News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:The New York Times Calls for Marijuana Legalization by ahomescu1 on Saturday July 26, 2014 @10:49PM (#8091787)
> It's a crime to not pay taxes, or to not send your children to school, and the government punishes you if you commit those crimes.

In the US (and a few other countries), homeschooling is legal. In addition, if you don't pay your taxes, the IRS might take your stuff or paycheck (as others here have said), not necessarily throw you in jail.

Re:The New York Times Calls for Marijuana Legalization by matt-attack on Sunday July 27, 2014 @01:51AM (#8092102)
Homeschooling could easily be described as "sending your children to school" The mere fact that the school is located in your home doesn't really matter.

And plenty of people go to jail for tax fraud. Al Capone probably being the most notorious example.

Re:The New York Times Calls for Marijuana Legalization by ahomescu1 on Sunday July 27, 2014 @04:10AM (#8092252)
Actually, AFAIK, Al Capone went to prison for tax evasion; Wesley Snipes is a good example of imprisonment for tax fraud. Those are related, but not strictly the same (for example, Wikipedia says that in Switzerland tax evasion is a misdemeanor, but tax fraud is an actual crime). I have no trouble believing that plenty of people go to prison for tax fraud.

It may seem like there's a thin line between them, but IMHO tax fraud requires a lot more effort and ill intent than tax evasion (it may even be possible to not even know all the taxes you have to pay, like use tax in some US states).