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petitioners appear to argue that the imposition of Social
Security taxes upon them is unconstitutional because there is no
assurance that Social Security taxes paid by petitioners in the
past will be available, as "promised" by the Government, to be
paid out as future retirement benefits.
The constitutionality of the Social Security system and its
limited exceptions have been upheld repeatedly and are not
subject to further dispute. Palmer v. Commissioner, 52 T.C. 310,
312-313 (1969); see United States v. Lee, 455 U.S. 252 (1982);
Patterson v. Commissioner, 740 F.2d 927 (11th Cir. 1984), affg.
T.C. Memo. 1983-655; Jaggard v. Commissioner, 582 F.2d 1189 (8th
Cir. 1978), affg. T.C. Memo. 1978-78; Hughes v. Commissioner, 81
T.C. 683 (1983). This conclusion also extends to the self-
employment taxes imposed by section 1401, here in issue. Cain v.
United States, 211 F.2d 375 (5th Cir. 1954).
There is no legal authority supporting petitioners'
position. A claim that taxpayers need not pay self-employment
tax because the Social Security fund may be insolvent and,
therefore, may be unable to pay benefits was specifically
rejected in our decisions in Diffley v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.
1984-372, and Fiorito v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1981-576, affd.
without published opinion 720 F.2d 682 (7th Cir. 1983).
2(...continued)
1994, constitutes net self-employment income.
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