Does the Federal Reserve Pay Taxes?

Why do American Citizens pay taxes to the Federal Reserve Bank although it is a privately owned Company?

• Surley, it goes against human rights when citizens pay taxes into a privately owned Bank? The Federal reserve is owned by a few private individuals! All Taxes should be paid into and monitored by a Proper Tax department. Not by International Bankers!!

• Answer:

  Aw, aren't conspiracy theorists cute? Take a bunch of unrelated facts, mix them all together and out spews nothing resembling the truth. First, taxes are paid to the government. The IRS, which is a government agency, collects those taxes. Second, the statement, "The Federal Reserve is owned by a few private individuals", has absolutely no basis in fact. The Federal Reserve was created by a law passed by Congress. It is governed by a Board of Governors, which are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. This is similar to the appointment of federal judges and some other federal positions. There are twelve district banks under the Board of Governors. These banks are setup SIMILAR to corporations and are given corporate powers so they can be INDEPENDENT of political influence. Subscription to shares of the Federal Reserve district bank stock is a REQUIREMENT OF MEMBERSHIP in the Federal Reserve system. Private individuals, corporations, foreign governments, etc. are not allowed to buy or hold Federal Reserve stock. The only holders of Federal Reserve district bank stock are nationally chartered banks and some state chartered banks. BY LAW, ALL NATIONALLY-CHARTERED BANKS ARE REQUIRED TO SUBSCRIBE to Federal Reserve district bank stock. The amount they must subscribe to is set by law to a percentage of their paid-in capital. They may hold no more and no less than the required amount. They may not trade, sell, or even give away the stock they hold. The stock has a set par value of $100 per share and it does not change in value. The stock does not confer any rights of ownership beyond the par value. If a district bank were to be dissolved, the member banks would be reimbursed for their shares plus any unpaid dividend. All other assets would become the responsibility of the U.S. Government. This is in accordance to LAW. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode12/usc_sup_01_12_10_3.html The only tax money that goes to the Federal Reserve is the amount paid in interest on the small amount of U.S. Government debt held by the Federal Reserve. Once the Federal Reserve has paid its expenses, the excess amount (approximately 80% to 95%) is returned to the U.S. Treasury. This can clearly be seen on the independently audited financial statements of the Federal Reserve. http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/rptcongress/annual07/pdf/audits.pdf In 2007, the Federal Reserve collected $40.3 billion in interest from the U.S. Government on the securities it holds. It returned to the U.S. Treasury $34.6 billion.