John Briggs argues that paying the minimum required in taxes is not just legal but patriotic, citing Judge Learned Hand's 1940s ruling and Commissioner v. Newman. He calls the tax code a playbook designed to incentivize certain behaviors like rental property ownership, and urges people to use every legal strategy available.
Tax rant coming for you. So back in the 1940s, coming into Washington, D.C., crossing the Potomac River, there were 2 bridges. One bridge required a toll. Another bridge, 15 minutes out of the way, was free. And so Learned Hand, which was a— he was a judge. for the United States District Court. Um, he was quoted when someone asked them about this, like, this is unreasonable, people should just be paying for the bridge that costs money instead of driving out of the way. And he's like, why? I don't understand. So this is a very famous quote from Judge Learned Hand. Anyone May so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible. He is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury, meaning he's not entitled or forced to pay the most amount of money into the government. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes. So that's a judge. A few years later, Another case came up, so this is Commissioner v. Newman, and this is in the judgment that was provided by the judge. Over and over again, courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging one's affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everybody does so, rich or poor, and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands. Taxes are enforced exactions. Is that what it says? Taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions. To demand more in the name of morals is mere cant. Or in other words, cant is hypocrisy. So in their summary statement, the judge said paying your fair share is patriotic. Paying more than your fair share is moronic. So obviously we agree with these judges that one should pay the least amount possible, and going out of your way to figuring out tax strategies, there's nothing wrong about that. I think, and this was back in the '40s, so quite frankly, 60 years ago, things weren't nearly as bad as they are now from my perspective of The way politicians use the tax code to buy votes. It is wrong to assess taxes for programs that do nothing other than buy votes for the politicians. Now, if you're watching this, you're not one of the people out there who just go and listen like you're the sheep following, oh yeah, well, that sounds bad. I'm just No research, right? You know that looking into things makes a lot of sense. Well, when it comes to politicians and paying taxes, there's unfortunately a very strong correlation. So I just encourage you to continue to find ways to pay the least amount in taxes possible. That is patriotic. Paying more than that Not doing the due diligence and leaving money on the table is effectively burning money and honestly is encouraging politicians to continue to get away with what they're getting away with, which is setting up programs in the name of helping people when in reality the only benefit is that they now have more votes from people who thought that what they're getting is good, and that's not the case. So, um, one last thing about my tax rant. The tax code is effectively a playbook of what the government wants to incentivize us to do. That's why certain things like, oh, you get tax benefits if you have a rental property versus I don't get any tax benefits based on, I don't know, buying weight equipment for my house. They're incentivizing people to be landlords, which I don't even know if I'm allowed to say that term anymore, to own rental properties. But they're not currently providing any incentive for people to be healthy at home. So you find the incentives the government wants you to do in order to maximize your tax savings. That's— oh, that's okay. So that's one way to look at the tax code. It's what the current government is encouraging people to do for whatever variety of reasons they have, but that's where benefits come into play. the tax benefits that I'm talking about. So a bit of a rant. I don't really have a takeaway for you other than I really hope you're trying to lower your taxes to the lowest amount legally possible. Profit is a choice. Have the courage and wisdom to choose it.
