Previous reports here at TAC have noted that nullification bills would thwart IRS when using liens to collect Obamacare’s mandate “tax.” While we made a technical error in reporting this, the strategy remains essential.
In reality, federal law already prohibits the agency from using liens to collect on failure to pay. The IRS itself has even admitted this.
The caveat is that current law prohibits it. There’s nothing to stop Congress from passing a law or amending the current law to allow for it in the future.
In fact, it is quite conceivable that this is just what will happen if there is mass noncompliance and a refusal to pay the “shared responsibility” tax. This would cripple the healthcare program, and they may use any means at their disposal to coerce Americans into signing up.
Starting this year, the IRS will begin collecting mandated fines, $325 or 2 percent of income, whichever is higher. Next year, the average fine will be about $1,100, based on government figures.
As this Fox News story points out, IRS isn’t certain how it will collect the money, especially if there are millions of people guilty of violating the law.
“Unclear is how many would actually be assessed a fine. The law offers about 30 different exemptions, most of which involve financial hardships. Further, it’s unclear how aggressively the IRS would go after the fines. Many taxpayers may be able to get a pass.”
Or, maybe they won’t. Maybe the feds might give the IRS more unconstitutional powers to seize their money via a tax lien in the desperate hope to save Obamacare. Or maybe some other method we haven’t even thought of because we lack such devious imagination might be introduced.
This is why such bills and constitutional amendments are so vital. They preemptively handle any potential federal legislation, including the ones we can’t anticipate. We should not rest on our loins, so to speak, until then after such a bill becomes law in the hope that the IRS won’t resort to drastic measures to collect the fines.
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