Tax evasion is a crime and imprisonment is a punishment reserved for criminal activity. Failing to pay property tax is not a crime in itself. If someone is cha

Tax evasion is a crime and imprisonment is a punishment reserved for criminal activity. Failing to pay property tax is not a crime in itself. If someone is charged with tax evasion they are charged with something other than merely owning property and not paying taxes. They are charged with some specific criminal act. Taxation OTOH is a civil, not a criminal, matter. If someone doesn't pay their property tax then, in the worst case, control/ownership of the property is taken by the relevant authorities, the property sold and the taxes paid to the extent possible.