Economic Crime: Tax Offenses - Tax Noncompliance, Economics Of Tax Evasion, The Role Of Criminal Sanctions, Conclusion, Bibliography
united federal enforcement cir
A traditional view holds that criminal tax offenses exist to combat tax evasion. Tax evasion is indeed a widespread, serious, and persistent problem in the United States and elsewhere. In the last part of the twentieth century, however, the United States government broadened its criminal enforcement focus from the suppression of classical tax evasion to a more general attack on crime, including drug dealing and financial crimes. The federal government still prosecutes tax cheats, but at the turn of the century "criminal tax enforcement" more accurately represents a particular style of investigation than a single-minded effort to secure the federal fisc.
JOHN SHEPARD WILEY, JR.
ERIC M. ZOLT
CASES
Cheek v. United States, 498 U.S. 192 (1991).
Newman v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 159 F.2d 848, 850, 851 (2d Cir. 1947), cert. denied 331 U.S. 859 (1947).
Spies v. United States, 317 U.S. 492 (1943).
United States v. Carlson, 235 F.3d 466, 2000 WL 1847536 (No. 99-10525 9th Cir. 12/19/2000).
Additional Topics
Tax compliance typically relies on voluntary self-assessment, which requires taxpayers to calculate their own tax liability and voluntarily to pay the amount due. For income taxes, there are three kinds of noncompliance: failure to file tax returns; underreporting of taxable income (either through underreporting income or overstating deductions); and failure to pay established liabilities. Tax sch…
Economists have made important strides in trying to understand tax evasion. Gary Becker's classic article on the economics of crime used economic theory to tackle normative questions such as how many resources should be spent on law enforcement of laws and what penalties the government should impose. Becker's theory about criminal behavior assumed that individuals evaluate the benefits and costs o…
The most serious federal tax crime is willful tax evasion, which carries a five-year maximum prison sentence and a maximum fine of $250,000 ($500,000 in the case of a corporation) plus costs of prosecution (26 U.S.C. ? 7201 18 U.S.C. ? 3571). As decisions in Spies v. United States, 317 U.S. 492 (1943), and United States v. Carlson (2000) clarify, this felony requires the government to prove three …
Department of Treasury. General Explanations of the Administration's Fiscal Year 2001: Revenue Proposals. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2001. Department of Treasury. The Problem of Corporate Tax Shelters: Discussion, Analysis and Legislative Proposals. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1999. Internal Revenue Service. "Criminal Investigation, FY 1999 National Operations'…
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