What would happen if the President refused to pay income taxes?

[Bricker]

@Little Nemo

I’ve said all along that the IRS would prefer to collect rather than arrest. But they’re going beyond this and saying that if the IRS is unable to collect its money it has no option of arrest - even in cases where the debtor had the money and willfully spent all of it before the IRS could get to it. To which I say, yes, in cases like that “inability to pay” is a crime and will be treated as such. If for no other reason, in order to prevent other people from avoiding their taxes by spending all their money.

Great.

Since it’s a crime, what’s the penalty? How many years in prison could I potentially get?

[Bricker]

There was a time in history where people who owed debts they could not pay were url=“Debtors' prison - Wikipedia”]sent to prison.

Now, however… no. If you file correctly and on time, but don’t pay, even if you wilfully spent all the money that was supposed to go to the IRS on a stripper named Candy Surprise, they cannot jail you. They can garnish your wages and seize and sell most of your assets in order to collect, but there is no crime involved…

Now, suppose you’re self-employed, in a job that permits you to thumb your nose at the IRS’ collection attempts… say, an ice-cream truck driver, where you rent a truck for cash, drive around and sell to all the kiddies, and then keep the difference in cash every day… scrupulously recording and reporting your income, of course.

The IRS could go to court and get a court order for you to turn a portion of your daily earnings… in effect, a court order forcing you to specifically honor the garnishment action.

If you refuse, you will then go to jail… for contempt of court. Note the subtle distinction here: you’re being jailed for ignoring the court’s specific garnishment order.

[Bricker]

@Bricker

There was a time in history where people who owed debts they could not pay were url=“Debtors' prison - Wikipedia”]sent to prison.

Now, however… no. If you file correctly and on time, but don’t pay, even if you wilfully spent all the money that was supposed to go to the IRS on a stripper named Candy Surprise, they cannot jail you. They can garnish your wages and seize and sell most of your assets in order to collect, but there is no crime involved…

Now, suppose you’re self-employed, in a job that permits you to thumb your nose at the IRS’ collection attempts… say, an ice-cream truck driver, where you rent a truck for cash, drive around and sell to all the kiddies, and then keep the difference in cash every day… scrupulously recording and reporting your income, of course.

The IRS could go to court and get a court order for you to turn a portion of your daily earnings… in effect, a court order forcing you to specifically honor the garnishment action.

If you refuse, you will then go to jail… for contempt of court. Note the subtle distinction here: you’re being jailed for ignoring the court’s specific garnishment order.

Rats. What good is a five minute edit window if the Board goes screwy and won’t respond for four of them?

Apart from the coding error, I wanted to note that jailing contempteous non-payers happens often – deadbeat dads, for example, are in many locales subject to jail if they refuse to follow a court’s direct order to pay. In all cases – both IRS and deadbeat dads – note that the mere fact of not paying is not jailable… it’s the refusal to follow the court’s direct order subsequent to the proceeding that established the debt.

[askeptic]

Cash businesses are also subject to “Till Taping” where an agent sits in your office (or your ice cream truck) and collects any money that comes in.

Short answer is you won’t go to jail if you CAN’T pay your taxes but you sure as shit will if you CAN but WON’T.

[DrDeth]

@Little Nemo

.Now according to some people here, the IRS would have no choice except to gnash their teeth and let you go. But I think that the IRS is not going to quit that easily. But I think that the IRS is not going to quit that easily. They will come to you and if you don’t pay - even if everything you wrote was true - they will arrest you and send you to prison.

No, got a cite? They will levy your accounts, garnish your wages, and put a lien on whatever property they don’t seize. Not to mention calling you and visiting you. And, they will do this for ten fucking years. You will not go to jail. But not having any income or property for ten years is worse than a year in jail, I would say. So, levies, leins, siezures, and garnishments are hardly “gnashing their teeth”. :rolleyes:

[chorpler]

@gladiadelmarre

I’m not saying that. The IRS does have the option of criminal prosecution, even for simple nonpayment.

It sounds, from what Bricker has said, that this isn’t the case, unless they get a court order and then jail you for contempt. Kind of like that discussion we had a year or so ago about whether you could be jailed for not having a job.