Income tax

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American Founders, such as Alexander Hamilton, were fond of quoting a maxim from Blackstone:
: "a power over a man's resources is power over his will."
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The income tax system surrenders substantial control of the people's resources to those who wield government power, along with detailed information about the source and composition of those resources. 
Blackstone's maxim points to the possibility that this surrender places in the hands of the authorities the power to manipulate the will of the people, so that those who should be representatives instead become rulers.
==Federal income tax return==
* Citizens must sign or otherwise legally attest to the truth of what a federal tax return contains. 
:** This testimony can then be used as evidence in any criminal or other legal proceedings that might arise as the government collects and enforces the federal income tax. \
:**The testimony provided by the income tax return is thus elicited under threat of penalties that include possible loss of freedom and substantial property.
===Given this threat, the people naturally feel compelled to submit this testimony, despite the fact that the U.S. Constitution clearly declares "nor shall any person … be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself."===
Each year on April 15, Americans are thus compelled to do what the Constitution clearly states they cannot be compelled to do. Though we are told that any failure to comply breaches respect for the rule of law, the requirement itself is contrary to the clear provision of the paramount law, which is the Constitution. If immunity from forced self-incrimination is critical to maintain democratic self-government, the fact that federal income tax law cannot be enforced without systematic breach of this immunity suggests that it poses a threat to constitutional self-government.
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* Position on income taxes from Mark Rauterkus
==Links==
* Taxation