>They must prove you committed a crime AND you get convicted before it is a crime. So imagine this scenario. You win the lottery, and you want to share it with your family, but you don’t want them to have to pay taxes on the gift, so you write up contracts for loans, as you described, with all of your extended family that you give gifts to. You are saying that you have not committed tax fraud by doing this, correct? So several years later, say your nephew goes to the IRS and says, “I just can’t live with this on my conscience anymore, my uncle gave gifts to my whole family disguised as loans so we wouldn’t have to pay taxes on it,” and provides them with all necessary documentation that proves this is what you did. So the IRS takes you to court and you’re found guilty and thrown in prison for tax fraud. You’re saying that NOW you have committed tax fraud, since you’ve been found guilty? You’re saying that your original actions weren’t a crime UNTIL several years later when your nephew turned you in? Come on man, don’t be retarded. You committed a crime in the beginning, you just didn’t get *caught* until later. If what you were doing wasn’t a crime, there would be no ability for you to get *caught* doing it