Not to nitpick with the spirit of your point, but I wouldn't say this satisfies the requirements for socially acceptable. What you're explaining just means owin

Not to nitpick with the spirit of your point, but I wouldn't say this satisfies the requirements for socially acceptable. What you're explaining just means owing money to the IRS is an easier situation to resolve than owing money to a bank. Before you and Patrick explain the nuances of these scenarios (such as in this thread), I'm willing to bet most people look at it more like this: John owes the bank $50,000 Hey, John is almost done paying off his mortgage. That's just swell. James owes the IRS $50,000 Did you hear about James? What is he involved in and why doesn't he pay his taxes? I think social acceptance is more or less positively correlated with what's common for the middle class. Taking out $50,000 in student loans for a degree with poor ROI is inarguably a bad financial decision, but it's fundamentally sound in terms of social signaling. Conversely, not paying taxes is something that would be unthinkable to the anxious fiscal sensibilities of the middle class (but notably, not necessarily the upper class if they can benefit from it, and not necessarily the lower class if they can't afford it).