Social Control in the Civil Law - The Case of Income Tax Enforcement (From Law and Deviance, P 185-214, 1981, H Laurence Ross, ed. - See NCJ-85213)

• NCJ Number: 85216
• Author(s): S B Long
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 30 pages
• Grant Number(s): SOC-7825039; 78-NI-AX-132; 79-NI-AX-007
• Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation; National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This discussion of civil tax sanctions examines how they evolved, how often they are applied, and why the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) uses them more frequently than criminal penalties.

Abstract

Wars have been the major changes in Federal revenue statutes occurring in the following main periods: (1) the pre-Civil War era, (2) the Civil War until World War I, (3) World War I through the Depression years, and (4) World War II to the present. Today, income taxes furnish two out of every three Federal tax dollars. The Internal Revenue Service invokes civil penalties far more often than criminal sanctions. About 1 in 10 returns had some penalty assessed in 1977, excluding interest assessments. Rates vary, however, by the type of tax. Highest rates of penalty application occur on employment tax returns and the lowest on individual income tax, excise, estate, and gift tax returns. Corporate income tax returns show intermediate levels, with rates about twice that for income tax returns filed by individuals. Possible reasons why the IRS employs civil over criminal sanctions are (1) the complexity of the tax laws, which makes it difficult to establish criminal intent; (2) the higher costs of pursuing criminal sanctions; and (3) because the taxpayer must take the Government to court to contest civil penalties. Graphic data, 13 notes, and 58 references are provided.