Contents

2.  Ordering, refund, donation, or membership issues:

If your question is not answered in this section, please visit the following area in our forums for additional questions and answers:

Ordering, refund, donation, or membership issues

QUESTION 2.01:

Question 2.01:  I don't have a Mastercard or Visa credit or debit card and I don't want to get one.  I don't want my personal information in anyone's database because my privacy is important to me.  I'd rather send you a money order or a personal check.  Can you accommodate that?

Answer 2.01:  We provide two payment methods in our bookstore: 1. Credit/Debit Card; 2. Personal check. You can select the "Personal Check" option for payment, follow directions for sending us the check, and then we will email you the item you ordered as an attachment or a link.   However, the we don't accept postal money orders or cashier's checks or phone orders.  Our payment processor does not support these and it would require us to significantly expand our staff and would detract from our main mission of doing research to develop useful and timely educational materials that are helpful and relevant for our many members.  Anyone who has either a debit/check card or a credit card that says "Mastercard" or "Visa" or who either has a checking account or knows someone with a checking account and has cash to pay them can make donations to our Ministry Bookstore.  Many people also overlook the fact that most American banks issue "check cards", which are actually debit cards that say "Mastercard" or "Visa" on them and which act like credit cards but  which do not require either credit or an SSN to have.  This is the approach we use and it is quite convenient but also doesn't force us to use or have credit.  If you don't have either a credit or debit card or a checking account and don't know anyone who has a checking account, this is the approach that we recommend to our Members.

If you don't have either a Debit or Credit card that says "Mastercard" or "Visa" on them, we suggest one of the following two options:

  1. You can use cash to obtain a gift debit card or have someone order one for you online and pay them cash.  Gift cards are available in amounts up to $500 and they are great for anonymous online internet purchases.  They are available from most shopping malls at the mall service desk.  If you get it at the mall service desk, you hand them cash and they hand you the card.  They don't ask for any kind of identifying information so the card isn't tied to a specific person.
  2. You can also find a friend or relative who does and have them submit the donation order for you.  You can place the order in your name and then enter a completely different name for the credit card information than you had for the order information.  The orderer and the person making the donation do not have to be the same person or the same name as long as they are both accurate.  Then you can give the person whose debit/credit card you used cash to reimburse them for the charge on their card.  For more information, see our "Bookstore Policies" page.  One of the reasons we also don't accept postal money orders is because the checks say on them "Only valid within the United States", and so they cannot be cashed outside the United States or in Canada.

Some users have also expressed concern that the payment records can be summonsed by the IRS from our provider.  This is not true, because both our payment provider and the account that the merchant account deposits into are outside of the country.

 

Some users have also expressed concern that they can't find a gift card as indicated above and therefore would be compelled to accept the Mark of the Beast in order to obtain a credit or debit card to make a donation to our store.  We agree that those who use this website should not be having or using SSN's, TINs, or credit, because the Bible forbids using all of them.  However, these complaints are simply untrue and unfounded.  You still have the second option above of using someone else's card to make the payment and paying them cash, or better yet, Section 8 of the following article describes how to open a non-interest bearing checking account at most banks as a non-resident non-person, which you can then get a Debit card for that has the Mastercard or Visa logo on it.  This will allow you do make online payments without a Social Security Number and without using or accepting the Mark of the Beast (SSN or TIN) or using credit and still fully satisfy the requirements of our Member Agreement, Form #01.001.

About IRS Form W-8BEN, Form #04.202

If you disregard our clear prohibitions and warnings relating to mail orders, money orders, or cashier's checks and attempt to phone call us about "bending the rules" in your special case or if you send us a money order or personal check rather than use our Ministry Bookstore to make the donation, then we will:

  1. NOT return your phone call.

  2. Destroy and not cash any checks or money orders you send us via postal mail.  Your mail donations WILL NOT be cashed, but simply shredded and destroyed, so please don't waste your time and your money trying to bend the rules that are there for very specific reasons.

  3. Think of you as a mole who is trying to compromise and destroy the integrity and privacy and mission of this ministry.

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QUESTION 2.02:

Question 2.02:  Do you accept postal or money or cash donations or orders?

Answer 2.02:   We accept only personal checks drawn on a U.S. Bank and submitted in accordance with the instructions provided in our ministry bookstore when you select "Pay by check" as the payment method. Note that we DO NOT accept any of the following either as an electronic image or via postal mail:

  1. Money orders.
  2. Cashier's checks.
  3. Cash.
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QUESTION 2.03:

Question 2.03:  When I try to donate online using my debit card, the transaction is repeatedly rejected by your website.  Why is this?

