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I like how this article points out the appeals court ruling that the fifth amendment protects against this form of self incrimination But the Supreme Court rev
by vmception 5y ago
I like how this article points out the appeals court ruling that the fifth amendment protects against this form of self incrimination
But the Supreme Court reversed it, which could lead some to want to disagree with how the court uses the constitution
But its important to remember that income taxes require a newer amendment to the constitution to begin with
So although the bill of rights (first 10 amendments) was pretty solid, at the time with an understood balance for the society, the appeals court neglected to consider the 16th amendment, which operates outside of that balance. Any amendment can undermine other parts of the constitution or break the point of the whole thing.
- convery 5y agoIf the US IRS is like Sweden's, they don't really care about criminal activity as long as they get their cut. I usually use our equivalent of that field for income I don't remember / can't be arsed to check where it came from..
- vmception 5y agoYeah US IRS typically doesn't care and isn't known for sharing or referring to other enforcement agencies But the humans involved do leak things to media etc If you want cash thats worth the same amount as post tax clean cash, you will want to launder and report the now innocuous clean earnings for taxes
- dehrmann 5y agoI remember the old advice to describe the source as "Fifth Amendment," meaning you're declaring the income, but not its source.
- vmception 5y agommm everyone should do that to increase its utility I wonder if there are any tax journals or case law about this Its up to the government to learn of the illegal activity to levy a charge on that, to then tack on any money laundering charge or wire fraud charge. So if they dont have ways to figure it out, then everyone is good. And investigating something specifically due to fifth amendment use I think would not work well as probable cause - as long as you can afford all the motions and appeals court to afford your rights
- mikeryan 5y agoNow I'm fascinated. What would happen if someone just every few weeks deposits a few hundred grand cash into his bank account. Then dutifully declares the income as the gains from illegal activities and pays his taxes. Law enforcement investigates but can't find the source of his cash... I know they could impound the money but the onus is on the law enforcement side to eventually have some evidence of a crime and the guy doesn't have any obligation to answer any questions. I'm sure there might be some laws in place for this (maybe?) but it's still a fun thought experiment.
- vmception 5y ago> Then dutifully declares the income as the gains from illegal activities and pays his taxes This part is where you want to not say they were illegal. The IRS is saying declare all income, not admit the source. So for this thought exercise, one would take the fifth on the income report, and report the income. Say whatever you need to say for the bank deposit to not scare the bank's compliance officer. You want to avoid denial of service and denial of liquidity. So its inconvenient to make a reason for the money to be frozen for some time.
- Dracophoenix 5y agoFor those who don't know, the 16th amendment renders a federal income tax as legal, whereas beforehand all direct and indirect taxes that were not apportioned by population were deemed unconstitutional in Pollock vs Farmers' Loan & Trust Company.
- vmception 5y agoIts pretty fascinating to me that so much that we consider American ideals or realities are barely 100 year old versions of the US