---
kind: "section"
citation: "26 U.S.C. § 7201"
title: "26"
title_heading: "Internal Revenue Code"
number: "7201"
heading: "Attempt to evade or defeat tax"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/26/7201"
units:
  - "Subtitle F — Procedure and Administration"
  - "Chapter 75 — Crimes, Other Offenses, and Forfeitures"
  - "Subchapter A — Crimes"
  - "Part I — General Provisions"
---

# §7201. Attempt to evade or defeat tax


Any [person](/usc/26/7701.md?p=a-1) who willfully attempts in any manner to evade or defeat any tax imposed by this title or the payment thereof shall, in addition to other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $100,000 ($500,000 in the case of a [corporation](/usc/26/7701.md?p=a-3)), or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.


## Source credit

(Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 851; Pub. L. 97–248, title III, § 329(a), Sept. 3, 1982, 96 Stat. 618.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

1982—Pub. L. 97–248 substituted “$100,000 ($500,000 in the case of a corporation)” for “$10,000”.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 1982 Amendment

Pub. L. 97–248, title III, § 329(e), Sept. 3, 1982, 96 Stat. 619, provided that: “The amendments made by this section [amending this section and sections 7203, 7206, and 7207 of this title] shall apply to offenses committed after the date of the enactment of this Act [Sept. 3, 1982].”