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Drug Tax Foils Prosecution of Drug Dealers in Texas
The 5th Amendment of Constitution protects Americans from being punished twice for same crime. This concept, known as “double jeopardy”, caused prosecutors in 1989 to literally beg state comptroller's office to stop accepting tax payments by drug dealers. The reason? A Texas Criminal Court of Appeal ruled that state law assessing taxes on illegal drugs constituted a “punishment”. As a result, requiring payment of tax constituted double jeopardy if taxpayer had already been charged criminally.
In an attempt to get their clients off on drug charges, criminal attorneys began advising them to rush to pay their drug–related taxes. The theory was that once taxes were paid, drug dealer could not be prosecuted because doing so would constitute a second punishment! The appellate court agreed with theory and state comptroller immediately stopped collecting Texas drug tax.
Richard Chapo is CEO of Business Tax Recovery - Obtaining tax refunds for small businesses by finding overlooked tax deductions and credits through a free tax return review.