Tax Protesters Ordered to Pay ‘79-81 State Levy

Radio talk show host Bill Jenkins and his wife, Evelyn, were ordered Monday to pay an undetermined amount of back taxes and penalties after being found guilty in September of failing to file state income tax returns.

Van Nuys Municipal Judge Kenneth Lee Chotiner also ordered the couple to perform 200 hours each of community service, but that portion of their sentence was stayed pending their appeal.

The Mission Hills couple challenged the validity of income taxes, claiming that the 16th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, which gave Congress authority to collect taxes, was never properly ratified by the states.

They were convicted by a jury of failing to file state tax returns for 1979, 1980 and 1981. Their income for those years was $41,651, $35,898 and $63,062, according to Janie Cordray of the state Franchise Tax Board.

Cordray said that, because forms were never filed, the state cannot calculate how much the Jenkinses owe.

Based on standard deductions, the couple’s tax liability is estimated at $6,818 for the three years, Cordray said. Interest and penalties could total an additional $6,000, she said.

Jenkins, who works for KABC radio, said Monday that he and his wife will comply with Chotiner’s order to file returns for the three years by Feb. 3 and to pay all back taxes, penalties and interest by a date to be determined by the Franchise Tax Board.

Plans Appeal

Jenkins said, however, that “the idea of filing is still distasteful to me.”

Jenkins said he would appeal his case to the U. S. Supreme Court, if necessary. But Deputy City Atty. George Schell, who prosecuted the case, said that the couple’s argument is a common ploy used to avoid filing returns and that the U. S. Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld the validity of the 16th Amendment.

Schell had asked Chotiner to fine the couple $3,000 each and to order them to spend 90 days in jail. They could have been sentenced to three years in prison on the conviction.

Jenkins and his wife have refused to say whether they have filed federal tax returns for those years, and the Internal Revenue Service has declined comment on the matter.