‘When the subject is taxes, the government takes a very dim view of lying. So dim, in fact, that Congress has given the I.R.S. a variety of weapons, some quite powerful, to use against people who lie about their taxes.
The mildest provision is misdemeanor Section 7207 of the Internal Revenue Code, which provides that anyone who: willfully delivers or discloses to the [I.R.S.] . . . .any list, statement or other document, known by him to be fraudulent or to be false as to any material matter, shall be fined not more than $1,000, or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both.
Then there are the felony provisions. One is Section 7206(1) of the Internal Revenue Code which provides that anyone who: willfully makes and subscribes any return, statement, or other document, which contains or is verified by a written declaration that it is made under the penalties of perjury, and which he does not believe to be true and correct as to every material matter shall be guilty of a felony and, uponconviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than3 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.
Also available to federal prosecutors for use against people who lie about their taxes is the government’s general perjury statute, another felony:
Whoever, (1) having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe to be true; (2) or in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted more
