The Third Circuit yesterday, in United States v. Bell, No. 04-1640 (3d Cir., 7/12/05), upheld a permanent injunction barring Thurston Paul Bell from promoting and selling unlawful tax advice (although the court narrowed the injunction to make clear that Bell is free to criticize the tax system but that he cannot incite others to violate the tax law):

Thurston Paul Bell is a professional tax protester who ran a business and a website selling bogus strategies to clients endeavoring to avoid paying taxes. In the 1980s, he worked for Save-A-Patriot, an entity dedicated to the proposition that “American citizens are not liable for the income tax.” Bell later started his own organization, Tax-gate, and a website, www.taxgate.com, where he drafted letters and pleadings to the IRS and state tax agencies on behalf of clients. Bell charged for advice and services in preparing various tax filings. Bell subsequently founded another group, the National Institute for Taxation Education (“NITE”), and the related website www.nite.org, with the mission of providing “income tax help, solutions and strategies that work for Citizens of the United States to legally declare their gross income to be Zero.” Substantively, Bell’s main rationale for avoiding the income tax is known as the “U.S. Sources argument” or the “Section 861 argument.” This method has been universally discredited.

For prior NY Times coverage by David Cay Johnston, see here and here.  (Hat Tip:  Ingrid Wuerth and How Appealing.)