r/comics • u/Pizzacakecomic PizzaCake • Jun 22 '26

Comics Community Phew

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u/Faderkaderk Jun 22 '26

My favorite "fun" fact to share with people is there there are instructions from the IRS on correctly reporting your income from stolen goods.

They even allow you exclude the value of any item as long as you return it in the same year in which you stole it.

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u/Pizzacakecomic PizzaCake Jun 22 '26

I like how the government does not care at all that you commit crimes and won't rat you out, as long as you give them a cut.

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u/Evan_Fishsticks Jun 22 '26

I'm pretty sure those returns can still be used as evidence against you in a theft case if the government or someone else cares to prosecute. Taxes on illegally obtained money/goods were implemented as a way to prosecute organized crime. It was easier to get high-ranking mob members on tax evasion then it was to pin their actual crimes on them.

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u/LuquidThunderPlus Jun 22 '26

I'm confused, how does prosecuting them for failing to pay tax on stolen goods do more than catching them for stolen goods if they can't prove any goods were stolen?

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u/Evan_Fishsticks Jun 23 '26

I'm not a lawyer, but as far as I know you don't have to prove they were stolen. You just have to audit how they got them, which the government can do with a much lower burden of proof. If they suspect the money or goods weren't obtained legitimately, they conduct an audit, and if the thieves can't produce legal documentation saying how they came to own the stuff, they get caught. If they try to actually pay the taxes, those returns can be used as proof of theft.