Atlanta: A federal court has permanently barred a Georgia man from advising clients that they do not have to pay income taxes because they belong to a group called the Yamassee Native American Tribe.
The court had enjoined Derrick Sanders from promoting the scheme in 2006, but U.S. District Judge Julie E. Carnes wrote that he "refused to back down from his absurd contention that the Yamassee are ... exempt from federal income taxes."
The court said he has prepared forms for his customers to give to their employers to instruct them to stop withholding taxes from their wages. The permanent injunction requires Sanders to post a copy of the court order on his Web site.
Sanders claims to be Grand Master Consul of the Yamassee, previously known as the Nuwaubian Nation. However, the Yamassee has not been officially recognized as a Native American tribe by the federal government. In any case, all U.S. citizens and residents are required to pay taxes, noted the original complaint filed against Sanders in 2005.
