views, both from government officials and from tax professionals, and publicly posted those opposing views on my site (together with my responses to them).

6) There are no "membership" services on my web site, and no information or products have ever been sold on that site. All information on the site is publicly available, at no cost.

7) On the page of the site where my "Taxable Income" report can be downloaded for free, and which gives instructions on how to request hard copies of the report, donations are also welcomed. That page states: "Whether we will fill your request for hard copies of this report does not depend on whether you make a donation. Copies will be sent out without charge, on request, as long as we have the funding to keep up with printing and mailing costs."

8) Well over 500 printed copies of the report have been sent out, while approximately 50 donations have been received. Well over 30,000 file-versions (in Adobe Acrobat, Zip, and Word formats) of the report have been downloaded from the site.

9) I have never told anyone (falsely or otherwise), directly or indirectly, that by participating in a plan, organization, or arrangement which I created or sold, they could become entitled to any federal tax deduction or exemption. I have never been involved in any "promotion" of such a plan or arrangement, and have never had "investors" in such a plan or arrangement.

By signing below, I hereby swear under penalty of perjury that the above information is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.

__________________________________                                                   Dated: __________________
Larken Rose (SSN: XXX-XX-XXXX)
[address redacted]