- 10 - freedoms “does not confer an entitlement to such funds as may be necessary to realize all the advantages of that freedom.” Harris v. McRae, 448 U.S. 297, 318 (1980); see Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Wash., 461 U.S. 540, 550 (1983). In any event, even if petitioners could demonstrate a recognizable burden on the free exercise of their religious beliefs, the burden would be justified by the Government’s compelling interest in collecting taxes and administering a uniform, mandatory, and sound tax system. See, e.g., Hernandez v. Commissioner, 490 U.S. 680, 699-700 (1989) (quoting United States v. Lee, 455 U.S. 252, 260 (1982), stating that the Government has a “‘broad public interest in maintaining a sound tax system,’ free of ‘myriad exceptions flowing from a wide variety of religious beliefs’”); United States v. Lee, supra at 260 (“Because the broad public interest in maintaining a sound tax system is of such a high order, religious belief in conflict with the payment of taxes affords no basis for resisting the tax.”); Miller v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 511, 517 (2000); Adams v. Commissioner, 110 T.C. 137, 139 (1998), affd. 170 F.3d 173 (3d Cir. 1999). This compelling Government interest underpins the Commissioner’s authority to compromise tax liabilities under section 7122 and to prescribe guidelines for officers and employees of the Internal Revenue Service to determine whether anPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011