## Facts

- Brian A. Carlson earned $9,346.21 in 1974 and $13,053.53 in 1975 and had filed complete tax returns in prior years.
- In 1974, Carlson submitted a Form W-4 claiming 99 withholding exemptions despite being unmarried with no dependents; the W-4 remained in effect through 1975, resulting in no federal income tax withholding for either year.
- For tax years 1974 and 1975, Carlson filed Form 1040s that withheld essentially all information needed to compute tax liability, repeatedly asserting the Fifth Amendment instead of providing financial data.
- Carlson attached protest materials asserting constitutional objections to federal taxation and related regulations.
- Carlson paid no federal income taxes for 1974 or 1975.
- Carlson claimed the Fifth Amendment privilege to avoid incriminating himself for the earlier false W-4.
- After a bench trial, the district court found Carlson guilty of willful failure to file returns under 26 U.S.C. § 7203, finding his Fifth Amendment assertions were not made in good faith and were part of tax-protest conduct.

## Issues

1. Whether the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination can serve as a defense to a prosecution under 26 U.S.C. § 7203 when asserted to avoid incrimination for a prior tax-law violation.
2. Whether a taxpayer may file returns that provide no information for computing tax liability by making a blanket Fifth Amendment claim.
3. Whether the trial court’s finding that the privilege claim was not made in good faith defeats the asserted Fifth Amendment defense.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit affirmed the conviction.
- The court held that Carlson’s blanket Fifth Amendment assertions, used in lieu of providing any data from which tax liability could be calculated, did not constitute a valid defense to § 7203 on these facts.
- The court relied on the district court’s factual finding that Carlson’s assertion of privilege lacked good faith and was motivated by tax-protest activity.
- The court rejected the argument that potential exposure from a prior false W-4 justified refusing to supply essentially all required return information.

## Legal Principles

- The Fifth Amendment may be invoked on a tax return only in good faith and in response to specific items that present a real risk of self-incrimination; it is not a general substitute for filing a meaningful return.
- A blanket refusal to provide return information necessary to compute tax liability is not a proper assertion of the privilege and does not bar prosecution for willful failure to file under 26 U.S.C. § 7203.
- Trial-court findings on the sincerity and reasonableness (good faith) of a claimed privilege are factual determinations that constrain the availability of a Fifth Amendment-based defense on appeal.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit affirmed Carlson’s § 7203 conviction, holding that his protest-motivated, non-good-faith blanket invocation of the Fifth Amendment on his tax returns did not excuse his failure to file returns providing the information necessary to determine tax liability, even though he claimed disclosure could implicate him in a prior false W-4 filing.


United States v. Carlson, 617 F.2d 518 (9th Cir. 1980)