On March 29, 2023, Russia’s Federal Security Service detained a Wall Street Journal reporter named Evan Gershkovich on trumped-up charges that he was spying on a Russian tank manufacturer for the CIA. Gershkovich spent most of the next year in Moscow’s blood-soaked Lefortovo Prison, where Stalin’s secret police tortured and executed legions of dissidents. The State Department officially designated the reporter as “wrongfully detained.” Diplomats, the Journal, and even the last remnants of Russia’s own independent press called for his release. Meanwhile, a Moscow court repeatedly extended his detention. Last month, it found him guilty of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison.
What we didn’t know, as the court proceedings ground on, was that diplomats were also working on the most extensive prisoner swap since the Cold War. On August 1, Russia and Belarus released 16 prisoners, including Gershkovich. The U.S., Germany, Poland, Slovenia, and Norway released eight detainees and two children. (No, the children weren’t spying; their parents were. Although, hey, if 13-year-olds in China can make iPhones, they can probably tap your emails, too.) Gerskovich and two other Americans, journalist Alsu Kermasheva and corporate security executive Paul Whelan, flew to Turkey’s Ankara Esenboga Airport for the actual exchange. Then, the trio immediately flew home to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Odds are good that none of them will ever go near Russia again.
Gershkovich lost 16 months of his life while he was rotting in Russian prison. He missed a birthday celebration. He missed weddings, reporting trips, and travels with friends. And he missed filing his tax returns. Which brings us to this week’s story.
Sadly for Gershkovich and his fellow detainees, our 2,700-page tax code makes no allowance for taxpayers who are held hostage or wrongfully detained. The penalty for failing to file is 5% of the unpaid balance each month that a return is late, up to 25%. The penalty for failing to pay is 0.5% of the unpaid balance for each month, also up to 25%. The IRS also imposes interest, currently 8%, on those unpaid taxes and penalties.
The IRS can and routinely does waive those penalties. However, by statute, they can’t waive actual taxes or even the interest on those taxes. While the percentages may seem small, they add up fast. In 2016, Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian came home after 544 days in Tehran’s Evin Prison to a $20,000 bill. Fortunately, in a triumph of common sense and human decency, the IRS reduced it to $6,000.
Naturally, the legislators responsible for the tax code have taken notice. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called on the IRS to remove all fines and penalties for Gershkovich and his colleagues. And Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) have introduced legislation that would postpone tax deadlines for wrongfully detained persons and reimburse late fees that previous detainees have already paid. But the wheels of change grind slowly, and good ideas like protecting hostages from tax penalties often get sidetracked by the realities of partisan politics.
Gershkovich and his fellow detainees face all sorts of physical and mental challenges reassimilating into normal life. They’re often in poor health from malnutrition and lack of exercise. Psychologically, it can be hard to readjust after endless stretches of solitary confinement. Managing bills, monitoring credit scores, and mitigating taxes obviously add insult to those very real injuries.
Nobody said that life is fair. It surely won’t surprise you that it holds true for taxes as much as anything else. Fortunately, the odds are low that you’re likely to face a true injustice like Evan Gershkovich. But if you do, we’re here to help!