Cure tax ills through De-tax IF you are up for the adventure, fellow income tax slaves, there is a new grassroots group that claims to have the key to unlock your manacles. ‘Yhat can free vou from your income tax burden. Another gimmick, vou say? Not pay income tax? Take on Revenue Canada? Yeah right, Mr. Ripping Yarns, I’m off to the sports Pages. Hold on there. Scary stuff, it is, but as some deep thinker once said: we have nothing to fear but fear itself. And according to the gleefully subversive Canadian De-tax Group, fear is the main weapon in Revenue Canada’s arsenal when it comes to dealing with all bearers of Social Insurance Numbers — better known in the De-tax argot as Slave Identification Numbers. A meeting early last Tuesday morning at Cheers restaurant in Lower Lonsdale brought together De-rax practitioners and assorted interested and skeptical types — the latter group secking direction on escape from Canada’s tax slave camp. No easy escape routes exist, ?’'m afraid, but there appears to be light outside the compound’s walls. Seif-styled guerrilla econ- omist Byrun Fox (his corpo- rate sole name: more on that later) is one of those on the outside waving a flashlight. On the inside, the tem- erature is fast reaching full Boil. According to Fox, Canadians now pay 200 dif- ferent taxes, 160 of wisich are hidden in fees, licences, levies, you name it. Upper income Canadians are currently being relieved of a staggering 75% of their income in taxes. Even those well down the income ladder yarns which De-taxers also say is voluntary. That sounds all pretry theoretical, I know. Tax evaders go to jail. There is semantics at play here. Hf vou talk to Revenue Canada they will tell you thar paving income tax is nor voluntary. But the escapees from the “(Canada) is being driven into the ground by bureaucratic parasites.” — Byrun Fox, Canadian De-tax Group income tax slave compound will tell you otherwise. Fox, for example, claims he has not paid income tax since 1978, And he makes a good living. He admits that freely. Why is he not in jail or back inside the compound? Sharp fellow, for one, but also entirely candid abou the whole issue. De-tax Canada is not advocating deccit or any other form of illegal activity when it comes to income tax non-payment. The group instead coun- sels preparation and taxpayer empowerment. Fox, tor example, has set himself up as Byrun Fox, corporate sole: in effect a one-person church, which he says has no definition under the Income Tax Act. He also advises establish- ing common law trusts to proteet assets trom govern- ment seizure. Along with wo other bright sparks — Bruce Stellar and Sir Lawrence Leupol — he has invested a collective 40 vears in studying Canada’s tax system and for- mulating the steps to de-ray- ation. Since last Easter they have been peddling their knowl- edge in De-ray seminars all over Canada. They take great jov in fac- ing down Revenue Canada. Their first line of defence — or offence, if you like — is a public servant question- naire. The document, which affirms a person’s charter rights, poses 12 questions to an investigating Revenue Canada agent. If said agent fails to answer yes to cach one, it provides evidence rhat the questioner didn’t receive Revenue Canada assurance that his charter rights would be protected. The questionnaire is com- monly presented to Revenue Canada agents in a face-to- face meeting that includes other De-tax members or “witnesses.” Strength in numbers when facing down the beast. Sometimes a camera is used; sometimes a recording device. Hoo, boy, are these guys trouble-makers or whav Tax rebels, perhaps, but Fox reiterates that the mave- ment is not Opposed to pay- ing taxes, It is opposed to feeding the monster that is devouring the assets and ini- tiative of Canadians. And that monster is set to grow inco something even more sinister, In December, the Liberal governmear passed legista- tion to establish an omnipo- tent tax collection beast called the Canadian Customs and Revenue Agence. It will collect taxes for all levels of government and be run by a semi-private man- agement board that will move tax collectors an arn’s length from the civil service to make it even less behold- en to the public than it is now. Suspicious, vou might be of a group that earns its money through giving semi- nars on de-taxation. Alter all, we don’s know whether they really pay income tax or not. But you can’t argue with Fox when he says that Canada is “being driven into the ground by bureaucratic parasites.” While their approach real- istically is only delaying the inevitable, the De-tax move- ment sends another message to Ottawa that Canadians are mad as hell and nor gaing to take it anymore. — Canadian De-tax is based in Vancouver and can be reached at 524-6055 or 680-5873; email: bfox@istar.ca. Designing Comfort Inc. 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But the issue is not the payment of taxes. De-taxers are bright enough to know that taxes are a necessary evil. Without them Canada would not be the best place in the world to live. Their target is income tax and the Revenue Canada behemoth that wrings it from wallets across the land. Last ycar its haul was $153.2 billion, little of which returns to taxpayers in any beneficial form. It might not be news to readers that the Income War Tax Act was enacted back in 1917 in parc to pay off the costs of the country’s involvement in the First World War. Te was brought in as a temporary measure — one of four provisions employed to make the act palatable to critics at the time who knew Canada could not legally col- lect income tax under the terms of the BNA Act. Buc it might be news that, according to Fox and other De-taxers, payment of income tax in Canada has always been voluntary because Canadians cannot be compelled to give evidence against themselves. And tax info is a heap of evidence. 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