Answer 2.03:   Two possible situations are causing this problem:

  1. You are using a proxy server with your web browser.   Our payment processor has very strict security controls that do not permit proxy server use in order to prevent credit card fraud. We do not have the ability to disable this feature so please do not call us to ask us to disable this feature.  Our payment checkout screen warns you of this, so please pay attention to the warning and configure your computer accordingly to work around the problem.
  2. You are using a debit or credit card that has a "foreign transaction" block on it. This means, by default, it doesn't work outside the United States.  We are in Canada.

To work around problem #1 above, you must do one of the following three things:

  1. Disable the proxy server within your browser or
  2. Use another browser that doesn't use a proxy server in order to complete a transaction through our payment processor.
  3. Use another computer that does not have proxy server enabled.

Problem number 2 happens mainly with gift cards or debit cards, and very infrequently with credit cards. Credit cards are intended for those who travel outside the country, and because they charge high rates of interest, the credit card companies have a big cash reserve of interest payments to handle instances of the fraudulent use of credit cards outside the country, so they are more willing to allow use of the cards outside the country.

Debit cards and gift cards are a different story.  Banks don't charge fees to their account holders for the debit cards and there are no interest payment reserves they can draw upon in the case of fraud.  Consequently, banks will deliberately limit place a "foreign transaction lock" on the cards, limiting the geographical coverage of the card to keep the instances of fraud lower and thereby decrease their overhead cost to keep it in line with the fees and interest they get from their checking accounts.  The most common geographical limitation of most American debit cards is to limit them to the country that they were issued within.  American banks that want to cut their costs so that they are more competitive with other rival banks will therefore limit their debit cards so they don't work outside the United States of America (the states).  Since we are outside of the states of the Union, then debit cards or gift cards with this "foreign transaction" limitation won't work by default on our website.  What complicates this problem is that the banks don't even tell their customers about the geographical or "foreign transaction" limitations on their debit or gift cards, so most users aren't even aware of it until they run up against a roadblock ordering from another country on the Internet. 

  1. DEBIT CARD: If your debit card failed because of a foreign transaction lock:
    1.1 Call the bank or issuer of the card to remove the "foreign transaction lock" on the card. Typically removal of the foreign transaction lock this is done for a specific time period or a specific transaction only, and not permanently or generally. So, if your debit card had the foreign transaction lock, call their 800 number and have them lift it temporarily for the day you will be ordering or the specific transaction you need.
    1.2 Next, you may try getting an account and a debit card from a different bank that doesn't have the geographical limitations on their debit cards.  Below is an article that explains how to open a non-interest bearing account as a non-resident non-person without using an SSN or TIN.
    About IRS Form W-8BEN, Form #04.202
  2. GIFT CARD: If you tried to use a Visa or Mastercard gift card that you preloaded with cash and the transaction failed:
    2.1 You might want to examine the user agreement that came with the card. Chances are the card had a foreign transaction lock taht COULD NOT BE REMOVED, so you can't even call them to remove the foreign transaction lock.
    2.2 Therefore, if you buy a gift card with the intent of using it on our site, please ensure that it has no foreign transaction lock by reading the member agreement, or better yet, get an "international gift card" that works across borders.
  3. If none of the above steps work, please don't call us to complain, but instead, try using a credit card instead of a debit card that doesn't have such a geographical limit.  If you don't like credit cards (like us, because they are based on FRAUD), then try going out and getting a debit card from a bank that doesn't limit its debit cards to just the United States of America.  You will save all of us a LOT of headaches answering phones and needlessly dealing with problems that can easily be anticipated and fixed and prevented long before they ever even happen.

When transactions are rejected, our merchant account provider has no way of telling why the transaction was declined by your bank, so we can't tell you either.  Users sometmes call us complaining about this problem, saying that their debit card is "good", that there is money in their account, and that there is no reason the transaction shouldn't go through.  They then call their bank to find out what happened, and the bank will report that they did not decline any transactions.  In fact, the transactions were thrown out by Mastercard/VISA before they ever even got to the bank but after they were transmitted by our merchant account provider because the bank told Mastercard/VISA not to forward any transactions outside the country for approval.  We're sure you can see that a lot of "finger-pointing" happens when people try to use debit cards that have this "invisible" geographical or "foreign transaction" limitation in order to make donations to our ministry.  The easy way to end the controversy is that if your transactions were repeatedly declined by our website, then please resist the temptation to call us immediately.  Instead, use the procedure above.

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QUESTION 2.04:

Question 2.04:  How do the conversions work between U.S. and Canadian dollars when I donate to your ministry?

