"One case I found a lot of unreported income, which is a big 'drug dealer' warning sign. They were Colombian, traveled back to Colombia constantly. She did 'window treatment' and apparently traveled to Colombia to get fabric? Yeah, that's not the least bit suspicious.
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"The drapes are for my glaucoma!"
"The initial tax due for this couple was $74,000, and I told them I expected we'd do an installment agreement. ... Most people don't take a hit like that easily, but these people didn't give two shits about it. Their accountant was like, 'We'll just pay it in full.' I tried to prove it was fraud, but their accountant had immediately fessed up to the errors they made: 'Oh, we missed reporting this and this deposit.' And because he was forthcoming about those deposits, we didn't have much cause to charge him with."
In other words, as long as you accurately report what you made, they don't particularly care how you made it. So if you are a drug dealer, the IRS has no issues taking your dough and ignoring all the felonies. In fact, they actually have a box for that -- Form 1040, line 21, to be specific. That's where you report the money you earn from dealing drugs, gambling, hosting bum fights, etc. The IRS doesn't care what illegal enterprise you operated, as long as you declare your income so Uncle Sam can get his cut.
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And paying him in product is not an acceptable substitute.