Louisiana Residents Reminded to Report Income From Illegal Activities

With each new year comes "Tax Time"  and the IRS has a reminder for all of us reporting our income in Louisiana.

If you didn't know, you must report all of your income earnings when on tax returns, and that includes income you may have earned from illegal activities.

While the message from the IRS may be entertaining to some, they are serious about you reporting all of your earnings from the previous year.

Sure, some may try to skate around reporting earnings, but if you have made money from doing something illegal, the IRS reminds you that you must still report that as part of your income.

For example, if someone is selling drugs illegally, the IRS does require that they report their earnings from selling drugs. Will someone doing anything illegal follow the laws set by the IRS? Probably not, but that individual is still required to report money made by doing something illegal in this country.

The income gained by doing something illegal will be filed under "other income" and nowhere do you have to report how you gained that income. Thus, the IRS does not want to know what you did to earn the money, they just want you to report it.

In addition to the income you may earn by doing something illegal, the IRS reminds you that you must also report the value of anything that you may have stolen when filing taxes.

Reporting earnings from illegal activities falls under what they call "The Al Capone Rule." If you recall, Capone and many others were sent to jail for tax evasion after they did not report earnings from selling drugs.

We should note here, that some incomes you earn may be tax-exempt, and if you're not aware of what falls under those exemptions, you should consult with a CPA or tax attorney.

The deadline to file your Federal taxes is April 15th.