And then you go to court and ask a judge, who is (in general) a neutral party, to interpret the law based on the situation and ask what the correct course of ac

And then you go to court and ask a judge, who is (in general) a neutral party, to interpret the law based on the situation and ask what the correct course of action was. I guess people have different definitions of evasion, but I would probably define it as having the intent to evade taxes "from the start". As a citizen (or a corporation), you are free to decide on your own interpretation of the law. Tax authorities (around the globe) aren't always right. Hence you ask a judge, because an interpretation is just that: an interpretation. It's not the law. And the law is the only thing that counts.