Answer 2.04:   Our suggested donation amounts are listed in Canadian dollars.  The conversion rates are found at:

http://x-rates.com

If your debit or credit card is enumerated in U.S. dollars, your bank or credit card company handles the conversion automatically and transparently using the exchange rate in effect at the instant you made the donation.  That means that if the item has a suggested donation amount of $50 Canadian and the exchange rate in effect at the instant you made the donation was 1.25 Canadian dollars for every U.S. dollar, then your U.S. account would be charged $40 American.

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QUESTION 2.05:

Question 2.05:  I hate electronic books and I don't know how to use them or open them or get them printed.  I'm terrible with computers and I'm afraid I might screw something up and waste my donation and not end up with something usable.  Can you send me a paper copy of your eBook instead through the postal mail?

Answer 2.05:  Several of our books are offered in printed form by third parties by arrangement with us. Here is how to find them and order them:

  1. Our books are available in printed form from the following sources:
    1.1 Amazon.com
    1.2 Makefree.com
  2. To find which books are offered in electronic form, go to the Forms/Pubs page and examine the "Source" column. The printed version of the book will have a link to either "Amazon" or "Makefreedom" in this column.
  3. Some books are offered in printed form on Amazon.com. These books will have "Amazon" in the "Source" column of the Forms/Pubs page.
  4. You can also order some of our books directly from Makefreedom.com. These books will have "Makefreedom" in the "Source" column of the Forms/Pubs page.

We don't personally or directly offer any books in printed form on this website.  All sources are third parties. There are many reasons for this and here are just a few:

  1. Electronic books allow us to be more flexible and responsive to the evolving needs of our members and keep our materials up-to-date at all times so they are always very relevant and useful.  Conditions change rapidly in the legal and especially the tax field, and electronic books allow our materials to be more up-to-date and timely.
  2. Our books are updated quite frequently and if we preprinted them, most of our inventory would be out of date most of the time.
  3. Shipping a physical item complicates logistics and forces us to have a larger staff of people to satisfy orders.
  4. The process we provide to make printed copies of all of our eBooks is simple enough, we believe, so that the average person could figure it out.
  5. Many of our users like the eBook format, because they can store their whole library of reference materials on a USB pendrive, and very conveniently take it on the road or to work with them.  This is a big advantage, considering that some of our books are 1,700 pages in length and would take a large briefcase to carry around.
  6. Ebooks are easier to update.  Just copy over the old file.

As a consequence of all the above considerations and many others, we can't don't personally offer printed versions of our electronic books and you will have to do to the third parties listed above. However, we do provide a procedure on the cover page of each of our electronic books that describes how to make a printed copy of any of our electronic books.  We summarize that procedure below for your convenience:

  1. When you get your confirmation email back after you make your donation for the book you want, read the email and follow the directions to download the ebook onto your local hard drive.
  2. Look through your local phone book to find either a Kinkos in your area or another duplicating center that will print your ebook.  The best type of duplicating business is one that:
    • Is in your local area so you can drop by and pick up your order when they are done.  If there are no duplicating businesses in your area, you use the Kinkos website and have them mail your order to you.  You can give them your credit or debit card number over the phone.  It's painless and convenient.
    • Can print on double-sided paper
    • Has a comb-binding machine (usually made by General Binding Corporation, or GBC)
    • Has a volume discount.  Office Depot charges 9 cents per side for small volumes, but lowers their prices to 5 cents if you are copying over about 100 pages.  If you don't know about this discount and don't specifically ask for it, your bill will be much higher than it needs to be.

    Our favorite two places to get eBooks printed are:

  3. After you find a reputable duplicating business, submit your order by one of the following means:
    • If the ebook file is small (usually less than about 3 Mbytes), you can attach it to an email and send the email to the duplicating business.  This doesn't work for our larger ebooks, such as the Tax Fraud Prevention Manual,Form #06.008.
    • If you can't email the file, then some companies have a web ordering system that allows you to upload the file.  For instance, Kinkos has such a web ordering system at:  http://weborder.kinkos.com  and their web ordering system works with any one of their stores nationwide.  This is the next most desirable option.
    • If you can't do a web order or email submission, the you can copy the ebook file onto your "USB pendrive" and walk down to your local duplicating store or Kinkos and hand them the disk and tell them you want to print the file.  A "USB pendrive", also called a "USB flashdisk" or "USB flashram" is an electronic, solid state storage device that is very small and fits in your pencil pocket on your  shirt.  They are very inexpensive and come in very large sizes.  Our USB flashdisk is 512 Mbytes in size, which means it can hold more data than 355 floppy disks that are each 1.44 Mbytes in size, and we paid $129 for it!  Flashdisks are also much more reliable and compact than floppy disks.  We ran our flashdisk through the washing machine twice accidentally because we forgot to check our pants pockets before we washed them, and it still worked like a champ!
  4. After you get the file to the duplicating store, have them print the ebook as follows:
    • The file is in Adobe Acrobat Reader format, so please use the latest version of the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader software to open the file and print it.  If you have problems or questions about using Adobe Acrobat, click here
    • Double-sided printing only.  This will keep the size way down.
    • Bind using 19-hole comb-binding
    • Use dark blue vinyl covers front and back
    • Put the title page in front

