QUESTION: Hi Martin,
I am familiar with the case of Robert Kahre who eventually lost a battle with the IRS for paying his employees in $20 gold pieces to avoid payroll taxes. However, do you think holding foreign currency gold pieces in a foreign bank account would be different from a US tax perspective so that the legal tender value in that country would apply towards the $10,000 reporting level?
ANSWER: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California has upheld the criminal conviction of Robert Kahre, the man who tried to circumvent the IRS by paying his employees in gold coin. He relied on the face value of the gold coins being below the legal threshold that triggers withholding taxes. A $20 gold coin is legal tender for only $20 — not its gold value. Gold was never demonetized. From a strict construction perspective, Kahre was correct and should not have been charged legally. However, the IRS interprets the value of the gold, not the legal tender value. The Court held that Kahre didn’t do his duty to serve as a tax collector for the United States, for which you, as an employer, are not paid. Kahre is currently serving a 15-year sentence.
You must understand that you are dancing with the devil. There is absolutely NO RULE OF LAW whatsoever and all your constitutional rights are fictional. Your liberty and human rights are in the hands of every petty government officer because they get to do whatever they desire and it has become your burden to go to court to PROVE you have any human rights. This is what happens in all republics. Whenever you have a political class, they always exert their power against the people. There is ABSOLUTELY NO HISTORICAL EXCEPTION!
I understand that people say I am wrong about bitcoin or cryptocurrencies. You cannot possibly fight against government. They can say whatever they want and their judges rule in government’s favor. Forget it! You cannot find any possible legal argument that will ever survive.
Politicians often promote the least ethical people to various positions to ensure that they will have no loyalty, except to the person of their benefactor. Saint Thomas Becket (1119/1120 – 1170) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170 at the altar of the church. He was the drinking buddy of King Henry II, King of England. Henry wanted to control the church and installed his friend who had never been a priest. Upon becoming Archbishop, Thomas found religion. He suddenly defended the church and was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. So there are a few historical exceptions. However, the typical appointment of someone by politicians is normally to further their own power.
Edward Gibbon commented in “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” how the rule of law collapses In this case, he was commenting on Commodus:
“[Each] distinction of every kind soon became criminal. The possession of wealth stimulated the diligence of the informers; rigid virtue implied a tacit censure of the irregularities of Commodus; important services implied a dangerous superiority of merit; and the friendship of the father always insured the aversion of the son. Suspicion was equivalent to proof; trial to condemnation. The execution of a considerable senator was attended with the death of all who might lament or revenge his fate; and when Commodus had once tasted human blood, he became incapable of pity or remorse.”
(Book 1, Chapter 4)
There is no sure-fire way to beat the government. They can say whatever they desire and the likelihood of you prevailing in a court of law is somewhere below zero. There are no fair trials. They do not exist anymore. All that is left is the Crash & Burn. Then we will get the chance to restart. It was Ben Franklin who warned against this legal system. He proposed that the legal community should nominate all judges. They will always nominate the best so they get rid of the competition. That was the Scottish system. The Constitutional Convention overruled Franklin to ensure government would control the courts. This is what we get – total corruption and no rule of law.
