The California Franchise Tax Board suspended the licenses of two businesses owned by Joe Stack because of unpaid taxes or failure to submit returns, KCRA in Sacramento reports.
Stack, who allegedly flew a small plane into a building with IRS offices in Austin yesterday — reportedly killing at least one person inside — railed against the tax system in the note he is thought to have written before allegedly carrying out the attack.
But the report from KCRA provides details of some specific problems Stack encountered with the IRS:
The California Franchise Tax Board told KCRA 3 that the license of Stack’s Software Systems Service Corporation was suspended on June 1, 2004, for not paying taxes in 1996 and 2002.
Also, the license of Stack’s other California company — known as Prowess Engineering — was suspended by the Franchise Tax Board on Nov. 1, 2000, for a failure to file a 1994 tax return.
Salon has more on the the 1986 Tax Reform Act, which Stack attacks in his note and which ushered in changes that may have affected his status as an independent contractor.
There’s also a suggestion in Stack’s note that in the early 1980s he tried to take to exploit tax exemptions extended to churches — and paid a steep price:
My introduction to the real American nightmare starts back in the early ’80s. Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school, somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I could read and understand plain English. Some friends introduced me to a group of people who were having ‘tax code’ readings and discussions. In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful “exemptions” that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy. We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the “best”, high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to do exactly what the “big boys” were doing (except that we weren’t steeling from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God). We took a great deal of care to make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be done.
The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest living. However, this is where I learned that there are two “interpretations” for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest of us… Oh, and the monsters are the very ones making and enforcing the laws; the inquisition is still alive and well today in this country.
That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie.
