Why Hunter Biden Likely Will Not Go To Jail

Today’s edition of the Checks & Imbalances newsletter examines Hunter Biden’s plea deal.

Hunter Biden Failed To Pay Taxes—Here’s Why He’s Likely Not Going To Jail

“After months of speculation, Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has been charged with tax and gun charges. According to court documents, he is expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges as part of a plea deal,” reports Kelly Phillips Erb.

Biden has agreed to plead guilty to two charges of failure to pay under section 7203 of the Tax Code. That section covers a wide variety of offenses, including:

-failure to pay estimated tax or tax

-failure to file a return

-failure to keep records

-failure to supply information

In this case, the charges focus on failure to pay taxes for the 2017 and 2018 tax years.

Typically, failure to pay does not result in jail time. It’s considered a misdemeanor and usually results in fines of up to $25,000, though prison time of up to a year can be tacked on if the situation warrants.

According to the court documents, the tax liability was related to combined income of $3 million for those two years—$1.5 million per year. In 2021, Biden claimed to have paid the IRS what he owed. However, paying the liability after the due date (in this case, April 17, 2018, for the 2017 tax year and April 15, 2019, for the 2018 tax year) doesn’t mean a crime was not committed.

A misdemeanor failure to pay can be escalated to a felony in some cases. According to the Department of Justice manual, those involve individuals who fail to file tax returns or pay a tax “but who also commit acts of evasion or obstruction.” In that case, the charges would be brought as felonies under sections 7201 or 7212(a). That’s not the case here—likely because Biden paid the tax due and was cooperating with authorities.

Tip Me

This is the web edition of the free Checks & Imbalances newsletter, sent to inboxes on Fridays. You can sign up here. Please support this work, if you can, by subscribing to Forbes.

Any tips or suggestions? Email me at zeverson@forbes.com, call/SMS/Signal 202.804.2744, use Forbes’ SecureDrop or send us a letter. Follow me on Mastodon at @z_everson@journa.host. Thanks!

TikTok Confirms Some U.S. User Data Is Stored In China

“TikTok has acknowledged to the U.S. government that sensitive information about American creators who sign up to earn money through the app is stored in China,” reports Alexandra S. Levine.

The company responded Friday to a letter that bipartisan Senate leaders sent recently to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew that raised concerns about his “incorrect claims” to Congress regarding where TikTok has stored the data of its U.S. users. Weeks after Chew testified to a House committee that “American data has always been stored in Virginia and Singapore,” a Forbes investigation found that TikTok has stored the financial information of its biggest American and European stars—including those in the TikTok Creator Fund—on servers in China. In the wake of those revelations, Senate Democrat Richard Blumenthal and Republican Marsha Blackburn demanded answers.

In TikTok’s response to their questions, the company said there is a difference between “U.S. user data collected by the TikTok app” and information that creators give to TikTok so they can be paid for content they post. The former is stored in TikTok’s data centers in the U.S. and Singapore, TikTok said. It did not explicitly state where the latter is stored. A trove of internal documents obtained by Forbes, and several people across different parts of the company familiar with the matter, have shown that tax forms, social security numbers and other information from creators and outside vendors has been stored in China; payments to both are managed through tools from TikTok’s China-based parent ByteDance.

Mayor Francis Suarez Talks China, Border Crisis, Crypto, DeSantis And More

On “Forbes Road to 2024,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez spoke about why he’s running for president, his record, his vision for the nation and more.

George Santos’ Bail Guarantors Revealed As His Father And Aunt

“Embattled freshman Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) was bailed out of federal custody by his aunt and father when he was indicted last month on 13 federal offenses, according to court documents unsealed Thursday—fulfilling a request from news organizations and the House Ethics Committee as they sought to determine whether the guarantors’ support violated ethics rules,” reports Sara Dunn.

Previously: “George Santos’ Cartier Santos Watch Is Worth $7,800—Unless It’s A Fake”

Tracking Trump

Forbes continues to update “Tracking Trump: All The Criminal Cases, Lawsuits And Investigations Involving The Former President.”

*****

“A Senate investigative subcommittee has asked the heads of Saudi-backed LIV Golf and the PGA Tour to testify before Congress on a proposed merger that would see the once-rival organizations combine into one, which has drawn widespread criticism and questioning over its reliance on Saudi Arabian funding,” reports Mary Whitfill Roeloffs.

Previously: “How The PGA-LIV Golf Deal Will Impact Donald Trump—Or At Least Stroke His Ego” reported Matt Craig.

Across Forbes

Quiz

What is IRS-CI?

A. The agency’s arm responsible for criminal investigations

B. The section of the tax code regarding corporate income

C. The IRS’s branch for developing confidential informants

D. Hunter Biden’s short-lived venture, Investment Return Stimulators—Customized Influencing

Check if you got it right here.