According to Section 7201 of the US Internal Revenue Code, tax evasion is considered a federal crime. It also lists two ways that it can be committed. The first involves the willful attempt to evade or defeat the assessment of your taxes, while the other one involves the willful attempt to evade or defeat a tax payment. The prosecution must be able to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that you performed these actions with deliberate intent, so the term “willful” is an important one. Federal tax crimes are serious. And if you’re convicted, you could be facing some serious consequences. The justice system doesn’t look too fondly on people who are convicted of tax crimes, so you can expect to get the harshest possible penalty — some which can limit your ability to find employment or even run your own business.