Believers in the sovereign citizen movement long to live in a world without laws or taxes,

where they can do whatever they please and answer to nobody.

But to get there, they've invented a vast fantasy world, wherein the U.S. government is filled with loopholes and secret rules that only they know, and that by exercising

a few simple tricks, they can indeed live free of its laws.

Is there some way they might actually be able to achieve that?

And in our extended content for premium members, a closer look at one particular sovereign citizen belief

that paying taxes is optional. That's coming up right now on Skeptoid.

A quick reminder for everyone, you're listening to Skeptoid, revealing the true science and true history behind urban legends every week since 2006, with now over a thousand episodes.

It's the consistency of short, single-subject programs that have kept so many of you listening for 19 years.

But occasionally, some of you have asked for a little bit more. And so, we're now offering it.

If you become a premium member supporting the show with a monthly micropayment of as little

as $5, you get more Skeptoid.

The premium version of the show is not only ad-free, it has extended content.

The episodes are a few minutes longer.

We get rid of the ads, and we replace them with more Skeptoid.

The extended premium show available now. Come to Skeptoid.com and click Go Premium.

You're listening to Skeptoid. I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com. How to become a sovereign citizen.

Welcome to the show that separates fact from fiction, science from pseudoscience, real history

from fake history, and helps us all make better life decisions by knowing what's real and

what's not.

Sovereign citizens are a subculture who've embraced a belief system in which there are

secret legal loopholes by which they can enjoy all the benefits of living in a country,

...