Feds seek action against tax rebel

Jace Radke

Thursday, March 13, 2003 | 11:24 a.m.

The Justice Department is asking a federal judge in Las Vegas to issue a restraining order to stop a local tax activist from promoting an alleged tax fraud scheme.

The motion was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, and asks that Irwin Schiff, 75, and his associates cease preparing federal tax returns and holding tax seminars, including one scheduled for March 29 at the San Remo.

Schiff, a self-described constitutionalist who travels the country lecturing on taxes, has a long history of battles with the Internal Revenue Service. His latest book is entitled, "Federal Mafia: How it Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes."

Reached at his business Thursday morning, Schiff said he was concerned about "an attempt to muzzle freedom of speech."

The motion for a restraining order and an accompanying complaint for a permanent injunction allege that Schiff and his associates, Cynthia Neun and Lawrence N. Cohen, conduct seminars and sell audiotapes and other products designed to help customers evade federal taxes, primarily by filing income-tax returns falsely listing no income and no tax due.

"Shutting down tax scammers is a high priority for the Justice Department," said Eileen J. O'Conner, assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's tax division. "We have zero tolerance for those who make a living selling tax-scheme packages that falsely promise zero tax liability."

In February, federal agents raided Schiff's East Sahara Avenue business, Freedom Books, and took away files, letters, books, videos and receipts. No criminal charges have been filed in connection with that search warrant.

Schiff said he had been arrested and convicted on tax evasion charges in the 1980s for not filing income taxes.