26 U.S.C. § 7214
Section 7214 · Offenses by officers and employees of the United States
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 144 court decisions — leading case Gorin v. United States (1963)
Most recently applied in Jimenez v. Dept. of Rev. (December 2021)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 18 U.S.C. § 201 · 18 U.S.C. § 2 · 26 U.S.C. § 7433
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 officer or employee of the United States acting in connection with any revenue law of the United States—
(1) who is guilty of any extortion or willful oppression under color of law; or
(2) who knowingly demands other or greater sums than are authorized by law, or receives any fee, compensation, or reward, except as by law prescribed, for the performance of any duty; or
(3) who with intent to defeat the application of any provision of this title fails to perform any of the duties of his office or employment; or
(4) who conspires or colludes with any other person to defraud the United States; or
(5) who knowingly makes opportunity for any person to defraud the United States; or
(6) who does or omits to do any act with intent to enable any other person to defraud the United States; or
(7) who makes or signs any fraudulent entry in any book, or makes or signs any fraudulent certificate, return, or statement; or
(8) who, having knowledge or information of the violation of any revenue law by any person, or of fraud committed by any person against the United States under any revenue law, fails to report, in writing, such knowledge or information to the Secretary; or
(9) who demands, or accepts, or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly as payment or gift, or otherwise, any sum of money or other thing of value for the compromise, adjustment, or settlement of any charge or complaint for any violation or alleged violation of law, except as expressly authorized by law so to do;
shall be dismissed from office or discharged from employment and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $10,000, or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. The court may in its discretion award out of the fine so imposed an amount, not in excess of one-half thereof, for the use of the informer, if any, who shall be ascertained by the judgment of the court. The court also shall render judgment against the said officer or employee for the amount of damages sustained in favor of the party injured, to be collected by execution.
Any internal revenue officer or employee interested, directly or indirectly, in the manufacture of tobacco, snuff, or cigarettes, or in the production, rectification, or redistillation of distilled spirits, shall be dismissed from office; and each such officer or employee so interested in any such manufacture or production, rectification, or redistillation or production of fermented liquors shall be fined not more than $5,000.
For penalty on collecting or disbursing officers trading in public funds or debts of property, see 18 U.S.C. 1901.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1976—Subsec. (a)(8). Pub. L. 94–455 struck out “or his delegate” after “Secretary”.
1958—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 85–859 struck out a cross reference that related to penalty imposed for unlawfully removing or permitting to be removed distilled spirits from a bonded warehouse.
Effective Date of 1958 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 85–859 effective Sept. 3, 1958, see section 210(a)(1) of Pub. L. 85–859, set out as Effective Date note under section 5001 of this title.
Cross References
Bribery, graft, and conflicts of interests, see section 201 et seq. of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.
Effective date of this chapter, see section 7851 of this title.
Period of limitation on criminal prosecutions, see section 6531 of this title.