Hastings Law Journal Volume 60 | Issue 6 Article 13 1-2009 Closing the Tax Gap: Encouraging Voluntary Compliance through Mass-Media Publication of High-Profile Tax Issues Elizabeth Branham Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Elizabeth Branham, Closing the Tax Gap: Encouraging Voluntary Compliance through Mass-Media Publication of High-Profile Tax Issues, 60 Hastings L.J. 1507 (2009). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal/vol60/iss6/13 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Law Journal by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Closing the Tax Gap: Encouraging Voluntary Compliance Through Mass-Media Publication of High-Profile Tax Issues ELIZABETH BRANHAM* INTRODUCTION Taxes and tax policies affect every American, young and old, rich and poor. Because of their pervasive effect, it is only natural that in a world increasingly consumed by celebrity obsession, important issues arising from celebrity tax evasion, whether criminal or not, are brought to the fore. Recently, this has been true of well-known individuals such as Wesley Snipes, Joe Francis, and Richard Hatch.' However, the publication of high-profile tax prosecutions is not a new phenomenon. In the 1920S the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) prosecuted Al Capone; in the197os Vice President Spiro Agnew faced tax evasion charges; and in the i98os Leona Helmsley was forced to spend time in jail for tax evasion! The difference between modem tax evaders and those of the late 9oos is that in the last two decades, the rise of the Internet and celebrity gossip magazines has made celebrities both more visible and more obvious embodiments of social values and norms.