mothman83 t1_j6g7qj6 wrote on January 30, 2023 at 2:34 AM

Reply to comment by xCreamPye69 in ELI5: Why does the IRS want your illegal income declared on tax returns? by xCreamPye69

No they are actually are banned from doing this based only on your declaration. Outright ( see note below)

HOWEVER as you can imagine the amount of big time crooks reporting their illegal income is ummm infinitesimally small, so most of the time this does help catch crooks.

NOTE: If you get audited, you do have to account for the source of all your income . If at that time the IRS sees evidence of a financial crime ( ie MONEY LAUNDERING) which... THEY WILL if you are a big time criminal operator... then they can thro you in jail for that as well.