Judge Learned Hand Wrote:

“Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one’s taxes. Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands.”

* Helvering v. Gregory, 69 F.2d 809, 810-11 (2d Cir. 1934)

We have this quote (written in 1934) on our website and in our office. It is what we practice.

During the last Presidential Election, the media tried to discredit one of the candidates since there was a year that no income tax was paid by the candidate.

In reality, due to the structure of the tax laws, many taxpayers pay no income tax. People with children can use earned income tax credits, additional child tax credits, educational credits, credits for child care expenses, and other credits to offset or eliminate their income tax liability.

Congress uses the tax law not just to raise revenue, but also to influence social, economic, health, education and other areas of our life. Therefore, there are tax credits and other tax incentives to invest, spend (or not spend), and otherwise influence our lives.

There is nothing wrong with using these aspects of tax law to reduce our tax liability, even to zero.

We believe that every taxpayer should pay the tax he or she owes, but not a dollar more.