Section 7203 of the Internal Revenue Code provides that:
Any person required under this title to pay any.. .tax, or required by this title or by regulations made under authority thereof to make a return. . . keep any records, or supply any information, who willfully fails to pay such. . . tax, make such return, keep such records, supply such information, at the time or times required by law or regulations shall, in addition to other penalties provided by law [be guilty of a crime].
‘Failing” to File
Here’s the typical failure to file situation: April 15th rolls around, and the taxpayer neither requests an extension of time to file, nor files a tax return. Or the taxpayer, with every intention of filing, doesn’t get around to it in time. That, too, is failure to file. And the delinquency lasts forever it’s not cured by a late filing. ‘While the I.R.S. may not bother you if you file late, it can.
Did you neglect to sign your tax return, either accidentally or on purpose? Technically, your unsigned return is no return at all.
These are easy cases. But there’s one that’s hard one that can put you in a “damned if you do/damned if you don’t” position. Suppose you’re willing to file a tax return but have a real conflict. You may be afraid to answer truthfully because you may be confessing to a crime. At the same time you may be afraid to answer falsely because you don’t want to violate Internal Revenue Code Section 7206(1) [providing false information], not to mention any other federal perjury statute. And you may be afraid that filing a blank or incomplete return (as a matter of principle) might be considered “no return” laying you open to prosecution for a Section 7203 failure to file violation. more
