> So then why would it be OK to jail someone for not paying the fine levied on not paying their taxes, but its not OK to jail someone for deliberately not payin

> So then why would it be OK to jail someone for not paying the fine levied on not paying their taxes, but its not OK to jail someone for deliberately not paying their taxes? Putting people in prison when other remedies exist is not cost-effective. Unless you run inhumane, hell-hole prisons (not saying the UK ones are great, but there's worse). Eventually, yes, prison is the last option (again, in the UK). So is putting an IPTV pirate in prison for 14 years a good solution? Just from a tax-payer perspective, that seems dumb to me. Similarly, is putting a tax evader in prison a good solution? Not initially, no. Separately, we can also ask whether it's just for an IPTV pirate to get a higher prison sentence than e.g. most of the perpetrators in the Rochdale child sex abuse ring. For one of these crimes, the wronged party can be made "whole" with money. For the other, not so much. I believe this is what OP is driving at.