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Does the IRS say people who steal property must report that in their tax returns?

By Christiana Dillard
YES

According to Internal Revenue Service Publication 17, you should report stolen property as income.

An IRS spokesperson says the stolen property summary exists because there has not been a tax law passed by Congress to make such income tax-exempt. Therefore, stolen property is considered taxable income.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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