Can you go to jail for not paying your taxes?

+1 vote
asked Sep 21, 2018 in Law & Legal by Oliverjoliver (260 points)
Can you go to jail for not paying your taxes?

2 Answers

0 votes
answered Sep 21, 2018 by Christeen (70,120 points)
Whether you can go to jail or not for not paying taxes depends on the type of taxes you haven't paid.

If you run a business, collect sales tax and don't pay the sales tax then yes you can go to jail and have your business closed and locked up.

That's called withholding sales tax which can land you in jail or prison for awhile plus be hit with a lot of fines and the loss of your business.

If it's income tax you owe to the IRS then no you cannot go to jail for owing the IRS money.

If you owe the IRS money and cannot pay then they may try to seize bank accounts, freeze bank accounts, seize other property or garnish your wages but the IRS has to take you to court and sue you and win the judgement first.

The only way that you can go to jail or prison because of income tax is if you don't file the income tax at all or you provide false information in order to fraud the IRS and avoid taxes.

But you cannot go to jail or prison for simply owing the IRS money.
0 votes
answered Jul 18, 2023 by Caldecott (25,160 points)
In some cases you can go to jail for not paying taxes and you can even go to prison for failure to pay or report income taxes.

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