Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob.Kerns
Repeat after me: The bill did NOT include ANY provisions for jail time. It simply defined a tax penalty. That is it. Period. LOTS of things come with tax penalties, including under-withholding your taxes. And in this regard, it's no different than ANY other tax provision.
Elsewhere, already in law, are provisions for CRIMINAL tax EVASION. That is, cheating the government (and everyone) by not paying your taxes, deliberately, and with the ability to pay, is criminal, with potential jail time.
THERE IS NO JAIL TIME IN THE BILL (any version). Just a tax.
That is, in fact, what the letter you provided states.
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Let's look at a couple of specific cases. Let's say you object to being covered by Medicare, and so you estimate that portion of your FICA tax, and refuse to pay that much of your taxes.
Or let's say you object to atomic weapons, and estimate that part of the budget, and deduct it from your tax payments.
Or farm subsidies.
If you're stubborn enough about any of these positions, and have the money to pay, YOU MIGHT GO TO JAIL, if you persist in REFUSING to pay.
THAT is the norm. However, for THIS part of your tax bill, unlike all others, that will not happen.
Just because some people decided to scare people into thinking that POOR PEOPLE WHO CAN'T AFFORD INSURANCE MIGHT GO TO JAIL. I think the letter you cite is pretty clear that is neither in the bill, nor a possible consequence of the bill. Yet it is also VERY clear that that is the message that FOX was pushing.