http://www.ksrevenue.org/perstaxtypesdrug.htm
“The fact that dealing marijuana and controlled
substances is illegal does not exempt it from
taxation. Therefore drug dealers are required by law
to purchase drug tax stamps.”
Is there a pimp tax?
A murder-for-hire tax?
Why not?
Are you nuts? Didn’t you see Reefer Madness? It’s obvious that the filthy weed leads to uncontrollable lust and thirst for human blood. Why, it’s the #2 scourge of the planet, right after George Bush!
Seriously, then. Why isn’t there a “stabbed your boyfriend in the eye with a fork” tax… ?
Earnings from illegal activities is not exempt from income tax. You are required to report all income, regardless of its source. Many, many, many people involved in illicit activities have only been caught, prosecuted, convicted and jailed for failure to declare income and pay income taxes, not for any crimes they may have committed, including pimping, drug dealing, and murder for hire.
Look up your favorite gangsters and mobsters and you’ll see that the majority of them were ultimately jailed for income tax evasion.
The government can also confiscate assets for which you cannot show the source of income from which they were purchased since you have not paid taxes on that income. That’s why many criminals, especially organized crime figures, launder money through legitimate businesses.
Then, there is the RICO laws against racketeering, where you can be fined 3 times the amount of the judgment against you. Uncle Sam will get his taxes!
The reason for the marijuana tax stamp is simply that it’s another charge to bring against drug dealers. It’s like the line on the 1040 where you are supposed to declare your income from illegal activities. If someone deals, you can get him both for dealing and for not paying the proper tax.
At the risk of having been whooshed:
Because that doesn’t merit you income.
Al Capone
These fall under …“other sources of income”. Which you are required to fill in on your tax return.
The drug tax stamps generally have pretty cool art, too. Here’s a page with a few of them (scroll down). IMHO, Texas has the best. Not shown is the Texas controlled substances stamp, which is something like several hundred dollars.
Can a stamp collector (with no interest in selling drugs) purchase these stamps? Are there philatelists who specialize in drug stamps?
I’d think that purchase of these stamps would give the cops enough “probable cause” to get a warrant to tear up your home in a search any time they felt like it…
The Wisconsin Supreme Court declared the state’s drug tax stamps unconstitutional for exactly that reason: they violate the privilege against self-incrimination.
Anyone can buy the stamps, although some states make you pay a “registration fee” first. I’m pretty sure all you have to do in Texas is walk into the comptroller’s office and plop down the cash for the stamps.
So, in Texas you can purchase them anonymously, without having to identify yourself?
That seems to offer a way for a philatelist to get his hands on these stamps without having to worry about a late-night knock on the door.