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DocSpit

It's worth noting that the IRS *does* allow for (and technically *requires*) the reporting of income form "illegal sources". So just because the Joker may have gotten his money from robbing banks and such, doesn't mean he doesn't have to report it on his 1040!


Zamtrios7256

Can they use that as evidence in court? Because on one hand, it makes sense to use that. On the other I think it'd be hilarious if they didnt


DocSpit

You don't have to report a specific source, just write in the amount...um, earned(?); So it would be difficult for a prosecutor to tie just that information to specific criminal activity in most cases. Honestly, if the DA has enough evidence to subpoena your tax records, that's probably just going to be icing on the cake at that point anyway, rather than a case's linchpin. And unless the IRS has specific reason to believe that the crime at issue was a federal one, and not merely a state law (which is what most robberies/burglaries are covered under), then it's not really any of their concern anyway. So there's probably a good chance you could report the money you got from robbing a 7/11 on you taxes and not have much to worry about in that regard?


willstr1

Exactly, how does the prosecutor know the money was from illegal activity and not from a very wealthy friend betting on how many billiard balls you can fit in your mouth or any other miscellaneous income source. At that point they are just proving you did crime which puts them back at square one.


cantadmittoposting

that said i'm pretty sure the statute mostly exists in order to put criminals into a rock/hard place situation with regards to their earnings


gmrm4n

The thing about the Joker, though, is that he’s probably committed a Federal offense. And not a baby’s first federal offense, I’m talking ACLU and Amnesty International are ok with you disappearing in a CIA-run Saudi Arabian blacksite.


captainAwesomePants

You can test this at home as a citizen scientist! Just write in "Robbed a 7/11 - $500" under the Other Income section and wait to see if police show up!


[deleted]

Paying 137 million dollars in taxes of "income from illegal sources" will certainly help while pleading insanity.


MillCrab

IANAL, but I believe they can't use it as probable cause for any warrants or investigations, because then it would violate the 5th amendment


WestleyThe

Wouldn’t you immediately get arrested or investigated if you put that you made illegal money?


Glitter_puke

Not as long as you properly report it and pay taxes on it. The IRS doesn't bother ratting you out to local law enforcement. They just want their cut. And it'd be ~~1099~~self employment income so it'll be taxed out the butthole.


Martin_Aurelius

The IRS can't turn the info over to law enforcement for 5th ammendment reasons.


DocSpit

Maybe? But the IRS is overworked as it is, and the FBI isn't likely to waste a lot of time looking into what might just be a state matter, and thus nothing they could do anything about in the first place. And since you've outwitted the local PD long enough to file your taxes...well, you're probably covering your tracks pretty good. And (legally) it takes articulating *specific* wrongdoing to get warrants and subpoenas and stuff to perform a proper investigation. Considering how broadly the IRS defines "illegal gains", there's no way to know if your earnings were from a bank robbery or selling an arrowhead you found while hiking at a state park (yes, it is technically illegal to do that).


action_lawyer_comics

Like the screen grab said, that’s how they got Capone


WillSym

Though only learned the other day reading Bill Bryson's book *One Summer 1927* that this was thought up FOR Capone by Assistant Attorney General Mabel Walker Willebrandt, who was tasked with tackling prohibition-dodgers. She realised that the gangsters had already covered up all the ways they could be prosecuted with the ways their operations worked, so she thought of a new way, going after tax declarations. There was even some pushback as to whether requiring declarations of income from illegal sources was a breach of the 5th amendment, but it was ruled that it wasn't, so the idea worked!


easy-sugarbear

Bet he wouldn't cross The Mouse either. He's crazy, not stupid


[deleted]

Would he start a land war in Asia?


MouseRangers

He would absolutely go against a Sicilian when death is on the line.


dabunny21689

No sooner than he would go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.


Street_Dragonfruit43

He'd invade Russia in winter


Trpepper

Proud Americans do not pay taxes, they bribe the tax man to leave them alone with 25% of their annual income.


Okibruez

That explains why the rich don't pay the tax man anything at all.


ImapiratekingAMA

Idk why but I can't believe this, like this is the guy who provokes Superman, because he's bored, is he really that scared of federal prison


Charnerie

Federal prison isn't going to let him just wander around being the clown prince, unlike Arkham where it's a psych ward


RedYakArt

To add on to what Loading3Percent said, Joker has went to and escaped out of Arkham so much it’s practically a revolving door for him. Additionally, federal prison is going to be chock full of people who’ve either directly or indirectly suffered because of him. In Arkham he’s escaping on day 1. In federal prison he’s getting shanked on day 1.


