Did you steal a car in 2021? How about taking a bribe? If you did, the IRS says to make sure you report it on your taxes.
Those provisions went viral Monday following a tweet alerting taxpayers to those somewhat surprising requirements to note the value of your ill-gotten gains.
"Tax szn is around the corner," read the tweet from @litcapital. "Remember to report your income from illegal activities and stolen property to the IRS."
The requirements can be found at IRS.gov amid other missives to report income earned from jobs in the gig economy and what to do about taxable alimony payments.
"If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless you return it to its rightful owner in the same year,"' read the provision for stolen property.
What if you're dealing drugs or caught up in other crimes?
In that case, the IRS publication says jot your earnings on line 8z, Schedule 1 of your 1040 form, "or on schedule C ... if from your self-employment activity."
And don't forget to report any bribes or kickbacks you took in the course of doing business.
The kickbacks also go on Schedule 1 or Schedule C, while the IRS says bribes should simply be included in your income.
"If I steal a bunch of tvs from walmart and a homeless man steals them from me can i write that off as a loss?" read one tweet.
"So once you report your stolen stuff you legally get to keep it right? Asking for a friend."
An IRS spokesman confirmed the provisions are on its website but declined to comment further.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2021/12/28/irs-says-stolen-property-must-reported-and-twitter-goes-wild/9035694002/....
Meme reaction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G56VgsLfKY4The US tax code is alleged to be an odd thing weighing in at more than 60,000 pages in length. Whether the IRS was forged in the image of the US tax code or vice versa is up for debate. One thing is for certain. The IRS has many odd quirks and foibles. It does not function in the way most would expect. Most reading this would expect all reports of criminal activity reported in tax documents to be forwarded to local law enforcement. Yet the IRS has maintained a demonstrable degree of confidentiality over the years, and is provably shown to be lawfully bound from sharing confidential data under certain circumstances.
One example of this is illegal immigrants in the USA who report and pay taxes. Most might expect such reports to be forwarded to immigration officials so residents illegally in the country can be deported. But that is not the case. It has been documented in some cases, that the IRS is legally bound and restricted from sharing such personal information regarding immigration. Even if they are connected to ongoing criminal cases.
While I can't say I completely understand the process or future of the IRS in the country. It is quite possible that in the future, the IRS will be legally bound from sharing accounts of criminal activity with law enforcement to guarantee the government reaps a higher share of tax revenues from crime.
I wonder if anyone will really act in a way to report such things, thinking that this will legalize their crime and or at least in some way calm their conscience.
And if he indicated that it was "not legally acquired" - is the fiscal service obliged to transfer the information to the police, for example? Not ? Almost everywhere such a situation will be considered as a concealment or complicity in a crime ... In a word, the situation is somehow crazy 
