Which law states that a person must file income taxes?

At the Federal level, it's Title 26 of the US Code. Google it if you wish to read it. It's long, dry, tortuous reading but it absolutely is law. Approximately 43 states levy an income tax of one type or another (TN and NH limit it to dividend and interest income only) so there are at least 43 sets of state laws as well that levy income taxes.

The Constitution gives the government the right to lay taxes, spelled out in Article 1, Section 8. It does NOT prohibit income taxes or specify any particular tax; that is left to Congress to determine.

Some court rulings in the late 1800s effectively stopped income taxes, declaring them to be direct levies subject to apportionment among the several states, i.e. based upon the states' populations. That was impossible in those days but would be child's play in the modern computer age. The nation dealt with that with the 16th Amendment to The Constitution. It plainly states that incomes from any source may be taxed without apportionment.

There were a number of challenges to the validity of the ratification of the 16th Amendment but in the end it was ruled that it was properly ratified. The rest, as they say, is history.

Title 26 of the United States Code which is based from the 16 Amendment of the US Constitution.

There is this couple in New hampshire who tried to fight paying their taxes by saying there is no law. They barricaded themselves in their home for months until the feds finally busted in and took them off to jail.
Google Ed and Elaine Brown for more info on their case.

I certainly hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is a little thing called the Constitution (specifically amendment XVI):
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
So it doesn't say you have to file, necessarily, but it does say that income taxes are not only legal but Constitutional.

You actually answered your own question. Its taxation law.

Put your money where your internet connection is. When you file your taxes, claim that you are exempt from tax and demand a refund of all taxes withheld or tell the IRS that you will not pay your taxes. Then share your "strategies" with everyone by producing infomercials. This way you can be famous like Billy Mays, Kevin Trudeau, and the Clee guy that sells his "body cleanse system" and " libido enhancer."

Take a look at the Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_protester_statutory_arguments

For 2007 the penalty for frivolous return is $5.000. Also you will have to pay interest and penalty of the amount you owe. Frivolous is commonly understood to mean having no basis in law or fact.

Filing as zero income and zero tax (even when you have income) to get all the withholding taxes back.

For list of frivolous positions read
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-07-30.pdf or
http://www.taxalmanac.org/index.php/Notice_2007-30

Tax laws are codified in Title 26 U.S.C. You can read them at http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode26/usc_sup_01_26.html
or
http://www.access.gpo.gov/uscode/title26/title26.html
It is very dry reading and it is very long, but it is all there.

The sections that apply to most people are:
Â§ 1 - Tax imposed
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode26/usc_sec_26_00000001----000-.html
Â§ 61 - Gross income defined
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode26/usc_sec_26_00000061----000-.html
Â§ 62 - Adjusted gross income defined
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode26/usc_sec_26_00000062----000-.html
Â§ 63 - Taxable income defined
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode26/usc_sec_26_00000063----000-.html
Â§ 3402 - Income tax collected at source
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode26/usc_sec_26_00003402----000-.html
Â§ 6011 - General requirement of return, statement, or list
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode26/usc_sec_26_00006011----000-.html
and finally, if you don't file an income tax return,
Â§ 7203 - Willful failure to to file return, supply information, or pay tax
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode26/usc_sec_26_00007203----000-.html

The actual tax laws passed by Congress can be found in the U.S. Statutes at Large. These can be found in most Federal Depository Libraries. There are probably a few in your state. You can locate a Federal Depository Library at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/libraries.html
You can begin reading in Volume 68A, page 3. That is the start of the Internal Revenue Act of 1954, which formed the structure of the income tax laws we have today. It has been modified over the years by various acts of Congress, but the generic structure is basically the same.

BTW, Congress has ALWAYS had the power to collect an income tax. That power comes from Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. The 16th amendment CLARIFIED the power of Congress to lay and collect an income tax. To the best of my knowledge, the first income tax law was considered in 1815 and was rejected at the time because the government didn't need the revenue. The first income tax law that was passed was in 1861. The Bureau of Internal Revenue, which was later renamed to the Internal Revenue Service, was created in 1862. The 1861 income tax law was allowed to lapse voluntarily by Congress in 1872. In 1880, the Supreme Court UPHELD the constitutionality of the income tax. The 1895 Pollock decision is the ONLY case where the Supreme Court ruled the income tax laws unconstitutional. The reason was the law at the time included income derived from property, i.e. rental income. The court ruled that was the same or similar to a tax on the property itself or direct and therefore unconstitutional. Since the tax on rental income was in the same section of the law as the tax on wages, the court could not separate it and had to rule the section unconstitutional. The very same court also questioned whether they had the constitutional intent correct. For that reason the 16th amendment was enacted and ratified.

Congratulations, you are the first person from the fruitcake fringe to post today.

If the fact that they system has been in place and functioning and passing muster with the supreme court for nearly 90 years isn't enough to convince you then you are suffering from oxygen deprivation.

You just try and tell George Bush that you will not give up your hard earned money to pay for his wars of choice, And you'll soon discover what unwritten laws are all about.

there is no law stateing u have to..however...if u do there is a law that it has to be correct..state courts will assume the law is there while the supreme courts actually say its not...1 thing they do right

its in that one government book, on that page with the skull and crossbones on one side and a gun on the other.

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