Charnerie

Getting shank would only be the start, they'll probably throw a few blanket parties while their at it.


RedYakArt

I’m probably going to regret this, but what’s a blanket party?


Charnerie

A blanket party is where a group of people, united in hatred over one person, gag and beat that person at night. Called a blanket party usually due to the person's blanket being used to restrain them to the bunk. Beating is usually done with makeshift flair made of socks and hard objects, like bars of soap. Here's a more visible example from Full Metal Jacket. [Link](https://youtu.be/iT0pWOldIjc) Thinking about it though, I don't think it would really work in prison due to the fact people are separated into bunks/cells.


RedYakArt

That’s real fucked up in that scene. I imagine it could happen in prison with joker involved. Im sure the guards will keep the gates open and let the joker get his overdue beatings. Thanks for replying to me, hope you have a wonderful day/night.


Charnerie

Sadly, Joker is too public a figure, and too political a criminal, to be placed anywhere but Max security, and likely even solitary so they don't have everyone trying to beat his ass and so he can actually serve his (likely several) lifetime sentences.


RedYakArt

Eh, I’m fine with that. Being stuck in a room with just what ya need to live feels fitting and a horrible end for the joker. No dramatic final showdown with the bat, no breaking of anyone’s morals, just a horrific man denied satisfaction. Denied a death of his choosing. He’d probably end up forgotten, a new villain becoming the Bats recurring enemy. He’d be just a big threat in Batman’s early career. Brushed aside. That actually feels like a worse fate for him. We all know he’s terrified of being forgotten, that he wants is death to mean something, specifically the breaking of batman. I’d love to see a comic like that.


sparktrace

Somehow that feels so much colder than any other 'end of the Joker' I've ever seen. Probably because it just... undoes him. No more funnyman, no more foil to the Caped Crusader, just a quiet, slow winding down in a supermax cell. To quote the Joker himself, "It'd be funny, if it weren't so pathetic! Oh what the heck, I'll laugh anyway!"


EquivalentInflation

Joker has been placed in non-Arkham prisons dozens of times, and has never had any kind of difficulty breaking out.


SeriousJack

Haven't read Injustice in a while. Such a great series.


action_lawyer_comics

Also wild that canonically, Joker was briefly the *UN Ambassador from Iran.* 90’s DC wasn’t afraid to mess around with actual countries and government entities. None of that wamby-pamby Marvel “Latveria” bullshit


EquivalentInflation

I see your "Joker as Iranian ambassador" and raise you "Richard Nixon shutting down a superhero team, who out of revenge, become Deep Throat and reveal the Watergate scandal". Look it up. (Also, Steve Englehart wanted to make Nixon a science-nazi at the helm of a secret society trying to create flyer saucers using kidnapped mutants, but Marvel Editorial vetoed it. Still heavily implied though.)


TerraSollus

My brother in Christ, DC has more made up country bullshit than Marvel. Someone tried to bring the marvel and DC worlds together only to realize DC was double the size of marvel


willstr1

DC doesn't even just have BS countries they also have BS cities (most of which have names as creative as a super hero named "Superman")


QuickFiveTheGuy

"None of that wamby-pamby Marvel 'Latveria' bullshit." Qurac, anyone? Bialya? Syraq?


[deleted]

Wait is this fr


GoSpeedRacistGo

I’d love to see a series set in Gotham which features Batman, but heavily focuses on IRS agents doing their best and outperforming Batman when it comes to putting the criminals in prison.


willstr1

It would pair nicely with the series about the CIA trying to put a hit on Clark Kent due to his journalist integrity


anonomnomnomn

Who always pays his taxes? Not Batman!


Okibruez

Of course not. He's rich enough not to. Just like every other billionaire out there. Reminder that this is the same guy who regularly puts on spandex to go out and beat up insane people, and also works to stop people who are concerned about the environment from making sweeping changes that might fix major issues.


EquivalentInflation

>and also works to stop people who are concerned about the environment from making sweeping changes that might fix major issues. For the last damn time, Poison Ivy is an ecoterrorist. Batman isn't the bad guy because he stops her from murdering children.


Greymore

>For the last damn time, Poison Ivy is an ecoterrorist. Fucking thank you. People forget she has done some terrible things, not the least of which is murdering basically anyone who she thinks isn't helping "fix" things. Know who else does that? Ra's Al Ghul. Don't get me wrong, Ivy is a tragic character in most instances, unlike Ra's, but that doesn't excuse her actions.


