Tax Violations

• Pages: 1085-1125
• Date: 01 July 2025
• Published date: 01 July 2025
• Author: Benjamin Goodman,Emily Oakes,Meera Shaw,Robert Sassan
• Subject Matter: Derecho Penal

TAX VIOLATIONS

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1087

II. CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS UNDER I.R.C. §§ 7201, 7202, 7203, 7206,

AND 7212(A)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1087

A. Legal Landscape of IRS Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1087

1. Responsibility for Investigation and Prosecution . . . . . . . 1087

2. Constitutional Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1088

a. Notice and Due Process Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . 1088

b. Substantive Rights and the Internal Revenue Manual 1089

c. Disclosure of Documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1090

3. Venue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1091

4. Statute of Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1092

B. I.R.C. § 7201—Tax Evasion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1093

1. Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1093

a. Existence of a Tax Def‌iciency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1093

b. Aff‌irmative Act Constituting Evasion . . . . . . . . . . . . 1095

c. Willfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1096

2. Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1098

a. Lack of Def‌iciency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1098

b. Lack of Willfulness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1098

c. Reliance on Expert Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1100

d. Selective Prosecution and Other Constitutional

Defenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1100

3. Relation to Other Tax Crimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1101

C. I.R.C. § 7202—Failure to Collect Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1101

1. Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1102

a. Duty to Collect or to Account for and Pay Over Tax . . 1102

b. Failure to Collect, Truthfully Account For, or Pay

Over Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1104

c. Willfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1104

2. Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1104

D. I.R.C. § 7203—Failure to File Taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1105

1. Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1105

a. Requirement to File a Return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1105

b. Failure to File a Return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1106

c. Willfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1106

2. Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1106

E. I.R.C. § 7206—Tax Fraud & False Statements and Aiding or

Assisting Tax Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1108

1. I.R.C. § 7206(1)—Tax Perjury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1108

1085

a. Making and Subscribing a False Return or Document 1108

b. Signed under Penalty of Perjury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1109

c. Material Falsity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1110

d. Willfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1111

e. Defenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1112

2. I.R.C. § 7206(2)—Aiding and Assisting Tax Fraud . . . . . 1113

a. Aiding or Assisting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1113

b. Material Falsity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1114

c. Willfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1114

d. Defenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1114

F. I.R.C. § 7212(a)—Interference with the Internal Revenue Laws 1114

1. Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1114

a. Corruption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1115

b. Endeavor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1115

c. Nexus Between the Defendant’s Conduct and an

Administrative Proceeding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1116

d. The Stage of Proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1116

2. Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1116

G. Sanctions Under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . 1117

1. Violations of I.R.C. § 7201 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1117

2. Violations of I.R.C. § 7202 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1117

3. Violations of I.R.C. § 7203 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1118

4. Violations of I.R.C. § 7206 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1118

5. Violations of I.R.C. § 7212(a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1119

III. CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY INVESTIGATIONS UNDER 18 U.S.C. § 371. . . 1120

A. Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1120

B. Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1121

C. Statute of Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1122

IV. OTHER RELATED CRIMINAL STATUTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1122

A. Related Title 18 Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1122

1. 18 U.S.C. § 286: Conspiracy to Defraud the Government

with Respect to Claims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1122

2. 18 U.S.C. § 287: False, Fictitious, or Fraudulent Claims . . 1123

B. Related Title 31 Violations: Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money

Laundering Enforcement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1123

1. 31 U.S.C. § 5314: Report of Foreign Bank and Financial

Accounts (FBARs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1124

2. 31 U.S.C. § 5331(a) & I.R.C. § 6050I: Cash Transaction

Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1124

1086 AMERICAN CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW [Vol. 62:1085

I. INTRODUCTION

This Article outlines the elements, defenses, and sentencing consequences of

select criminal violations

1

of Title 26 of the United States Code, the Internal

Revenue Code (“I.R.C.”).

Section II of this article examines the policies and procedures of Internal

Revenue Service (“IRS”) criminal investigations. In doing so, it addresses the basic

elements of, defenses to, and sanctions for f‌ive principal tax crimes: (i) tax evasion

under I.R.C. § 7201; (ii) willful failure to collect tax under § 7202; (iii) willful fail-

ure to f‌ile taxes under § 7203; (iv) tax perjury and aiding and assisting tax fraud

under § 7206; and (v) interference with the administration of internal revenue laws

under § 7212(a). Sections III and IV examine criminal statutes that may implicate

tax crimes but are not within the I.R.C. Section III details criminal investigations

of conspiracy to violate the tax laws under the “defraud clause” of the general fed-

eral conspiracy statute, 18 U.S.C. § 371. Section IV examines various criminal

statutes within Titles 18 and 31 of the United States Code that relate to tax crimes.

II. CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS UNDER I.R.C. §§ 7201, 7202, 7203, 7206,

AND 7212(A)

Part A of this Section examines the legal landscape of criminal tax investiga-

tions, including the division of responsibility for investigation and prosecution,

constitutional considerations, venue, and the statute of limitations for I.R.C. viola-

tions. Parts B through F of this Section address the elements of, and defenses to,

each of the following offenses: (i) tax evasion and attempted tax evasion; (ii) fail-

ure to collect tax; (iii) failure to f‌ile taxes; (iv) tax perjury and aiding and assisting

tax fraud; and (v) interference with the administration of internal revenue laws.

Part G explains potential punishments set forth by the United States Sentencing

Guidelines (“Guidelines”), as well as possible sentencing enhancements.

A. Legal Landscape of IRS Investigations

1. Responsibility for Investigation and Prosecution

Two IRS divisions enforce tax laws: the Criminal Investigation Division and the

Examination Division. The IRS Criminal Investigation Division (“CI”) is the IRS’s crim-

inal law enforcement agency that investigates potential criminal violations of the I.R.C.

and related crimes.

2

Criminal Investigation (CI) At-a-Glance, INTERNAL REVENUE SERV. (last updated Aug. 19, 2024), https://

www.irs.gov/about-irs/criminal-investigation-ci-at-a-glance; see also U.S. DEP’T OF JUST., CRIM. TAX MANUAL

§ 1.03[1] (2022) [hereinafter DOJ CRIM. TAX MANUAL] (discussing CI administrative investigations).

The IRS’s Examination Division is responsible for civil audits.

3

1. This article focuses on the most serious and common tax crimes. The remaining I.R.C. criminal provisions

are omitted here because they are either relatively minor (such as fraud on submitted copies of Form W-4) or rare

(such as forcible rescue of seized property).

2.

3. See United States v. Peters, 153 F.3d 445, 447 (7th Cir. 1998).

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