From: Bill Stewart <stewarts@ix.netcom.com>
Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 13:26:49 +0800
To: Adam Shostack <declan@well.com (Declan McCullagh)
Subject: Re: Plea from a parent who wants to keep their kid free of SSNs
In-Reply-To: <Pine.GSO.3.95.970925115935.1676I-100000@well.com>
Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19970926204814.006f73b4@popd.ix.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Go get yourself a copy of "Blows Against The Empire", a ~1970 album
by Paul Kantner, Jefferson Airplane, and friends;
there's a nice song about a couple who don't want their new baby to grow up
and get drafted.   "Maybe we just won't tell them about him...."

At 09:31 AM 09/26/1997 -0400, Adam Shostack wrote:
>This may go against your religious wishes, but listing your children
>with SSNs of public figures may allow you to bypass the IRS computer
>that checks if the child has a valid SSN listed, without getting SSNs
>that 'belong to' your children.

Nope.  Putting false information in tax returns is far more illegal
than refusing to put desired information in them.  
If the government insists that they'll extort more money from you
if you fail to register your children as good little possessions of the state,
take it or leave it or talk to the ACLU or the National Taxpayers' Union.
You could refuse to pay, but I agree that refusing to pay extortion to
well-armed people who outnumber you is sometimes more trouble than paying,
and you may not want the hassle.  Another approach is checking out the various
tax havens and seeing if you can get yourself hired by some Anguillan
corporation
that covers your business expenses; some people I knew who were in college on
company-sponsored scholarships decided to be on extended business trips,
so the apartment and food and 7 cents per mile driving costs in the college
town
were unreimbursed business expenses -- there's a lot of interesting stuff
you can
pay accountants to help you with, and maybe you'll break even.
You could even become a Puerto Rican resident, though that's easier if you
speak 
Spanish, and maybe you're also on a long business trip away from your home
in PR.


				Thanks!
					Bill
Bill Stewart, stewarts@ix.netcom.com
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