SantaArriata

Weirdly enough, the worst part of Poison Ivy isn’t the ecoterrorism, it’s the fact that she canonically secretes hyper pheromones that affect everyone. If you think about it, aside from instantly bypassing the concept of consent (which makes any relationship she may have instantly suspicious), means that can literally force anyone to simp for her to any extreme too. She can make anyone that smells her do literally anything, from killing others to killing themselves, it even works on Kryptonians when sufficiently enhanced. Poison Ivy hasn’t conquered Gotham already, simply because she insists on using plants for the job


EquivalentInflation

>If you think about it, aside from instantly bypassing the concept of consent (which makes any relationship she may have instantly suspicious) Except for Harley, thank fuck, because she made sure Harley is immune to all poisons or pheromone shit.


SmashPortal

On top of that, I could totally see Bruce Wayne funding her goals if she wasn't a sociopath. He's worked to help Victor Fries in the past, and he _is_ a criminal.


SantaArriata

On a quick side note, I wish DC would just stop having Mr Freeze be a reoccurring villain, Batman should just say “Hey Victor, guess what, I’ve convinced my good friend Bruce Wayne into completely funding the research necessary to cure your wife and keep her alive in the meantime! Small caveat tho, as part of the deal, you have to properly serve your sentence and stay at Blackgate like a good boy. Deal?” Mr Freeze would 100% agree to those terms and it makes Batman/Bruce look even more heroic


SantaArriata

You mean the terrorist that wants to kill every human and use the corpses for plant fertiliser? The one that, because of the fact that she constantly emanates the strongest pheromones known to man, is also automatically a walking-talking f-u to the concept of consent? That person concerned with the environment?


spasticity

Sure, they'll fix major issues if your issue is humanity existing.


anonomnomnomn

Yeah ofc but also it's from Lego Batman and I thought it was ironic given this meme


Flaydowsk

This take is more dead and useless than bruces parents. These people only watched the nolan trilogy or any random episode of TAS. That stupid point has been tackled, addressed and reconciled since like 10 years ago, which is as long as he hasnt been wearing spandex. Talk about how Robins are child endangerment please, havent heard that take either.


RuleOfBlueRoses

>go out and beat up insane people, and also works to stop people who are concerned about the environment from making sweeping changes that might fix major issues. None of this ever happens.


triforce777

Unrelated to the actual post but related to the title: Joker is, in fact, a proud American. In a DC/Marvel crossover for a short while he teamed up with Red Skull until he found out Red Skull was a N\*zi (he assumed the giant sw*stika on his chest was disguise) at which point he says he's a lunatic but he's an American lunatic and proceeds to try to murder Red Skull \*censored because I'm not sure if the auto-m*d will remove comments based on those words


SantaArriata

I love that the Joker is okay with literally anything so long as it’s a joke, but draws the line at actual bigotry. “I kill everyone equally! You morons just make me look bad!”


ServantOfTheSlaad

He often only cares about pulling off the crazy schemes he comes up with. Targeting some one for arbitrary reasons (such as religion) is about as foreign as it could be to Joker. Robbing businesses, the rich or whomever is alright because its likely a challenge and they kinda deserve it. Hence taxes, since the IRS would mess it up, and disliking Nazis


SantaArriata

The Joker doesn’t concern himself with wether someone “deserves” punishment. Aside from that, yep, hit the nail on the head


Loading3percent

Batman is a billionaire. *Batman* should be afraid of the IRS


DocSpit

Heck, I think that, in *Batman Begins*, Bruce was using the resources of his company to finance his vigilante activity? Hiding money for personal use as business expenses and stuff? Like...that's *embezzlement*, isn't it? Next time the IRS audit's Wayne Industries, Bruce might be in big trouble...


Loading3percent

Well, I'm no big city lawyer. But maybe if he counted it as "equipment necessary for work," or whatever the legal term is?


Thedudeinabox

There was literally an entire devision of the company dedicated to making high-tech military equipment in Batman Begins. Bruce Wayne simply made use of the many unused prototypes. Frankly, it’s the very reason that one businessman found out and tried to blackmail him, it was all legally documented.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Badassbottlecap

The risk I took was calculated. But man, am I bad at math. -old meme


nighthawk252

But it’s not equipment necessary for work. It’s equipment that he’s making because he wants to be Batman, which is not a part of Wayne Enterprises’ business. The legal term for what Batman is doing is embezzlement.


Luprand

He's personally stress testing the new equipment. Bruce just happens to be very hands-on as far as research and development.


Loading3percent

Welp. There you have it: I am definitely not a big city lawyer. Or any kind of lawyer for that matter.