Most duplicating centers can crank out a book in just a few short minutes, and if you order and submit online as we suggest, you won't spend any time at all waiting.  Just have them call you on the phone when they are done filling your order.  That's all there is to it.  If you don't have the skills to follow the above procedure, then you might want to get a friend to help you with it.  We have tried to make it as easy as possible to follow and we have gotten no complaints so far.  Good luck!

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QUESTION 2.06:

Question 2.06:  I obtained an earlier or older version of one of your books or software programs or CDs.  Can I have a free upgrade to the new version or do you have a discounted upgrade program for users of older versions of your offerings?

Answer 2.06:  We don't have a discounted upgrade program for users of older versions of our ministry offerings.  The main reason is because this would force us to not only keep records of our members, but to announce that we do so on this website in order to run the upgrade program.  Keeping records of our members would make the privacy of our members vulnerable to government intrusion and persecution of our religious ministry and first amendment association because:

  1. The government might try to raid us to get records of our ministry members
  2. The government might try to subpoena such records.  Those who admit they have records are powerless to resist giving them up in a legal action
  3. There might be a security breach in our computer systems, which could leak out private information inadvertently

In addition, it would impose an additional burdensome manual administrative process to have to keep records of members and manually give them discounts after manually verifying that they are repeat visitors.  Consequently, we think the privacy of our members is more important than giving price breaks to loyal users.  Instead, we have chosen to keep the suggested donation amounts for our offerings low so that members can afford to come back periodically and get the new or upgrade version for the same reasonable and low suggested donation amount as new members.

Many Americans would unfortunately sell their sole to the devil to save a stinking nickel and do so without even realizing what they are doing.  Like Esau in the Bible, they would sell their birthright to the crafty for a bowl of pottage.  We hope you aren't among them.  It is precisely this kind of greed that perpetuates the fraudulent and abusive aspects of the tax system to begin with.  The tax system is engineered to exploit all of your weaknesses and even you are infected by the weaknesses it exploits, based on your question.  The desire to pursue "deductions", for instance, is how they rope you into the "trade or business" franchise.  Click here and read section 13.1 to see how they exploit people's greed to enslave them (OFFSITE LINK).  The two most valuable things you can have are the TRUTH and your privacy and we're trying to help you obtain and protect both.  All your question does is seek an opportunity to surrender both in exchange for filthy lucre.

"Buy the truth, and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding."
[Prov. 23:23, Bible, NKJV]

_______________________

If you seek her [Wisdom, Truth] as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,
And find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.
When wisdom enters your heart,
And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
Discretion will preserve you;
Understanding will keep you,
To deliver you from the way of evil,
[Prov. 2:4-12, Bible, NKJV]

Lastly, if you are upgrading one of our software items like the MF Decoder or the Family Legal Assistant (FLA), you can import data you already entered into the program into the new version you got.  There is an "Import Data" button on the opening page.  This will prevent you from having to reenter the data again in the new version.

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QUESTION 2.07:

Question 2.07:  I can't order anything from the Ministry Bookstore or make an online donation.  Every time I do and go to checkout, the shopping cart shows that it's empty.

Answer 2.07:  In order to use our Ministry Bookstore, you MUST have cookies enabled in your browser.  Without cookies, the Ministry Bookstore cannot keep track of you or your orders or allow you to checkout.  To enable cookies on your Internet Explorer Browser, do as follows:

  1. Select the Tools->Internet Options menu.  The Internet Options dialog box will appear.

    FAQs.h1.jpg

  2. In the Internet Options Dialog Box above, click on the Privacy Tab.

    FAQs.h2.gif

  3. Once the Privacy Tab opens, drag the slider bar so that the security level is no higher than "Low".
  4. Click the "OK" button.

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QUESTION 2.08:

Question 2.08:  I received a state tax notice or federal letter or notice that I can't find a response for on your website.  Is there a way to have you make one for me and how do I initiate that process?

