## Facts

- Robert Neff, a police officer, had reportable income for tax years 1974 and 1975, including wages and (in 1974) capital gains from gold and silver coin transactions.
- His community-property share of income exceeded $14,000 in 1974 and $8,500 in 1975.
- Neff submitted IRS Forms 1040 for both years that contained identifying information and his signature but no financial data from which tax liability could be computed.
- On more than 25 financial questions, he wrote “Object: Self-Incrimination,” and answered other questions “None” or “Unknown.”
- He attached over 100 pages of protest materials criticizing government fiscal and monetary policy.
- The IRS notified Neff that the submissions were not acceptable returns and provided blank forms for proper completion; Neff refused, asserting that providing income information would waive his Fifth Amendment privilege.
- Neff was charged by information with two counts of willful failure to file returns under 26 U.S.C. § 7203, convicted by a jury, and appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether prosecuting Neff under 26 U.S.C. § 7203 violated the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination when his Forms 1040 asserted “Object: Self-Incrimination” and omitted income information.
2. Whether admission of IRS records and related testimony violated the hearsay rules or the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit affirmed Neff’s convictions on both counts.
- The court held the Fifth Amendment did not excuse Neff from filing a return containing sufficient information to compute tax liability; a blanket objection on the form was not a valid invocation as to all required items.
- The court held the challenged IRS records and testimony were properly admitted under recognized hearsay exceptions, including the business-records exception, and did not violate confrontation rights.

## Legal Principles

- The Fifth Amendment privilege in the tax-return context must be asserted specifically as to particular questions where answering would present a real and appreciable risk of self-incrimination; a generalized refusal to provide all meaningful tax information is ineffective.
- A signed Form 1040 that provides no financial data from which tax liability can be calculated does not constitute a “return” for purposes of 26 U.S.C. § 7203; submitting such a document can amount to willful failure to file.
- IRS records compiled and maintained in the ordinary course of business may be admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 803(6); admission of such routine records and related testimony does not necessarily violate the Confrontation Clause when witnesses are available and the materials are not testimonial in nature.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit upheld Neff’s § 7203 convictions, ruling that the Fifth Amendment does not permit a taxpayer to file a virtually blank return with a blanket self-incrimination claim, and that the government’s income evidence from IRS records was properly admitted without violating hearsay rules or the Sixth Amendment.


United States v. Neff, 615 F.2d 1235 (9th Cir. 1980)