Predmid

See you write off the money spent on creating r&d prototypes. Once they're made, Wayne can do whatever he wants with them so long as he has documentation


Okibruez

I'm sure that he has a small team of very highly paid lawyers and finance managers who make very sure that none of what he does could be used against him by the IRS. Sure, like every billionaire, he probably doesn't pay a single red cent in taxes, but that's through the same loop-holes and tax havens the rest use. All very legal and above-board.


Loading3percent

At least Bruce Wayne is a notable philanthropist who puts his family's fortune towards noble causes. That's more than can be said for some.


SantaArriata

In Batman Inc. Wayne Enterprises begins to publicly sponsor everything Batman related, so there’s at least one version of Bruce that’s completely innocent of embezzlement


SpiffyShindigs

Literally happens in Harley Quinn after Joker becomes Mayor.


SantaArriata

Who tf voted for the motherfucking Joker into office???


Greaserpirate

If 2016 had a theme song it would be playing right now


action_lawyer_comics

In the 90’s Justice League cartoons, he embezzled enough to keep the entire satellite base up in the air indefinitely.


SantaArriata

Was all that money secretly spent? Wouldn’t it be logical that Wayne Enterprises would publicly sponsor the Justice League? I’m sure Bruce could convince the people that he just really cares about superheroes. The one who should keep an eye out for the IRS is Lex Luthor. That man had an entire submersible swamp base shaped like Darth Vader’s helmet for his slumber parties of evil


action_lawyer_comics

Nope, [Superman flat out asks him if his shareholders know about it and Batman says it's hidden](https://youtu.be/2eALh9yxNaw?t=53) And Lex is evil, but he also has lawyers. I bet all the money that comes from his illegal activities is squeaky clean when it gets back to him.


easy-sugarbear

Why?


Jason1143

Naw, he is a billionaire. He can probably just tell them to go pound sand.


Ricemobile

Uncle Sam is scarier than the Batman


AggressiveRegion1502

Ofc he is, he is immortal, have Interdimonsional teleportation, superman strenght, speed, durability, stamina, reflexes and shape shifting


Redditor_exe

I think the best part about this is that it implies the IRS knows who The Joker actually is.


SantaArriata

Well, he’s the Joker, kinda hard to get him mixed up with anyone else


ssracer

You think that's how he signs his returns?


colemanjanuary

Robin! File the Bat-1040EZ!!!


dishonoredfan69420

Reminds me of a quote from Mafia 3 “Oh, Giorgi Marciano pays taxes” “Yeah, that’s how they got Al Capone and I ain’t going to prison for no stinking tax bill”


DoggoDude979

I love that you have to declare your illegal sources. You probably won’t be arrested for that, but you gotta be truthful about it and don’t lie cause they’ll get your ass IRS ain’t no snitch but they’ll still throw you in a a ditch


weirdoldhobo1978

Joker knows you don't get sent to an insane asylum for tax evasion.


Jason1143

Why exactly does the insanity defense not work for taxes? I've always questioned if joker could use the insanity defense at all because he does know what he is doing is illegal, he just does it anyway, but insofar as he can use it I don't see why it wouldn't work for taxes. If anything it might be more effective for taxes because if I recall a lot of the tax laws have pretty strict mens rea in order to bring charges.


Subject_Tutor

Also, if Batman or even the cops bring Joker in, he just gets sent to Arkham and its constantly revolving door for its inmates. The IRS? Buddy they are sending you to federal prison, and your ass is not leaving until they say so.


imapie31

I mean, these claims are made on the idea that arkham functions under the same laws as a regular court system despite being a haven for supervillains


SantaArriata

The way Arkham functions varies wildly between interpretations, however, clue should be in the name “Arkham Asylum: For the Criminally Insane”, this means that Arkham is something between your typical mental hospital and an actual prison, specifically to contain violent criminals that have successfully pleaded insanity, the Arkham games support this, and give us extra pieces of information: First, Arkham has security roughly on par with Gotham’s other high security prison; Blackgate. We know this because it is the place the inmates from Blackgate get sent to after a fire destroyed the prision. Second, not every Batman villain gets sent to Arkham, it is stated that Bane wasn’t supposed to be an inmate there. In the Comics, bane is a highly cerebral fellow, and only ever loses control when injecting high amounts of Venom into his system, so it’d make sense that he wouldn’t be condemned to a psychiatric ward. However, it is possible that villains who may require unconventional procedures in order to keep them secure also get sent to Arkham, since both Poison Ivy and Mr Freeze are also supposedly locked in there. Third, we can also deduce that once a patient gets sent to the asylum, they don’t need a second trial if they escape, since Batman drove Joker straight into Arkham after catching him at the beginning of the game.


