In Garner v. United States (1975), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a defendant's Fifth Amendment rights were not violated when his tax returns, which he was compelled to file by law, were used as evidence against him in a criminal trial for fraud and false statements. The court held that since there was no indication at the time of filing that prosecution might follow, there was no self-incrimination involved. Charles J. Garner had argued that using his tax return information in this way constituted compelled self-incrimination prohibited by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution but failed to convince a majority of justices on these grounds.

In the dissenting opinion for Garner v. United States, Justice Marshall argued that a person's Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination should extend to tax returns. He believed that the majority ruling failed to adequately protect these constitutional rights and could potentially lead to abuses of power by government authorities. Furthermore, he contended that taxpayers should not be forced into a position where they must choose between providing incriminating information or facing penalties for failing to file accurate returns. In his view, this dilemma was precisely what the Fifth Amendment was designed to prevent - compelling individuals to act as witnesses against themselves in criminal cases.