IRS says stolen property and bribes must be reported as income

[Wexnident]

I mean, they're technically right you know? It is technically income, and well, the IRS is responsible for collecting taxes from the citizens, so with that being the case, just looking beyond whether said income is stolen or not, they're actually doing their job. Now whether this is actually ethically correct or not, well... I'm pretty sure we all know the answer to that.

Though I guess seeing the case of Al Capone (pointed out by DaveF and odolvlobo), if it were used that way then it does make some sense, but I guess it's more of a specialized method hence why it's rather odd for most people (including me) to actually see it. Tried looking for more cases like Al Capone though I didn't find any, that or I suck at looking up stuff on the internet.

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[pinggoki]

I don't know if this is a trap or an invitation for criminals. I think that declaration of stolen goods isn't really a good thing because I don't think that people aren't dumb enough to declare what they've stolen. Besides being absurd, I think that this is also a big waste on time and tax dollars.

[eaLiTy]

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While I can't say I completely understand the process or future of the IRS in the country. It is quite possible that in the future, the IRS will be legally bound from sharing accounts of criminal activity with law enforcement to guarantee the government reaps a higher share of tax revenues from crime.

I initially thought this as a joke, but from the way it is presented and knowing the situation in the US, this looks really weird to begin with and i am not sure where this will end. If you think that the tax authorities will not share the criminal activities, that is a joke that might last till the presidential term of Biden, who i think is a puppet dancing to the tune of others.

They already created a huge mess and they are legitimizing many illegal activities and now paying your taxes for the things you stole, it is a funny world we live in  .

[avikz]

While I can't say I completely understand the process or future of the IRS in the country. It is quite possible that in the future, the IRS will be legally bound from sharing accounts of criminal activity with law enforcement to guarantee the government reaps a higher share of tax revenues from crime.

Well, does that mean, crime will be legal in future as an individual will be paying taxes on it?

The entire matter sounds like an oxymoron to me! Why on earth someone will be declaring that he had stolen a property and earned some money from it and then paying taxes on it! It's hilarious to be honest!

[paxmao]

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While I can't say I completely understand the process or future of the IRS in the country. It is quite possible that in the future, the IRS will be legally bound from sharing accounts of criminal activity with law enforcement to guarantee the government reaps a higher share of tax revenues from crime.

I initially thought this as a joke, but from the way it is presented and knowing the situation in the US, this looks really weird to begin with and i am not sure where this will end. If you think that the tax authorities will not share the criminal activities, that is a joke that might last till the presidential term of Biden, who i think is a puppet dancing to the tune of others.

They already created a huge mess and they are legitimizing many illegal activities and now paying your taxes for the things you stole, it is a funny world we live in  .

Perhaps this is just a legal requirement to be able to later indict those that took bribes or earned on illicit activities on the usual charges plus the ones related to financial fraud. Effectively, this means that they will, for example get 10 years for drug trafficking and another 5 for fraud, so it basically makes their liability for anything that produces a profit even larger and also allows going after their accounts easier.

[TimeTeller]

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While I can't say I completely understand the process or future of the IRS in the country. It is quite possible that in the future, the IRS will be legally bound from sharing accounts of criminal activity with law enforcement to guarantee the government reaps a higher share of tax revenues from crime.

I initially thought this as a joke, but from the way it is presented and knowing the situation in the US, this looks really weird to begin with and i am not sure where this will end. If you think that the tax authorities will not share the criminal activities, that is a joke that might last till the presidential term of Biden, who i think is a puppet dancing to the tune of others.

They already created a huge mess and they are legitimizing many illegal activities and now paying your taxes for the things you stole, it is a funny world we live in  .

Perhaps this is just a legal requirement to be able to later indict those that took bribes or earned on illicit activities on the usual charges plus the ones related to financial fraud. Effectively, this means that they will, for example get 10 years for drug trafficking and another 5 for fraud, so it basically makes their liability for anything that produces a profit even larger and also allows going after their accounts easier.

Do they really think that people who steal or accept bribes will report what they got?
This is somewhat funny but I believe, there's more story on this.
But high likely that people doing their illegal activities won't report it.
Because it is admitting their crime and it equates to possible jail time.
So don't know how they can encourage those people to come up front and report what they did?

[LoyceV]

Tax evasion is how they got Al Capone 90 years ago
https://themobmuseum.org/blog/capone-tax-evasion-trial-jury-finds-chicago-mobster-guilty-on-5-of-22-counts/

I thought everyone knew this. It's actually an interesting way to go about it for people who declare very little income abut spend tons of money.

If he would have reported his criminal income to taxes, they would have had hard evidence, and his prison sentence would probably have been much longer. They only used the tax evasion for the trial because they couldn't prove anything else.

. . and why is this not a part of money laundering?

Money laundering is when you pretend the money was earned elsewhere, right? So: you steal a car, sell it, and launder the by pretending you earned the money from the car wash you own. IRS doesn't want that, they just want you to report the sale of the stolen car. Lol

So the IRS' stance is: as long as you pay taxes, they don't care?

[Findingnemo]

Hey yeah, I am ready to report it, I am going to Rob a bank nearby and use a stolen car as well to take the robbed money3to my home hut IRS don't worry I will pay the taxes for them and will keep the remaining amount because I worked for it.

Stupidity at its best though.

[Oceat]

I don't know if this is a trap or an invitation for criminals. I think that declaration of stolen goods isn't really a good thing because I don't think that people aren't dumb enough to declare what they've stolen. Besides being absurd, I think that this is also a big waste on time and tax dollars.

I don't know if this is a joke or not but it looks like they were too desperate to claim taxes even if it's from illegal activities as long as you pay your taxes, that's all that matters they don't really care where it came from. I don't know if someone would do it but this is so absurd to believe. You might as well right if this is a trap since it looks like a trap to catch criminals or someone who does some dirty work to earn an easy money.

[DrBeer]

I wonder if a person pays taxes on the stolen goods, he becomes the owner? And if he indicated that it was "not legally acquired" - is the fiscal service obliged to transfer the information to the police, for example? Not ? Almost everywhere such a situation will be considered as a concealment or complicity in a crime ... In a word, the situation is somehow crazy

[Lucius]

I hope all the time that someone will write that some IRS official did something stupid and that such a law cannot be true, but they are really serious about this I wonder if anyone will really act in a way to report such things, thinking that this will legalize their crime and or at least in some way calm their conscience.

The only thing missing from the whole story is that the IRS will reward anyone who reports stealing or bribing - and the rewards can be a coffee cup labeled "Crime pays off, only if you pay taxes."