Many people often joke that death is usually better than taxes, because taxes happen every year. Many people tend to view paying taxes as being too much trouble, often failing to understand that income taxes are the reasons why they can avail of many services such as a less costly or free public education, and why the government is able to have a budget they can use to protect and address the needs of the population as a whole. There are many far-reaching legal consequences of income tax non-payment that people should be made aware of before they try to shirk paying or try to use other means to avoid them altogether.
First, if people are caught trying to avoid paying their income tax, then they will have their cases brought to court after constant demands from the Inland Revenue requesting you to pay up. If you owe less than $2000 in taxes, your case will usually be made in the Magistrate's Court. For income tax dues higher than $2,000, the case will be brought to the County Court instead, and all are usually private hearings. The only evidence that is often needed during this occasion is a document from the IRS that states that you owe them a specified amount for income tax payment. You are free to make a case and state your defense regarding the reasons why you refuse to pay your income tax, but usually the judge sums up the case in the Inland Revenue's favor, unless you can provide a legal reason otherwise.
Upon being found guilty, some punishments can be met out. Certain goods or possessions that you may own, whose amount is equivalent to the income tax owed, may be taken away. These often include possessions such as electronic equipments, antiques, and valuables. You have to be the owner of these possessions; joint accounts that you are sharing with anyone else, or any other possessions in your keeping that do not explicitly belong to you, will not be confiscated. This is usually a result of continued refusal to pay the tax, even after the court has issued a warning to you to do so. Bailiffs are free to take anything of value that they can find in your house that amounts to the owed money, but they usually are allowed to take up to three times the amount owed as a failsafe in case the goods do not sell at the value that they expect it to have. If the amount sold does exceed the amount owed, then the excess will be returned to you. Sometimes a warrant can be issued to seize these goods.
Moreover, the Inland Revenue can also choose to hold your money in the bank, or hols certain property that you own. They do not need to warn you before doing so, and this is usually done more frequently than repossessing your goods. As another means to take back what you owe from income taxes, the Inland Revenue may also choose to contact your employer to have a certain amount deducted from your salary monthly, until the payment is made in full.
Continued refusal to pay for your income taxes though, may also result in you going to prison. This is a very rare occurrence, and there are very few cases where this has happened, however.
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