Answer 2.08:  This is what we call a "New Response Letter".  There are two types of "New Response Letters":  State and IRS.  We have two shopping cart items for each of these two options, which are listed below. 

When you click on the above two items, you will be taken to the shopping cart items, where you can make a donation and obtain a custom response letter for the precise letter you received.  Since we are anxious to develop a library of such letters and responses, then we offer a special reduction in the suggested donation for these types of letters.  Regular responses are a minimum of $50 while New Response Letters are discounted, in order to encourage you so submit your letters and help us build our arsenal and response library.  After you make your donation, we will contact you and have you fax a copy of the original letter you received, and then we will email you the response within one week of receipt.

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QUESTION 2.09:

Question 2.09:  Every time I go to the Ministry Bookstore to make a donation, it has memorized the information of the other user of my computer.  How do I change the information so that it has my information instead of him or her?

Answer 2.09:  The problem you are having relates to two people trying to get things from the Ministry Bookstore using the same computer and the same login.  The Ministry Bookstore uses cookies to keep track of visitors.  When your room mate or the other user of your computer got something from our Ministry Bookstore and entered that information, the Ministry Bookstore put a cookie on your computer and memorized that information.  If you want to eliminate the memorized information so you can enter your own, you can do one of three things:

  1. Each user uses a different login on the computer.  The computer keeps different sets of cookies for each user login and so the Ministry Bookstore doesn't get confused when a different user on the same computer uses the Ministry Bookstore.
  2. Reenter the information, correcting the memorized information so that it describes you instead of the other person.
  3. Delete cookies on your Internet Browser so that all memorized information is cleared.  This is accomplished using the procedure as follows:
    • From the Tools menu of your Internet Explorer, select Internet Options.  The Internet Options dialog box will appear.
    • On the Internet Options dialog, click on the button that says Delete Cookies
    • Go back to the Ministry Bookstore and attempt to order again.  The memorized information will disappear and you will have to reenter your personal information again.

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QUESTION 2.10:

Question 2.10:  How do I buy response letters and pay for them.

Answer 2.10:  This is a nonprofit ministry and not a business.  You can't "buy" anything and we don't "sell" anything.  You make a donation and in exchange for your donation, you are granted access to the information you want.  It's also impossible for you to "pay" for anything, because we don't have the real kind of money mandated by our Constitution anymore, which is limited to gold and silver under Article 1, Section 10 of our Constitution.  The definition of "money" from Black's Law Dictionary confirms this below, and note that "Federal Reserve Notes" are "notes" under the definition below:

"Money:  In usual and ordinary acceptation it means coins and paper currency used as circulating medium of exchange, and does not embrace notes, bonds, evidences of debt, or other personal or real estate.  Lane v. Railey, 280 Ky. 319, 133 S.W.2d 74, 79, 81." 
[Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1005]

Information about response letters is as follows.  In the indexes below, click on "get response" if you want educational materials about how to respond to state or federal notices:

What you do with these materials is entirely up to you, but we only offer them to "nontaxpayers", so you should make sure that you comply with our Member Agreement, Form #01.001 first before attempting to obtain our strictly educational materials.  Thank you for your inquiry.

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QUESTION 2.11:

Question 2.11:  Some of your service offerings, such as lien removal, don't have suggested donation amounts listed.  How can I find out what the cost is and why can't I add these services to my shopping cart?

Answer 2.11:  Items that do not have suggested donation amounts underneath them or which do not have "Add to Cart" buttons in the Ministry Bookstore are not currently available.  The most likely cause for this is that we have too many clients and are all booked up.  When opportunities reopen, we reenable the shopping cart items.  You will know they are reenabled because the suggested donation amount and "Add to Cart" buttons will return.  At that time, and only at that time, can you order these items.  Until then, you will just have to wait. Come back and check periodically.  If you want to know the suggested donation amount for an item that does not have one posted, please consult our Ministry Member Catalog link at the top of the opening page at:

http://sedm.org

Alternatively, you may click here for the direct link to the Ministry Member Catalog.

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QUESTION 2.12:

Question 2.12:  How come I never got the usual confirmation email from SEDM telling me how to download the electronic book I ordered within a few minutes after placing my order?

Answer 2.12:   This problem is caused usually by one of two reasons: 

  1. Our mail server is being filtered.  If you want to check whether our mail server is on a spam blocking list, click on the link below and look at the "Sender Base Reputation Score", which ill be "Poor" (in red) if we are being blocked.  The page also lists who is blocking us. 

      SenderBase

    We don't send out spam, but sometimes we end up in the spam blocking list anyway.  If we are being blocked, submit a request to send the download link through out Contact Us page and we will manually send it to you.