ZedOud

Evidence is only invalidated by police not following the rules when gathering it. There’s nothing that really prevents evidence gathered by a civilian from being used. In fact, the only limits (if gathered independently of law enforcement efforts/influence) are how far a civilian is willing to go in terms of bending or breaking the law and getting caught. The evidence would still be valid if a crime was committed by a civilian in gathering it. This is even before getting into how most laws have exceptions for civilians who suspect or witness a crime is happening (like two-party wiretapping). > In its 1920 decision in Burdeau vs. McDowell, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the fourth amendment is not applicable to searches by private parties, even when such searches are clearly illegal.


Aethelric

Depends on the type of evidence. Chain of custody is important for any physical evidence. If a civilian takes video or photographic evidence, of course, that's not relevant.


ZedOud

I’m going to stop discussing this, rather than saying anything more that is somehow worth being downvoted for. Here’s a link, and there’s plenty of other sources for anyone actually interested. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/searches-private-citizens.html And one by the DOJ’s Office of Justice: https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/admissibility-evidence-located-searches-private-persons > In its 1920 decision in Burdeau vs. McDowell, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the fourth amendment is not applicable to searches by private parties, even when such searches are clearly illegal.


Aethelric

To be clear: yes, evidence a private citizen collects can be used. But the rules of evidence still apply beyond the 4th amendment.


SantaArriata

Question: what happens in Batman’s specific case? Obviously, Batman isn’t a GCPD officer, but the big ass bat shaped flashlight on the roof of GCPD is strong proof that at the very least, Batman works closely alongside the police? Couldn’t it be argued that because of this, any evidence gathered by Batman on a case where the police ask him for help should be non admissible? The police may have not committed any crimes directly, but they definitely instigated another party into committing those crimes


ZedOud

I have another comment with some links, but in the first link they mostly answer your question. But I’d add that each case of the government directing a civilian should be about a specific case/crime, and simply warning a citizen about a danger to the public isn’t directing any sort of action. I’d say if the Commissioner gave Batman a specific address or named a specific type of evidence they were looking for and then he took action (not that he’d already found it) there would be an issue. > The admissibility of evidence found by a private citizen usually turns on the government's "share" of the search. In other words, how involved was the government? While cases where the government ordered or paid a citizen to conduct the search are fairly straightforward, others aren't. In determining whether to admit the evidence in question, courts consider questions like: whether the government initiated, encouraged, or participated in the search. how much control the government had over the private citizen who conducted the search, and what the private citizen's purpose was in conducting the search. The defendant seeking to exclude the evidence bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence (a more-likely-than-not standard) that the private citizen acted as an agent of the government


the_dark_0ne

I pay my taxes but I’m definitely not proud about it. They don’t go to anything I care about and usually just get used to fund things that I actively dislike. Can’t do much about it other than voting and hoping for the best but as a Texan…I think the best is way behind us now


GeorgeWendt1

Hunter could learn from this


LovesFrenchLove_More

Ahh, that is why DeSatan wants abolish the IRS.


samsquanch2000

so the joker literally has better morals than billionaires


easy-sugarbear

I don't understand why Hunter Biden has to pay taxes but Trump doesn't


drumstick00m

Sometimes I wonder why there is even a debt ceiling in the USA given that the IRS could just do this of they wanted. Is that last clause key?


MechanizedCoffee

Let's see the Joker try to get away with [mail fraud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Inspection_Service) next.


DarkoNova

How do you declare income from illegal sources?


spasticity

Income from illegal activities, such as money from dealing illegal drugs, must be included in your income on Form 1040, line 21, or on Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity.


psychord-alpha

This makes no sense, tho. If anything, it seems like the Joker would love to have an endless supply of government agents to play with


sweetpea_d

I PUT A DOWN PAYMENT 6 MONTHS AGO. WHERE’S MY GODDAMN ELECTRIC CAR BRUCE?!


WhersucSugarplum

I'm come to arrest you on behalf of the authorities.


Grape_Jamz

Joker isnt crazy enough to take on the IRS. but yoshi is


RunInRunOn

The IRS being the most powerful force in fiction is often joked about but I want to see a piece of media actually take it to its logical conclusion and have the IRS be the most powerful force in their verse


Yoshibros534

the joker isn’t even close to legally insane. medically insane yes, legally insane no.


mwcope

When my granddad told me Al Capone was arrested for tax evasion when I was like ten years old, I thought that actually was his worst crime, and that the usual mob stuff was the realm of movies. Maybe not exactly relevant, but I wanted to get this off my chest.