- Glossary
- Tax Evasion
Tax Evasion
Tax evasion is the illegal attempt by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others to avoid paying taxes. Tax evasion is a common practice of intentionally deceiving tax authorities by misrepresenting the taxpayer's financial situation to minimize their tax obligations. It involves fraudulent tax reporting, understating income, profits, or gains, exaggerating deductions, offering bribes in highly corrupt countries, and concealing money in undisclosed places.
Understanding Tax Evasion
Tax evasion includes both unlawful nonpayment and illegal underpayment of taxes. Even if a taxpayer fails to file the relevant tax forms, the IRS can still establish if taxes are owing based on information provided by third parties, such as W-2 information from a person's employment or 1099s. In general, a person is not regarded as guilty of tax evasion unless the refusal to pay is deliberate.
Failing to pay taxes on time may result in criminal proceedings. In order for charges to be levied, it must be proven that the taxpayer purposefully avoided paying taxes. Not only can a person be held liable for unpaid taxes, but they can also be found guilty of official crimes and sentenced to jail time. According to the IRS, the penalties include up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 for individuals or $500,000 for businesses, or both, plus the costs of prosecution.
What Qualifies As Tax Evasion?
A number of variables are considered when deciding whether the act of failure to pay was intentional. Most frequently, a taxpayer's financial status will be scrutinized in order to determine whether the nonpayment was the result of fraud or the concealing of reportable income.
Failure to pay may be considered fraudulent if the taxpayer attempted to conceal assets by identifying them with someone other than themselves.
This includes reporting income using a fraudulent name and Social Security Number (SSN), which can also be considered identity theft. By failing to declare employment that does not use typical payment recording systems, a person may be found to be concealing money. Accepting monetary payment for products or services supplied without properly reporting them to the IRS during a tax filing is one example.
Tax Evasion Vs. Tax Avoidance
While tax evasion necessitates the use of criminal tactics to avoid paying proper taxes, tax avoidance employs legal means to reduce a taxpayer's liabilities. This can include charitable contributions to an approved entity or the investment of earnings in a tax-deferred vehicle, such as an individual retirement account (IRA).
In the case of an IRA, taxes are not paid on the invested funds until the funds and any appropriate interest payments are withdrawn.
Conclusion
- Tax evasion can be defined as either the illegal non payment or underpayment of actual tax liabilities.
- The IRS can detect tax evasion whether or not tax forms were filed with the agency.
- To establish tax evasion, the agency must be able to demonstrate that the taxpayer purposefully avoided paying taxes.
- While tax evasion is against the law, tax avoidance entails seeking legal (within the law) techniques to lower taxpayer liabilities.
