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Taxes are the federal catch-all. It's like "disorderly conduct" or "resisting arrest" but for higher net worth individuals. If they can't prove the thing they

Taxes are the federal catch-all. It's like "disorderly conduct" or "resisting arrest" but for higher net worth individuals. If they can't prove the thing they actually want to get you for and can't trick you into lying to a federal agent then they go through your taxes and generally speaking most people involved in the kind of stuff the feds put you in prison for aren't paying taxes on said stuff in a manner that is fully consistent with law (paying what you owe is not necessarily enough to comply with the law for these purposes).

seanmcdirmid 7y ago
> It's like "disorderly conduct" or "resisting arrest" Not really, those are qualitatively judged crimes while tax evasion is very empirical. It doesn’t get fairer than that.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  That is a very naive thing to assert. Federal tax law is expansive enough and provides enough discretion to the IRS that if they want you they can almost certainly get you, especially if there's anything you aren't totally above the board with. Remember, a lot of the law hinges on intent and if you made $100 selling drugs and claim you made $100 selling used TVs (and pay taxes accordingly) they'll likely be able to find some felony statute violation if they want to dig into it. When they audit normal people they don't go all in like that. They want their money and it's gonna be hard for you to pay if they destroy your life by putting you in jail.
  - greenyoda 7y ago
    > if you made $100 selling drugs and claim you made $100 selling used TVs (and pay taxes accordingly) they'll likely be able to find some felony statute violation if they want to dig into it. And in fact, the article mentions the crime that you could be charged with for lying about the source of your income: "making false statements to a government agency".
  - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
    The IRS doesn’t even ask how you made the money. For many many years as a resident in China, I just reported some numbers on my 1040 with no documentation or explanation about where those numbers came from.

seanmcdirmid 7y ago

> It's like "disorderly conduct" or "resisting arrest" Not really, those are qualitatively judged crimes while tax evasion is very empirical. It doesn’t get fairer than that.

dsfyu404ed 7y ago
That is a very naive thing to assert. Federal tax law is expansive enough and provides enough discretion to the IRS that if they want you they can almost certainly get you, especially if there's anything you aren't totally above the board with. Remember, a lot of the law hinges on intent and if you made $100 selling drugs and claim you made $100 selling used TVs (and pay taxes accordingly) they'll likely be able to find some felony statute violation if they want to dig into it. When they audit normal people they don't go all in like that. They want their money and it's gonna be hard for you to pay if they destroy your life by putting you in jail.
- greenyoda 7y ago
  > if you made $100 selling drugs and claim you made $100 selling used TVs (and pay taxes accordingly) they'll likely be able to find some felony statute violation if they want to dig into it. And in fact, the article mentions the crime that you could be charged with for lying about the source of your income: "making false statements to a government agency".
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  The IRS doesn’t even ask how you made the money. For many many years as a resident in China, I just reported some numbers on my 1040 with no documentation or explanation about where those numbers came from.