Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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57 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The title should be, "Your Fair Share - For Dummies", November 5, 2005
I came across `Cracking the Code' while searching for income tax information for my small business. Out of plain curiosity, I bought it, believing at the least I'd learn something new that would help me reduce my tax load. After reading it, I can certainly understand the negative reviews. I was one of them. I read it and thought to myself, what a waste of money and time. For whatever reason, a few months later, I picked it up because I did remembered something in the book that might help lower my taxes. While searching, I decided to research the statutes, regulations, and court cases myself. Believe it or not, all this information is available in searchable format on the Internet. It took some time, but after doing so, I was amazed at what I came to understand. The information in the book is accurate and I would challenge anyone (especially the negative reviewers) to prove otherwise. This book isn't the easiest read and if you read it quickly and dismiss it, as I did, I believe you will be personally throwing thousands of dollars away.
In a nutshell, I'm an average small business owner with a BA from a public university just trying to make a buck and keep my income taxes as low as possible, while still paying my fair share. The information in the book was enlightening and helped me understand the tax laws to do so.
Nowhere in the book does the author say that you don't owe federal income taxes. I already knew (which this book confirmed) that I do owe federal income tax each year, but not as much as I originally thought.
If you're trying to keep your taxes as low as possible, whether you are a small business owner or work for someone else, this is a must read. Plus, there's a CD with additional information (tax code, court cases, statutes, etc.) available for about $15. The same information is also on the Internet for free if you don't want to spend the extra $15.
That's it. If you're looking for information on the tax code and how it relates to you and the tax you owe, this is the book for you.
I highly recommend it.
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60 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eye-opening revelations and practical knowledge, September 30, 2005
Anyone who has actually attempted to read U.S. Code Title 26 (which comprises the sections of the Internal Revenue Code) will agree that words like confusing and convoluted cannot begin to do it justice. Definitions of terms almost never come before their use and the definitions themselves often depend upon other terms defined elsewhere. Sometimes these recursing definitions are nested 4 or 5 levels deep and are complexly intertwined through the 3000-odd pages of text. Some sections use terms that appear identical to terms used in other sections but have been bound to very different definitions. Passages where these terms are used never refer the reader to which actual definitions apply -- the reader must work backwards from the locations of the definitions and apply a kind of Boolean logic to the scope references in order to determine which terms mean what, where they mean it and, importantly, where they don't. And I don't just mean terms like "capital gains averaging" or "oil depletion allowance" either. We're talking about terms like "State", "wages", "employer" and "includes".
These facts alone imply a great deal about such Federal law: 1) It could not have been intended for 'mere' citizens to easily comprehend. 2) It seems instead intended to actively discourage widespread understanding. 3) The existence of widespread and even generations-old misunderstandings should not be surprising or unexpected. 4) Ample capacity exists in the Code's obfuscations for at least the possibility of intentional deception in promoting these widespread misunderstandings.
And intentional deception is exactly what dedicated tax researcher and rule-of-law advocate Pete Hendrickson has found within the Code. And within the derived regulations. And in the governing statutes-at-large. And, in fact, throughout the entire smarmy history of the promulgation of the so-called Income Tax. But unlike various works to be found within the 'Tax Protester' community, "Cracking the Code" eschews any histrionic rants of righteous indignation and instead rolls up its sleeves and gets straight to work explaining how the scheme really operates and to whom and under what circumstances it really applies. Uniquely for this kind of book, it shows just how the reader can use the Service's own forms and procedures to legally limit his or her own tax liability to what is actually and demonstrably lawful (which is often little or no "income" tax liability at all), and also provides specific examples on how to obtain refunds for all withheld overpayments (including Social Security and Medicare).
Rather than trying to foment a modern Boston Tea Party, Hendrickson is asking readers to join with him in keeping the application of federal revenue laws within lawful boundaries. If enough Americans are persuaded to pay only the tax they're actually liable for, the Federal government may yet be forced on a diet that will return it to the limited dimensions intended by the framers of the Constitution.
In keeping with its presumed mission, "Cracking the Code" is largely focussed on the actual mechanics of properly filing lawful tax returns and obtaining refunds, perhaps too much so for my own personal tastes. But broader topics such as the politics, history and motives of those responsible for this institutionalized public fleecing, as well as its calamitous consequences, are well-treated by others elsewhere. (One of my own favorites is "The Creature from Jekyll Island", by G. Edward Griffin.)
All in all, if you intend to buy only one book about personal income taxes or on the subject of taxation in general, this should be the one. (A $20 investment here is likely to save the average middle-class American many thousands of dollars in overpaid federal and state taxes.) And if you intend to become better versed in the secretive past and present of the U.S. government, you'll do well to start here too.
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41 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Consise well written book, October 13, 2005
I have studied taxes for many years for myself and my company, and specifically Title 26 the last five years.
Finally a book that concisely organizes what I have learned and practical methods to implement what I have studied. It is obvious a threat to the "professionals" making money off of "taxpayers' ignorance, just see all the naysayers. They just put up simplistic reviews to intimidate, like "you will go to jail!" If the book is full of inaccuracies, they should stick to specifically commenting on these with proof to back up their claims. The Tax Honesty movement has taken a giant step forward with this book.
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