2005 Revenue Rulings Pertaining to Filing Frivolous Tax Returns

These documents are Revenue Rulings issued in IRS's weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB) that pertain to the filing of frivolous tax returns.

A "Revenue Ruling" is an official interpretation by the Service of the Internal Revenue Code, related statutes, tax treaties, and regulations. It is the conclusion of the Service on how the law is applied to a specific set of facts. A Revenue Ruling states the Service's position on an issue.

Revenue Rulings are either in HTML or in the Adobe Acrobat PDF format. Internal Revenue Bulletin Summary pages are in HTML format.

Revenue Rulings	Bulletin	Date of IRB


Rev. Rul. 2005-21(PDF, 90K)	IRB #2005-14(HTML)	April 4, 2005
Frivolous tax returns; use of "straw man" to avoid tax. This ruling emphasizes to taxpayers and to promoters and return preparers that a taxpayer cannot avoid income tax on the erroneous theory that the government has created a separate and distinct entity or "straw man," in place of the taxpayer and that the taxpayer is not responsible for the tax obligations of the "straw man". This argument has no merit and is frivolous.
Rev. Rul. 2005-20(PDF, 86K)	IRB #2005-14(HTML)	April 4, 2005
Frivolous tax returns; protesting government programs or policies. This ruling emphasizes to taxpayers and to promoters and return preparers that liability for federal taxes does not depend on whether the taxpayer agrees with the government programs or policies that are funded with tax receipts. Any argument that taxpayers may refuse to report income or claim deductions because they oppose particular government programs or policies is frivolous and has no merit.
Rev. Rul. 2005-19(PDF, 97K)	IRB #2005-14(HTML)	April 4, 2005
Frivolous tax returns; constitutionally based arguments. This ruling emphasizes to taxpayers and to promoters and return preparers that a taxpayer cannot avoid income tax by making frivolous constitutionally based arguments.
Rev. Rul. 2005-18(PDF, 92K)	IRB #2005-14(HTML)	April 4, 2005
Frivolous tax returns; altering the jurat. This ruling deals with taxpayers who attempt to reduce their federal tax liability by striking or altering the written declaration (the jurat) that verifies that a return, declaration, statement or other document is made under penalties of perjury. The ruling emphasizes to taxpayers and to promoters and return preparers that striking or altering the jurat in a manner that negates its validity invalidates the return.
Rev. Rul. 2005-17(PDF, 66K)	IRB #2005-14(HTML)	April 4, 2005
Frivolous tax returns; Social Security refund. This ruling emphasizes to taxpayers and to promoters and return preparers that there is no right to a refund of, or a deduction for, Social Security taxes paid based on arguments that a taxpayer has waived the right to receive Social Security benefits or has donated Social Security taxes or benefits to the government. These arguments have no merit and are frivolous.

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