Week in Insights: Tax Frauds Aren’t Always Conceptually Complex

Curated by Daniel Xu

Some schemes to avoid or evade tax are complicated and require a deep understanding of tax law and precise timing to execute.

Others just amount to shipping an empty box around the country and calling it a Renoir.

This practice is known as using a tax box, which physically is nothing more than an empty crate. But it’s a means of illegal tax evasion that can provide major sales and use tax savings for art collectors.

It works due to how sales and use tax is calculated on art purchased from galleries and auction houses. ...