BEYOND PARODY: The IRS Reminds Thieves That They Have to Pay Taxes on Stolen Property

The Internal Revenue Service is now reminding thieves that they must report income gained through their crimes.

This would be hilarious, if it wasn’t also a stark reminder of how normalized crimes like robbery and shoplifting have become in recent years.

It gets more difficult to distinguish between parody and reality every day.

The FOX Business Network reported:

Twitter users erupt at IRS’s calls for thieves to report stolen income: ‘Good to know’

The IRS’s bewildering rule about self-reporting income from crimes has caused some Twitter users to mock the federal agency.

According to IRS Publication 525, taxpayers are legally required to report the value of whatever property they stole during the tax year.

“If you steal property, you must report its FMV (Fair Market Value) in your income in the year you steal it, unless in the same year you return it to its rightful owner,” the rule reads.

The same rule applies to bribery, drug deals and other income-earning crimes.

The IRS purportedly uses the information solely for tax purposes and does not hand over any evidence to law enforcement.

The only situation where law enforcement may have access to the information is through court orders.

How is this real?

Remember, the IRS requires you to report all income from illegal activities pic.twitter.com/6I1ocQOzWL

— Genevieve Roch-Decter, CFA (@GRDecter) March 6, 2023

IRS wants thieves to report stolen income. AYFKM! Just when I thought I’ve heard the dumbest thing possible, they prove me wrong!

pic.twitter.com/cXjwrZc0SX

— Mike. #GoBruins #BidenSucks

The Gateway Pundit