SECTION 8. WHEN SHOULD

TECHNICAL ADVICE NOT BE REQUESTED?

Technical advice will not be issued on frivolous issues

.01 Technical advice will not be issued on frivolous issues. A referral of technical advice on frivolous issues should not be forwarded to the national office. For purposes of this revenue procedure, a “frivolous issue” is one without basis in fact or law, or that espouses a position which has been held by the courts to be frivolous or groundless. Examples of frivolous or groundless issues include, but are not limited to:

(1) frivolous “constitutional” claims, such as claims that the requirement to file tax returns and pay taxes constitutes an unreasonable search barred by the Fourth Amendment; violates Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment protections of due process; violates Thirteenth Amendment protections against involuntary servitude; or is unenforceable because the Sixteenth Amendment does not authorize nonapportioned direct taxes or was never ratified;

(2) claims that income taxes are voluntary, that the term “income” is not defined in the Internal Revenue Code, or that preparation and filing of income tax returns violates the Paperwork Reduction Act;

(3) claims that tax may be imposed only on coins minted under a gold or silver standard or that receipt of Federal Reserve Notes does not cause an accretion to wealth;

(4) claims that a person is not taxable on income because he or she falls within a class entitled to “reparation claims” or an extra-statutory class of individuals exempt from tax, for example, “free-born” individuals;

(5) claims that a taxpayer can refuse to pay taxes on the basis of opposition to certain governmental expenditures;

(6) claims that taxes apply only to federal employees; only to residents of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the District of Columbia, or “federal enclaves”; or that the Internal Revenue Code imposes taxes on U.S. citizens and residents only on income derived from foreign based activities;

(7) claims that wages or personal service income are not “income,” are “nontaxable receipts,” or “are a nontaxable exchange for labor;” or

Sec. 8.01 2002–1 I.R.B 91 January 7, 2002

A director may not request technical advice on an identical issue of the same taxpayer that an area office is considering