The IRS Tell Thieves They Have to Pay Taxes on Stolen Property

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The Internal Revenue Service IRS is reminding theives that they must report any income gained through their crimes.

No, this is not satire….

The federal agency, which is not surprisingly being widely mocked for the ridiculous rule, said it also applied to bribery, drug deals and other income-earning crimes.

Some Twitter users have asked if getaway cars and ski masks are eligible deductibles

Fox News business reports: According to IRS Publication 525, taxpayers are legally required to report the value of whatever property they stole during the tax year.

“If you steal property, you must report its FMV (Fair Market Value) in your income in the year you steal it, unless in the same year you return it to its rightful owner,” the rule reads.

The same rule applies to bribery, drug deals and other income-earning crimes.

The IRS purportedly uses the information solely for tax purposes and does not hand over any evidence to law enforcement. 

The only situation where law enforcement may have access to the information is through court orders. 

“The IRS be like: Get money wherever you can, but I need my cut!” one Twitter user said.

“This is the best thing I’ve learned in a while,” an amused commentator wrote.

“Don’t forget to fill out a 1099 after a game of Monopoly,” another said facetiously.

Unsurprisingly, many Twitter users humorously pretended to be criminals themselves.

“Does anyone know if you can deduct costs for the getaway car, masks, etc?” one user said.

“In what section do you disclose that you are cheating on your tax return? Asking for a friend,” another asked.

12 Comments

  1. It’s about time too. Most money transactions on the planet are black market. Its s estimated that it’s 5 times the legitimate money market. People should be assessed on their expenditures as their income really plus their savings investments and including their rolexs and other “currencies”. Tax should have access to their insurance forms their investments shares personal items jewsllerues and the drug dealers favourite their car collections.

  2. The IRS policy of demanding money that is the proceeds of crime makes the IRS and it’s management accessories to the crime, it also implies that the federal government is happy to steal from it’s honest citizens, every official who is happy with this should be jailed and prevented from practicing any profession if they are released from custody. Insurance companies have clauses in their policies that make the policy void, if the policy holder commits a crime, because if an insurer were to insure criminal activity and profit from it, they would become accessories to the crime.

  3. You did know that’s how they convicted Al Capone for not paying taxes on his bootlegging operation.

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