Paul Petrino was recently acquitted of income-tax evasion charges after he filed returns for 36 clients claiming that salaries cannot be legally taxed. According to Newsday, his defense was “based on arguments from the tax-protester movement, which questions the validity of the federal income tax laws.”
Petrino told his clients that wages and salaries are not taxable because they are a return for an individual’s labor — “his blood, sweat and tears,” according to Petrino’s attorney, Robert Fink.
He is reported to have listed his clients’ salaries on the line on the income tax form that called for it — Line 7, but then declared the exact amount as a loss on the line for other income — Line 21.
Fink called the verdict a victory for the average man “over the overwhelming power of the federal government, the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service.”
Unfortunately, the IRS has since required Petrino’s clients to pay the tax on their salaries.
