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A comment on How Billionaire Robert Smith Avoided Indictment in Multimillion-Dollar Tax Case. Parent comment

Re:How Billionaire Robert Smith Avoided Indictment in Multim... by coldtea on Wednesday February 03, 2021 @11:59AM (#26015745)
>My understanding is that if a little guy evades taxes, but then cooperates with the IRS when caught, and agrees to pay all taxes and interest and penalties, then they generally don't get thrown in jail and have all their other money and possessions and responsibilities taken away, as this article seems to imply they should do with billionaires.

Maybe, but that's sort of like how a person who slaps somebody usually doesn't get jail time compared to the person who beats somebody to a pulp.

The billionaire tax cheat has much larger impact on society. And the billionaire has much less justification for doing so (if they pay their taxes properly they're still a billionaire).

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Re:How Billionaire Robert Smith Avoided Indictment in Multim... by narrator on Wednesday February 03, 2021 @03:35PM (#26018769)
The IRS has a lot of leniency because they know paying taxes is hard. Tax Court is one of the few places where you can SOMETIMES claim ignorance of the law as a valid defense to get penalties and such removed.
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