In an article I wrote about three years ago, I pointed out that the purveyors of tax snake oil seemed to be having some success convincing their “clients” that they need not pay income tax.
In fact, Canadian courts have been called on numerous times to deal with these “protesters”. See this article at duhaime.org for a list. The Ontario Court of Appeal has been called on twice now to over-turn acquittals on charges of evasion against Dr. Jack Klundert: see R. v. Klundert, 2008 ONCA 767.
I guess it’s part of the glory of the rule of law that taxpayers must pay again and again to prove that other taxpayers are really wrong to believe they can avoid paying taxes by calling themselves “natural persons” and the like. On the other hand, maybe it’s about time the government enacted a special penalty for the protesters so that they bear some of the costs they impose on the rest of us for persisting in their delusions.
Another “natural person” argument bites the dust: Kion v. The Queen, 2009 TCC 447. At least costs were awarded to the Crown, and gross negligence penalties were upheld.