(CN) - A U.S. Tax Court judge upheld two frivolous income-tax penalties against a retired Georgia state worker who says he lives in the "American Republic of Georgia" and refuses to pay taxes on his pension income.
In unsigned and undated tax returns for 2001 and 2002, John B. Rice claimed to qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion, saying his $34,000 ERISA pension came from the American Republic of Georgia - not the state.
The Tax Court disagreed, ordering Rice, who is "no stranger to the court," to pay two $500 penalties for filing frivolous returns.
A follower of the anti-tax Patriot Network, which seeks to duck taxes through "frustration and delay," Rice has appeared before the court, and lost, several times.
"We have imposed (penalties) for taking a frivolous position upon taxpayers who have claimed that they are not subject to federal income taxation because they are not citizens of the United States but instead are citizens of a state 'republic' (e.g., the Republic of Colorado, the Republic of California)," the court wrote.
"The returns (Rice) filed for 2001 and 2002 are substantially incorrect in that he claimed on each return a foreign earned income exclusion ... even though he provided a domestic address and acknowledged that he lived there throughout the year."
Rice represented himself before Judge Julian I. Jacobs.
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