  2. You are using Yahoo as an email provider.  They automatically filter and throw out ALL our emails without even putting them into your spam queue.  We warn users at the bottom of the checkout screen in bold red letters to add our domain to the "permit" list from within Yahoo Mail, but often times they miss this or don't do it.  Then they contact us wondering what happened.  If you want to fix this problem, you need to follow the directions for adding us to the spam filter permit list for your yahoo mail account described in steps 8.2 and 8.3 of our Support page.  In the future, please pay MUCH greater attention to and follow all the warnings we give you during the checkout process so that we can more efficiently serve you.  Otherwise, we will have to raise our suggested donation amounts because it is time consuming to manually work around all the problems created by people not following directions.  Sorry about this problem, but we have no control over the spam filtering policies of third party Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
  3. You specified an incorrect email address when you placed the order, and the confirmation email therefore bounced.  For instance, you put a "ORG" instead of "COM" at the end of your email address, or vice versa, or you spelled your email address incorrectly.  Please be careful when you type in your email address as you are placing orders.
  4. You left your SPAM filter on and never received the automated confirmation email because the SPAM filter filtered it out.  You MUST ensure that you turn off your spam filter software or it will throw away our automated order confirmation emails.  If you are either unable to turn off this software, or don't want to, then you will need to examine your spam filter queue for about a 15 minute period after you place your order so that you can manually register our source address with your spam filter and have it pass on the automated email.  The technique for doing this depends on the spam filtering software you are using, so we can't document the process for that here.  You have to figure that out yourself.

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QUESTION 2.13:

Question 2.13:  I tried downloading and installing one of the decompression utilities you recommend, but it doesn't successfully decompress the ZIP file that contains my electronic response letter or eBook.  What should I do?

Answer 2.13:   We use the WINZIP program exclusively to compress our files.  That software program is guaranteed to always work.  Other software programs may have problems on occasion and results may be unpredictable.  However, if you have a newer version of Windows, such as Windows XP, ZIP decompression is built in and will always work.  To solve your problem, you can either get the WINZIP program, or you can upgrade your operating system to Windows XP or later.

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QUESTION 2.14:

Question 2.14:  I'm uncomfortable about getting a response letter sight unseen.  Can you let me "preview" the whole letter before I get it?

Answer 2.14:   All of our response letters are copyrighted and revealing the content before making a donation would violate the copyright.  If we allowed people to preview all the letters before they got them, then we would be helping them steal our work and they would never have a reason to help sustain the great effort needed to write and update them in the first place.  We can't allow that because we won't help people steal. 

“You shall not steal." 
[Exodus 20:15, Bible, NKJV]

On the other hand, if you can prove you a genuinely needy and disadvantaged, we might help people by giving them a free response letter.

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QUESTION 2.15:

Question 2.15:  I want to get your Tax Fraud Prevention Manual, Form #06.008 but I have a slow dial-up line.  This is information I need desperately but it will take forever to download if I do it online.  Can you send me a CD instead?

Answer 2.15:   Thanks for the inquiry.  The Tax Fraud Prevention Manual, Form #06.008 is 20Mbytes.  An average 56kbit modem will download 7,000 bytes per second.  This means that it will take you 2,857 seconds or 47.9 minutes to download the book.  This is a quite reasonable amount of time that you can start before you go to bed or simply start before you begin cooking or eating dinner and come back and it will be finished.  There is no reason you should not be able to accommodate this.  If 48 minutes of download time is unsatisfactory, then below are some additional options you might consider:

  1. Get a higher speed DSL or cable modem connection installed, if available in your area
  2. Go to a public library or University or Junior College with a Flash drive or Jump drive and use their computer to download it on their high speed connection in just a couple minutes.  Most public libraries have high speed internet connections.
  3. Go to a Kinkos store with a Flash drive or Jump drive and download it on their high speed connection in just a couple minutes. 
  4. Go to a friend's or relative's house who has a cable modem and download it to a Flash drive or Jump drive.  You will probably spend more time driving there and back than if you just downloaded it on your dial up and waited.
  5. Download it from a high speed connection at work and copy onto a Flash drive or Jump drive. 

The choice of which option you choose from above is yours.  However, we can't and won't mail you the item because there is simply no reason to.  Sorry.

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QUESTION 2.16:

Question 2.16:  I was double-debited for an item I got from your Ministry Bookstore or I ordered something from your website and it will not be useful for my situation.  Can I get a refund of my donation or a part of it?

