This is why they had to get Al Capone on tax evasion; everything worse that he'd done, he'd managed to squeazle his way out of. The taxes were the only thing the authorities could actually make stick.
This also why tax forms in the US have a box to report any illegal income. If you've profited through any crime and don't report it, the government only has to prove that you have unaccounted-for income, so they can book you on tax evasion (and possibly filling out a falsified form) if nothing else. The presence of this box prevents any criminal from claiming that their illegal profits were unreported because they didn't fit any of the categories present.
Leaving this here so Fried Dough Stick Eater will hopefully explain hi/rself.
- This is why they had to get Al Capone on tax evasion; everything worse that he'd done, he'd managed to squeazle his way out of. The taxes were the only thing the authorities could actually make stick.
- This also why tax forms in the US have a box to report any illegal income. If you've profited through any crime and don't report it, the government only has to prove that you have unaccounted-for income, so they can book you on tax evasion (and possibly filling out a falsified form) if nothing else. The presence of this box prevents any criminal from claiming that their illegal profits were unreported because they didn't fit any of the categories present.
- However, income tax in general is more of a case of "bringing a sawed-off shotgun to a Rule Fu fight"; that box to report illegal income is in direct opposition to the Fifth Amendment(self-incrimination). Fill it in and you've confessed to a crime. Don't and you're guilty of tax evasion. And the Supreme Court has stated for the record that tax collection is more important than the Constitution. Yes Guido, my receipts are right here, please don't break my kneecaps.
Edited by Kalaong