| Subject: Re: [EL] Taxing donations to 501(c)(4) organizations as gifts |
| From: Charles Stewart III |
| Date: 5/11/2011, 11:07 AM |
| To: John White <white@lfa-law.com>, "jon.roland@constitution.org" <jon.roland@constitution.org>, "election-law@mailman.lls.edu" <election-law@mailman.lls.edu> |
John White <white@lfa-law.com> wrote:
The constitutionality of the estate and gift taxes has been resolved by the Supreme Court, at least as far as challenges asserting that the taxes are unconstitutional
direct taxes. They are structured as excise taxes on the privilege of transferring property and measured by the value of the property transferred. Therefore, the taxes do not implicate the constitutional requirement to apportion direct taxes. Contributions
to charitable organizations qualify for a gift tax deduction, but absent the statutory deduction provision, even charitable gifts would be subject to the tax.
John J. White, Jr.
white@lfa-law.com
(425) 822-9281 ext. 321
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From: election-law-bounces@mailman.lls.edu [mailto:election-law-bounces@mailman.lls.edu]
On Behalf Of Jon Roland
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 8:34 AM
To: election-law@mailman.lls.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Taxing donations to 501(c)(4) organizations as gifts
It is not the donors who are most likely to challenge such an application, but the 501(c)(4) lobbying organizations that are the recipients. Whatever their usual issues might be, they will unite in opposing application of the gift tax to
their donors, and thus threaten most of the donations to the campaigns of election candidates. One of the surest ways to get a statutory exemption for individual and corporate gifts to other than 501(c)(3) and 5019c)(19) nonprofits is to apply gift tax to
their donors.
Missing from this article is the point that gift and estate taxes, as well as taxes on compensation for labor, are unconstitutional. There is no unbroken chain of authority leading from the Constitution, through statutes, through regulations, to instructions
in tax manuals or actions of the IRS. Further, they are not "income" as that term was originally understood, which only includes earnings on land or capital or profits on sales. The only authority of IRS agents is that they are better organized and armed than
most taxpayers. They have no more lawful authority than members of a street gang extorting "protection" from merchants. It is time to replace the so-called "income" tax with a
purchase tax.
On 05/11/2011 06:15 AM, Lloyd Mayer wrote:
There are numerous grounds for challenging application of the gift tax in this context (see two articles by Barbara Rhomberg,
one relating to constitutional issues and
one relating to other legal issues).
-- Jon