Answer 2.16:   All donations to the ministry are not refundable except under the following circumstances:

  1. There was a problem with the payment provider or the store software that caused your donation to be more than it should have been.  This happens, for instance, because there was trouble ordering and you were debited twice for the same item.
  2. The description of the item was vague or inadequate and therefore did not include enough information for you to be able to determine whether the item was appropriate for your situation or not.  The burden of proving this is on you, the moving party.  If you ask for a refund because of this situation, your request should include a detailed explanation of why the description of the item in our Ministry Bookstore was inadequate and what it should have said in order not to confuse you or cause you to make the wrong choice.

If you were overcharged in connection with an item in our Ministry Bookstore, please send us your order number via our Contact Us Page, and describe the extra charge you want deleted and we will gladly refund it.  Please address these issues with us FIRST, before calling the credit card company or bank to complain and obtain what is called a "charge-back".  We can easily handle this situation at our level without the need to escalate it.  We prefer that you send the details via our Contact Us Page instead of calling us.  We will respond with a confirmation email saying that the extra charge has been refunded.

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QUESTION 2.17:

Question 2.17:  Your website donation amounts are in Canadian Dollars.  Where can I find the exchange rate from U.S. dollars to Canadian Dollars?

Answer 2.17:   You can find information about exchange rates at the web link below.  This link is also provided on our order page as well, in case you didn't notice.

http://x-rates.com

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QUESTION 2.18:

Question 2.18:  After I select the items I want, add to cart, and checkout, I get errors when your site takes me to the payment provider (Egold, etc).  What is the matter?

Answer 2.18:   Most likely you are trying to use our website through a wireless connection, wireless hub, proxy server, or a firewall.  Payment system providers are very picky about payments that are coming from these sources and occasionally will have trouble talking through proxy servers.  Also, wireless connections tend to be very noisy and unreliable, especially in highly populated areas where a lot of people are using wireless.  The easiest way to deal with this problem is to use a computer that has a direct Ethernet, rather than wireless, connection to make your order.  In most cases, this fixes the problem.  If you are trying to order from a work computer that has a direct Ethernet connection but uses a firewall or proxy server, perhaps the proxy server filters out the payment provider address.  It is difficult to find out which addresses are filtered out on work computers.  Therefore, you may want to try making the order from your home computer instead of your work computer and see if this fixes the problem as well.  These types of problems are very rare but we thought it was important to give you some options for dealing with them.

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QUESTION 2.19:

Question 2.19:  How do I make a donation to the ministry?  I don't see a "donate" button anywhere?

Answer 2.19:   Thanks for your interest in our ministry and your courage and commitment to the cause of liberty.  To make a donation to the ministry in the amount you choose, please do the following:

  1. Go to the main page at http://sedm.org.
  2. In the right area, click on "Services"
  3. Find the shopping cart item that says "Donation" and click on it.
  4. Fill in the number of dollars (Canadian) that you wish to donate into the "Quantity" field.
  5. Click on the "Add to cart" button.
  6. Click on the "Checkout" button and complete the payment process.

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QUESTION 2.20:

Question 2.20:  Are any of your Ministry Bookstore materials offered for free to anyone?

Answer 2.20:   Information that answers this subject may be found below:

  1. Our Ministry Member Bookstore Catalog, Notes #12 and 13.
  2. Frequently Asked Questions About Our Response Letters, Question #27
  3. FAQ #1.08 above.
  4. FAQ #6.05 below.

The short answer is yes, if you are able to prove genuine financial need with evidence, and your financial misfortune was not your own doing.  We are a religious and charitable organization and we are happy to help people who are truly in need.  There may also be cases where those who are not totally destitute but financially disadvantaged may obtain materials for less than the suggested donation amount.  These situations are handled on a case-by-case basis.  Whatever the case, whether you get the item for free or at a reduced donation amount, you MUST be a Member and sign and unconditionally consent to our Member Agreement, Form #01.001 in order to obtain that benefit.  This is further clarified at the end of our PDF Member Bookstore Catalog.

We also emphasize that the vast majority of the materials available on this website are and always will be free to everyone in order to ensure the widest possible distribution.  This includes the following:

  1. Sermons
  2. Liberty University
  3. Forms Library
  4. Exhibits Library
  5. Litigation Tools

You should be able to easily employ only our free materials above to accomplish virtually all of your educational goals.  Any additional effort required, for instance, to produce a response letter or legal pleading based on that research could be accomplished if you don't mind researching and a little work.  The response letters and legal pleadings in our Ministry Bookstore are only provided as a temporary supplement to those who are temporarily too busy or preoccupied with other matters to do their legal own research, but who eventually intend to be fully self-sustaining without the need for these materials.  They are NOT intended as a permanent crutch or substitute for diligent personal legal education to anyone, because ignorance and laziness over the long haul will ALWAYS produce slavery and injustice and dishonor our Lord and Savior.  He said so, when He said in PDF His Holy Law the following profound words:

