'Americans Not Required To Pay Income Taxes?' Ex-IRS Agent's Claim In Greene Interview Sparks Debate

Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has been raising concerns about how Americans are tired of the US national debt nearing $40 trillion, high living costs, mounting loans, unemployment, market volatility, and risks of war.

Greene claimed that the fatigue is leading Americans to call for a national 'tax revolt,' protesting against taxpayer dollars being spent on endless foreign wars, regime change, or scams.

In a recent interview with former IRS special agent and criminal investigator Joe Bannister, who has publicly challenged aspects of the US tax system, Greene was told that most Americans may not be required to pay their federal income taxes. However, the IRS has consistently maintained that US citizens working in the US or abroad have to pay taxes on worldwide income to avoid financial penalties and legal consequences.

Shocked, Greene then asked Bannister to explain his views and his experience with the IRS.

Bannister's Dispute With The IRS

Bannister was born and raised in San Jose and started working with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in November 1993 as a special agent in the criminal investigation department.

In December 1996, while listening to a radio show, Bannister heard a conversation about how Americans are not required to pay taxes, which led him to do his own research into income tax laws. He started visiting libraries after work for two years and even met the founder of Freedom Law School, Peymon Mottahedeh, to gather evidence to support his argument that the IRS was enforcing tax rules beyond the parameters of laws passed by Congress and the Supreme Court.

Bannister claims to have found evidence that the IRS' internal manuals and procedures indicated the agency was misrepresenting the scope of its real income tax authority, a claim that has not been supported by legal interpretations.

Mottahedeh's institution educates US citizens on tax laws, which are widely disputed by authorities. With his help, Bannister claims he reviewed court cases, testimonies in Congress, and revenue codes that he claims supported his viewpoint.

There were sections about the IRS' limited authority, 'which I thought had to be made up,' Bannister told Greene.

Bannister said he reported his findings to IRS management. He was then called to the special agent in charge's office and handed a memo stating that the IRS won't be responding to any of his concerns and it will arrange the necessary paperwork to tender his resignation, he claimed.

Bannister said he decided to resign with a good reputation rather than stay and risk it To take care of his family, he went back to the certified public accountant firm he left before joining the IRS.

When he was handed a W-4 form of withholding certificate at the new company, Bannister said he declined and was eventually fired. He added that he paid taxes for the 1998 year, which was the last year he worked at the IRS, but did not file returns for subsequent years.

Experts warn that failure to pay taxes could also result in wage garnishment and deductions from retirement income, including Social Security.

Investigation And Trial

When Bannister started participating in symposiums and started giving interviews to publications, like The New York Times, the IRS initiated a criminal investigation against him, which lasted for three years.

He was indicted on multiple felonies, including a charge of conspiring to defraud the US and for preparing false income tax returns. By then, he had not filed tax returns for five years.

The case also involved tax filings prepared for a client, which prosecutors alleged were false. Bannister was arrested and tried in federal court in Sacramento. He was ultimately acquitted of all charges.

Bannister told Greene in the interview that he still does not file tax returns, a position that legal experts warn carries significant risks.

The 1040A Form Scam

Bannister revealed during the interview that he believes the IRS uses internal processes that can lead to incorrect tax assessments, a claim that has not been supported by official IRS guidance.

Bannister claims to have found that IRS agents put in fraudulent tax coding during his audit to get assessments against him. The agency informed that Bannister had filed 1040A with them to ask them to file tax on his behalf, which he said he never did. In all, Bannister claims the IRS does this to millions of Americans, a scam that rattles people's lives and creates a sense of urgency to pay the IRS or face jail time.