26 U.S.C. § 7203
Section 7203 · Willful failure to file return, supply information, or pay tax
Amended 6 times on record
Applied in 1,468 court decisions — leading case Grosso v. United States (1968)
Most recently applied in Dan Carman v. Janet Yellen (August 2024)
Applied most in the Ninth Circuit Circuit (150 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 26 U.S.C. § 7201 · 26 U.S.C. § 7206 · 18 U.S.C. § 371
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Any person required under this title to pay any estimated tax or tax, or required by this title or by regulations made under authority thereof to make a return, keep any records, or supply any information, who willfully fails to pay such estimated tax or tax, make such return, keep such records, or supply such information, at the time or times required by law or regulations, shall, in addition to other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $25,000 ($100,000 in the case of a corporation), or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both, together with the costs of prosecution. In the case of any person with respect to whom there is a failure to pay any estimated tax, this section shall not apply to such person with respect to such failure if there is no addition to tax under section 6654 or 6655 with respect to such failure. In the case of a willful violation of any provision of section 6050I, the first sentence of this section shall be applied by substituting “felony” for “misdemeanor” and “5 years” for “1 year”.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1990—Pub. L. 101–647 substituted “substituting ‘felony’ for ‘misdemeanor’ and” for “substituting”.
1988—Pub. L. 100–690 inserted at end “In the case of a willful violation of any provision of section 6050I, the first sentence of this section shall be applied by substituting ‘5 years’ for ‘1 year’.”
1984—Pub. L. 98–369 struck out “(other than a return required under the authority of section 6015)” after “to make a return”.
1982—Pub. L. 97–248, §329(b), substituted “$25,000 ($100,000 in the case of a corporation)” for “$10,000”.
Pub. L. 97–248, §327, inserted last sentence providing that, in the case of any person with respect to whom there is a failure to pay any estimated tax, this section shall not apply to such person with respect to such failure if there is no addition to tax under section 6654 or 6655 with respect to such failure.
1968—Pub. L. 90–364 struck out reference to section 6016.
Effective Date of 1990 Amendment
Section 3303(c) of Pub. L. 101–647 provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply to actions, and failures to act, occurring after the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 29, 1990].”
Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 100–690 applicable to actions after Nov. 18, 1988, see section 7601(a)(3) of Pub. L. 100–690, set out as a note under section 6050I of this title.
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 98–369 applicable with respect to taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 1984, see section 414(a)(1) of Pub. L. 98–369, set out as a note under section 6654 of this title.
Effective Date of 1982 Amendment
Amendment by section 329(b) of Pub. L. 97–248 applicable to offenses committed after Sept. 3, 1982, see section 329(e) of Pub. L. 97–248, set out as a note under section 7201 of this title.
Effective Date of 1968 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 90–364 applicable with respect to taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 1967, except as provided by section 104 of Pub. L. 90–364, see section 103(f) of Pub. L. 90–364, set out as a note under section 243 of this title.
Cross References
Cost in criminal proceedings, see section 1918 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Effective date of this chapter, see section 7851 of this title.
Information returns, see section 6031 et seq. of this title.
Persons required to make returns—
Estate tax, see section 6018 of this title.
Gift tax, see section 6019 of this title.
Income tax, see section 6012 of this title.
Period of limitation on criminal prosecution for offense of willfully failing to pay any tax or make a return, see section 6531 of this title.