“The hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor [slavery!].” 
[Prov. 12:24 , Bible, NKJV]

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. 
Because you have rejected knowledge, 
I also will reject you from being priest [sovereign and Ruler] for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children” 
[Hosea 4:6, Bible, NKJV]

"Go to the ant, you sluggard!  Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest, how long will you slumber, O sluggard?  When will you rise from your sleep?  A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep--so shall your poverty [of knowledge and effort] come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man." 
[Prov. 6:11, Bible, NKJV]

We remind our readers that sovereignty and liberty are NOT spectator sports, but goals which take a lifetime of continuous effort to expand, protect, and maintain.  President Roosevelt admitted this when he said:

“We of this mighty western Republic have to grapple with the dangers that spring from popular self-government tried on a scale incomparably vaster than ever before in the history of mankind, and from an abounding material prosperity greater also than anything which the world has hitherto seen.

As regards the first set of dangers, it behooves us to remember that men can never escape being governed.  Either they must govern [and fully support] themselves or they must submit to being governed by others.  If from lawlessness or fickleness, from folly or self-indulgence, they refuse to govern themselves then most assuredly in the end they will have to be governed from the outside [by public "servants"].  They can prevent the need of government from without only by showing they possess the power of government from within.  A sovereign cannot make excuses for his failures; a sovereign must accept the responsibility for the exercise of power that inheres in him [by not becoming a permanent burden to others]; and where, as is true in our Republic, the people are sovereign, then the people must show a sober understanding and a sane and steadfast purpose if they are to preserve that orderly liberty upon which as a foundation every republic must rest.”
[President Theodore Roosevelt; Opening of the Jamestown Exposition; Norfolk, VA, April 26, 1907]

The considerable effort needed to create, maintain, and expand this website so as to continually keep it timely, relevant, and useful to our large and growing audience simply cannot be accomplished without some help from our readers. The skills we need are not always available strictly on a volunteer basis and we need some method to recruit and retain talented and passionate servants of our Lord who are not always able or willing to work for free.  Your question reveals that you are not one who wishes to help in such an endeavor or who recognizes the value of what we do.  The Golden Rule says we should reap what we sow.  Since you don't want to provide help, then why should we help you unless you are truly needy and deserving and can prove it with evidence?  If you don't recognize the value of what we do, then may we suggest that you go to another website for your sovereignty education .  If there was a better or even comparable sovereignty education website, we wouldn't have spent the greater part of a decade creating this one.  Good luck in your search.

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QUESTION 2.21:

Question 2.21:  I ordered an older version of one of your software programs, such as the MF Decoder.  How do I upgrade this without getting a whole new version?

Answer 2.21:   You can obtain the upgraded version of the program and the user manual by getting the MF Decoder Standard Edition instead of the Professional Edition.  This will not upgrade the rest of the Professional Edition CD or the decode Rebuttal Letter, but it will upgrade only the program.  Click on the link below to go directly to the STANDARD edition of the MF Decoder:

http://sedm.org/product/master-file-mf-decoder-standard-edition/

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QUESTION 2.22:

Question 2.22:  I ordered a version of a book or item that is no longer available on this website.  What is my upgrade path to the latest version of these materials?

Answer 2.22:   We usually get this question in relation to the following items that are no longer available on this website.  A description of what happened to these items is also included so that you know where to find updated versions of the information that was included in the now discontinued item:

  1. Tax Freedom Solutions Manual:

    Discontinued on 2/21/2006 and replaced by TWO books: 

  2. Tax Audit Defense Manual: 

    Discontinued on 2/22/2006 and replaced by the Nontaxpayer's Audit Defense Manual, Form #06.011.  The new Nontaxpayer's Audit Defense Manual, Form #06.011 has been considerably improved and updated since it was introduced on 2/22/2006 and covers not only the information in the original Tax Audit Defense Manual, but important new information as well.  The audience for the Nontaxpayer's Audit Defense Manual, Form #06.011 is more clearly targeted and carefully restricted ONLY to person who are "nontaxpayers" not subject to any provision of the Internal Revenue Code.

If you want the latest version of the above, you can obtain them from our Ministry Bookstore.  Unfortunately, we can't and don't offer reduced suggested donation amounts for the materials in our bookstore for those who obtained previous versions.  The reasons for this are discussed in detail in FAQ 2.06 earlier.  We hope the above helps prevent you from feeling like you became an orphan and directs you to a place where you can find the latest information that you seek.

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