> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # §2T1.1 Tax Evasion: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2t1-1-tax-evasion/ - Published: 2026-11-03T01:39:40.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:39:40.000Z - Description: Of 2,895 people sentenced under §2T1.1 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 63% received prison and 26% received probation only. The median prison term was 14 months. 88% were ordered to pay restitution. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › §2T1.1 **In brief:** Of 2,895 people sentenced under §2T1.1 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 63% received prison and 26% received probation only. The median prison term was 14 months. 88% were ordered to pay restitution. Updated November 2, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 2,895 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. It is part of the [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## Tax Cases and Probation Guideline §2T1.1 is titled "Tax Evasion; Willful Failure to File Return, Supply Information, or Pay Tax; Fraudulent or False Returns, Statements, or Other Documents." The title covers evasion, willful failure to file or pay, and false returns or documents. Prison was not universal in this group. Of 2,895 people sentenced, 1,817 (63%) received a prison term, and 753 (26%) received probation only. Probation only means that no prison or other confinement was ordered. ## Length of the Prison Terms The median prison term was 14 months. A quarter received 24 months or more, and a quarter received 6 months or less. The median was 15 months in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 (1,501 people) and 12 months in fiscal years 2020 to 2025 (1,394 people). By year, it was 12 months in 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024, and 18 months in 2019\. It was 15 months in 2025. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 414 | 15 months | 93% | | 2017 | 437 | 15 months | 91% | | 2018 | 322 | 12 months | 93% | | 2019 | 328 | 18 months | 94% | | 2020 | 203 | 12 months | 91% | | 2021 | 232 | 14.8 months | 96% | | 2022 | 262 | 12 months | 94% | | 2023 | 237 | 12 months | 91% | | 2024 | 248 | 12 months | 93% | | 2025 | 212 | 15 months | 96% | ## Pleas and Trials 2,686 people (93%) pleaded guilty, and 209 were convicted after a trial. 97% of guilty pleas had a written plea agreement. After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 12 months. After a trial it was 33 months, based on 190 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The records do not show whether the cases were alike. The trial group of 190 is much smaller than the group of guilty pleas, and the plea figure covers nearly all of the people in the data. Both medians describe terms imposed. ## Below the Guideline Range Sentences below the range were the most common position. Of 2,893 cases with the information, 47% (1,370) were below the range without a government request, and 27% (788) were below it at the government's request. 24% (699) were within the range, and 1% (36) were above it. The guideline range is the sentencing range the guidelines produce for the case, and a sentence below it is a sentence shorter than that range. The sheet does not give the reasons the courts gave for going below it. ## Money Orders, Supervised Release, and Minimums Restitution was ordered for 2,536 people (88%), and a fine for 732 (25%). Supervised release was ordered for 1,781 (62%), with a median term of 24 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 39 people (1%). In criminal history, 86% were in the lowest category and 1% were in the highest. ## Limits The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, and court-martial records have no criminal history field. The federal data covers only convicted and sentenced people. It reports terms imposed, not time served, and it does not show the amount of tax involved or what led to any one sentence. The 63% who received prison and the 26% who received probation only were all convicted people, so the data cannot compare them with people who were not convicted. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2T1.1 (2,895), from the U.S. Sentencing Commission's individual data files. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30\. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records. ### What to Keep in Mind **No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct.** Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987\. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served. **Federal supervised release.** Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial. **Who decides the sentence, and under what rules.** Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart. **Time periods.** Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually. **How life sentences and "time served" are counted.** In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less. **Mandatory minimum sentences.** Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge. ## Related Analysis - [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [§2T1.4 Aiding, Assisting, Procuring, Counseling, or Advising Tax Fraud: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2t1-4-aiding-assisting-procuring-counseling-or-advising-tax/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2T1.6 Failing to Collect or Truthfully Account for and Pay Over Tax: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2t1-6-failing-to-collect-or-truthfully-account-for/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2T3.1 Evading Import Duties or Restrictions (Smuggling): Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2t3-1-evading-import-duties-or-restrictions-smuggling/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2T1.9 Conspiracy to Impede, Impair, Obstruct, or Defeat Tax: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2t1-9-conspiracy-to-impede-impair-obstruct-or-defeat/) (same guideline chapter part) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) **About the author.** Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts *Where All The Bodies Are Buried* and runs the [Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.