Trial of anti-tax advocate Schiff moved after claims rejected

Jeff Donaldson

Thursday, June 9, 2005 | 10:23 a.m.

The U.S. government has rejected claims by a local anti-income tax advocate that the IRS seizure of 12,000 documents at his book company in 2003 was illegal, setting up an August showdown in federal court.

Irwin Schiff, who has sold more than 100,000 copies of his books on what he says is the illegal collection of income taxes by the IRS, faces a 33-count indictment for tax evasion and aiding in the filing of hundreds of false tax returns.

Both sides are awaiting a ruling on Schiff's latest motion to have all charges dismissed. He filed the motion in April. Schiff's criminal trial has been moved to Aug. 29. A separate civil lawsuit has a pre-trial date set for November.

A judge last year ruled against Schiff in a civil case, awarding the government more than $2.5 million for unpaid taxes.

Schiff has argued repeatedly that the government's collection of income tax is illegal. The government last week filed its opposition response to Schiff's latest request for dismissal of the charges, said Natalie Collins, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, District of Nevada.

U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden wrote in his response that Schiff is demanding the government prove the legality of collecting taxes -- something that must be decided by a jury in court.

Schiff will file his response to the government's filing -- one in a series of volleys fired by both sides in both the civil and criminal cases.

In another setback to Schiff's case, U.S. District Judge Lloyd George last year banned the sale of Schiff's book, "The Federal Mafia," which suggests that income tax does not have to be paid. Schiff argued that the book is protected by commercial speech laws.

A federal appeals court ruled in January that Schiff's book acted as an advertisement for Schiff's full range of tax avoidance products and services. The appellate court refused to grant Schiff a new hearing.