4 ms·

Quick note- IRS deliberately does not care about the criminal or non-criminal origin of income. All income in dollars from any source/activity is subject to tax

Quick note- IRS deliberately does not care about the criminal or non-criminal origin of income. All income in dollars from any source/activity is subject to tax. Brilliant, when you think about it.

ilammy 5y ago
Paying tax in and of itself is never illegal. Paying more tax than you owe is not illegal either. As far as taxes go, the only illegal thing is “not guessing the number right” and flat out refusing to pay. Obtaining money through criminal activity is a crime, but that's a different crime that does not have anything to do with paying taxes. It is a crime to knowingly accept money obtained through illicit activity, but guess what – the prosecutor for that crime is the government itself! You can't sue the government for unwillingness to prosecute.
- notch656a 5y ago
  >You can't sue the government for unwillingness to prosecute. No but selective enforcement could invalidate enforcement of the law, per equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.
ninju 5y ago
Found the IRS publication link: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2021_publink1000172116 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2021_publink10001...
- jonahbenton 4y ago
  See also kickbacks, slightly lower down. Has to be mentioned explicitly despite often, but not always, being illegal.
- runnerup 4y ago
  This is probably misleading as most people present it. The IRS does require you to report illegal earnings. But the justice department can also use that against you[0]. There’s quite a bit more case law on the matter, but tl;dr is that it’s a very fluid and ill-defined area of law. Personally I expect tax returns to be used as evidence more in the future, rather than less. 0: https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3149&context=wlulr https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?art...

Quick note- IRS deliberately does not care about the criminal or non-criminal origin of income. All income in dollars from any source/activity is subject to tax. Brilliant, when you think about it.

ilammy 5y ago

Paying tax in and of itself is never illegal. Paying more tax than you owe is not illegal either. As far as taxes go, the only illegal thing is “not guessing the number right” and flat out refusing to pay. Obtaining money through criminal activity is a crime, but that's a different crime that does not have anything to do with paying taxes. It is a crime to knowingly accept money obtained through illicit activity, but guess what – the prosecutor for that crime is the government itself! You can't sue the government for unwillingness to prosecute.

notch656a 5y ago
>You can't sue the government for unwillingness to prosecute. No but selective enforcement could invalidate enforcement of the law, per equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.

ninju 5y ago

Found the IRS publication link: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2021_publink1000172116 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2021_publink10001...

jonahbenton 4y ago
See also kickbacks, slightly lower down. Has to be mentioned explicitly despite often, but not always, being illegal.
runnerup 4y ago
This is probably misleading as most people present it. The IRS does require you to report illegal earnings. But the justice department can also use that against you[0]. There’s quite a bit more case law on the matter, but tl;dr is that it’s a very fluid and ill-defined area of law. Personally I expect tax returns to be used as evidence more in the future, rather than less. 0: https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3149&context=wlulr https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?art...