The Long Arm of IRS Jurisdiction

There are certain people who try to avoid paying taxes by circumventing the law because they don’t know how far the IRS will go. The constitutionality and jurisdiction of the IRS are often challenged by tax “protesters.” As a taxpayer, you need to know the laws so you don’t end up in trouble with the IRS in the future. Let’s take a look at the extent and jurisdiction of the Internal Revenue Service.

A term often heard in the movies, jurisdiction provides leaders with the authority to enforce punishment when addressing legal situations.

The IRS is a bit more amorphous in that it has jurisdiction over all taxpayers in the United States, as well as those who earn any income in the United States. If you don’t understand that you have tax obligations as a taxpayer, you will definitely be in trouble with the IRS.

The Code of Federal Regulations, Title 26 talks about the IRS:

“The Internal Revenue Service is an office of the Department of the Treasury under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The Commissioner has general superintendence of the assessment and collection of all taxes imposed by any law providing for internal revenue. The Internal Revenue Service Internal Revenue is the agency through which these functions are carried out.”

If you are a US resident, a nonresident earning money in the US, a citizen residing in foreign countries, or a citizen earning money in foreign countries, the IRS has jurisdiction over you as a taxpayer. You will run into problems with the IRS if you don’t pay taxes on capital gains, earnings, property, etc.

As stated in this excerpt from Economy Plumbing and Heating Co. v. In the US, non-taxpayers are excluded from IRS jurisdiction:

“The revenue laws are a code or system in the regulation of the liquidation and collection of taxes. They refer to taxpayers, and not to non-taxpayers. The latter are out of your reach. No procedure is prescribed for non-taxpayers, and no attempt is made to override any of their rights and remedies in due course of law. [non-taxpayers] Congress does not undertake to deal with, and is neither the subject nor the object of, the revenue laws.”

You can determine if you are not a taxpayer and avoid problems with the IRS by visiting your state’s tax website or the IRS website.

To discredit the jurisdiction of the IRS, tax protesters insist that the 16th Amendment giving Congress the power to collect income taxes was not properly ratified. With a majority vote, the 16th Amendment was in fact ratified.

The IRS does not have jurisdiction because it is not a government agency is another ridiculous argument. Actually, because the Secretary of the Treasury has enforcement and administration power over the internal revenue laws, the IRS was created. Arguments like these will get the IRS in trouble because the IRS has jurisdiction over taxpayers.

Failure to pay taxes or accurately report your income can lead to serious problems with the IRS. You are under the jurisdiction of the IRS if you are a taxpayer.