What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
We are having problems that involve a great many areas of law. Here is the situation:
My tribe registered as a non profit with the Feds, they asked for our laws or by laws. We supplied it. Our primary goal is to raise funds for the restoration of our tribal nation (meaning sovereign nation). It was accepted with no question.
We registered with Florida. Again, no questions or rejections.
We asked Marion County for all information needed to register our tax exemption for the new nation lands we were searching for. They never fully answered the request until we closed on a parcel in July. The Property Appraiser was again contacted and said to fill out a form and provide the same documents the other agencies requested. They were sent in and accepted. In November we received a bill for over $300 in taxes. I questioned them on this. they said Florida Statutes state that one must own the parcel before the january of that year for the tax exemption to go into effect. This information was never given to us until after the sale and we asked them for all information. We of course refuse to pay the tax and they threatened us with possible seizure and sale of the land. in writing. Now, according to the US Constitution, government may request a tax and collect a tax, but no where does it grant the government (state or otherwise) the right to force people to pay the tax, nor does it grant the right for government to arrest, detain, seize property, harass or imprison people for exercising their right not to pay taxes. It also does not state in any way that the people are required or obligated to pay taxes. So, when the government makes a threat to collect taxes, they are committing extortion which is illegal.
Marion County is violating our agreement with them that we are tax exempt and a sovereign nation (as stated in the documents they requested and accepted as a legal document), they are committing a crime by trying to defraud my tribe out of $300 plus dollars but not informing us of this statute before the sale, they are committing extortion by threatening us with actions that both our laws and Florida law allows us to use deadly force to defend ourselves and our property if we feel threatened... and we do. They also refuse to upkeep the only access road to the properties we intend to buy, yet all the landowners have been taxed on it for the last ten years. The road is completely impassible. This allowed illegal dumping into the sink holes and caves which violates their code and county wide clean water law, They have the nerve to charge the land owners a fee to do the job of restoring the road which the taxes were suppose to be paying for... and they are refusing to pay for the work we have done so far to restore the road in front of our parcel as well as remove the decades of trash... this bill is over $1,900 which means if they refuse to pay, it's grand theft. These people who call themselves government are rip off artists plain and simple and are supported by both the State and the Federal government.
We ask for help, advice, guidance and an attorney who will help us defend our rights for an affordable price... we are a charity and our income is less than $5000 a year. We are not based on capitalism. Please help!
We are having problems that involve a great many areas of law. Here is the situation:
My tribe registered as a non profit with the Feds, they asked for our laws or by laws. We supplied it. Our primary goal is to raise funds for the restoration of our tribal nation (meaning sovereign nation). It was accepted with no question.
We registered with Florida. Again, no questions or rejections.
We asked Marion County for all information needed to register our tax exemption for the new nation lands we were searching for. They never fully answered the request until we closed on a parcel in July. The Property Appraiser was again contacted and said to fill out a form and provide the same documents the other agencies requested. They were sent in and accepted. In November we received a bill for over $300 in taxes. I questioned them on this. they said Florida Statutes state that one must own the parcel before the january of that year for the tax exemption to go into effect. This information was never given to us until after the sale and we asked them for all information. We of course refuse to pay the tax and they threatened us with possible seizure and sale of the land. in writing. Now, according to the US Constitution, government may request a tax and collect a tax, but no where does it grant the government (state or otherwise) the right to force people to pay the tax, nor does it grant the right for government to arrest, detain, seize property, harass or imprison people for exercising their right not to pay taxes. It also does not state in any way that the people are required or obligated to pay taxes. So, when the government makes a threat to collect taxes, they are committing extortion which is illegal.
Marion County is violating our agreement with them that we are tax exempt and a sovereign nation (as stated in the documents they requested and accepted as a legal document), they are committing a crime by trying to defraud my tribe out of $300 plus dollars but not informing us of this statute before the sale, they are committing extortion by threatening us with actions that both our laws and Florida law allows us to use deadly force to defend ourselves and our property if we feel threatened... and we do. They also refuse to upkeep the only access road to the properties we intend to buy, yet all the landowners have been taxed on it for the last ten years. The road is completely impassible. This allowed illegal dumping into the sink holes and caves which violates their code and county wide clean water law, They have the nerve to charge the land owners a fee to do the job of restoring the road which the taxes were suppose to be paying for... and they are refusing to pay for the work we have done so far to restore the road in front of our parcel as well as remove the decades of trash... this bill is over $1,900 which means if they refuse to pay, it's grand theft. These people who call themselves government are rip off artists plain and simple and are supported by both the State and the Federal government.
We ask for help, advice, guidance and an attorney who will help us defend our rights for an affordable price... we are a charity and our income is less than $5000 a year. We are not based on capitalism. Please help!