The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) lost a must-win case against actor Wesley Snipes, who was brought up on a slew of federal charges related to income tax fraud. Instead, he was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of failure to file income taxes and will be sentenced soon.
Snipes and his anti-tax compatriots had attempted to use arguments that had already been rejected by the courts in other less high-profile cases against income tax evaders. And the defense apparently worked as the jury found Snipes not guilty on the felony charges but stuck him with the misdemeanors.
The IRS decided to make an example of Snipes so that other rich income tax evaders would be discouraged from doing what Snipes did in failing to file.
What will be the fallout from the IRS failure to convict Snipes on the more serious charges? I think it's entirely possible that others will be more encouraged to go against the IRS, rather than be discouraged. His partners drew the felony convictions, but Snipes got let off. I've known two people who believe as Snipes does; the IRS caught up to both of them.
One, a college professor who I've known most of my life, had his wages garnished until he was caught up. I don't know if he still holds to these beliefs. The other is someone who I've met in the last five years. He got a warning letter from the IRS as he had not filed in several years; he decided not to go against the "revenooers" (as he calls them) and got with a specialist, who negotiated with the IRS to get him caught up. He wrote out a big check to the IRS and has filed taxes on time the last two years. Both are lucky that they weren't sent to jail.
I almost wonder if the tax code will be altered due to the potential ramifications of this loss in court. What would have happened if Snipes had gotten off completely? The fall-out from that would have been unbelievable.
Don't look for me to follow Mr. Snipes' example. I've already filed.
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