{"id":15881,"date":"2025-11-18T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T14:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/?p=15881"},"modified":"2025-11-09T08:38:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T13:38:40","slug":"taxing-crime-north-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/taxing-crime-north-carolina\/","title":{"rendered":"When the State Profits from Crime: Taxing Crime in North Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"142\" data-end=\"657\">North Carolina law prohibits the possession, sale, and trafficking of controlled substances. Yet the same State that prosecutes those <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-15890 lazyload\" src=\"\/jshared\/img\/icons\/spinner.svg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/taxing-crime-north-carolina-revenuer-200x300.webp\" alt=\"U.S. revenuer enforcing Prohibition laws in North Carolina, symbolizing state taxation, moonshine raids, and the roots of taxing crime.\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/taxing-crime-north-carolina-revenuer-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/taxing-crime-north-carolina-revenuer-683x1024.webp 683w, https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/taxing-crime-north-carolina-revenuer-768x1152.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/taxing-crime-north-carolina-revenuer-667x1000.webp 667w, https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/taxing-crime-north-carolina-revenuer-80x120.webp 80w, https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/taxing-crime-north-carolina-revenuer.webp 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/> offenses also taxes and therefore profits them. Is that right? Does that make sense? Should the government profit from crime? Is it OK to tax Drugs? Extortion? What about Illegal Pornography, Prostitution and Human Trafficking? Where do we, the governed, draw the line?<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"142\" data-end=\"657\">The Controlled Substance Tax, codified at N.C.G.S. \u00a7 105-113.105, operates on the premise that illegal drugs have taxable value even though their sale and possession are criminal acts. The idea that &#8220;income is income&#8221; regardless of source smacks of Machiavelli and a willingness to bend basic moral imperatives. Beneath that procedural logic lies a troubling contradiction, if not outright hypocrisy.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"142\" data-end=\"657\">Questions about punishment, profit, and fairness aren\u2019t theoretical when you are the one standing before the court. North Carolina law distinguishes between fines, forfeiture, and taxation, but for clients facing criminal charges, those differences often feel academic. Bill Powers and the <strong data-start=\"542\" data-end=\"574\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Powers Law Firm<\/a><\/strong> handle serious criminal matters in <strong>Mecklenburg, Union, Iredell, Gaston, Rowan, and Lincoln Counties<\/strong>, examining how the law operates in real courtrooms, not just in theory. Bill Powers is a widely regarded North Carolina criminal defense attorney, educator, and legal commentator with more than thirty-three years of courtroom and trial experience. He is recognized throughout the state for his work on impaired driving, criminal law, and legal education, and is a recipient of the North Carolina State Bar Distinguished Service Award. For select legal matters, Bill Powers consults on a statewide basis. To discuss your case in confidence, <strong>TEXT<\/strong> or call <strong>704-342-4357<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"read_more_link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/taxing-crime-north-carolina\/\"  title=\"Continue Reading When the State Profits from Crime: Taxing Crime in North Carolina\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>North Carolina law prohibits the possession, sale, and trafficking of controlled substances. Yet the same State that prosecutes those offenses also taxes and therefore profits them. Is that right? Does that make sense? Should the government profit from crime? Is it OK to tax Drugs? Extortion? What about Illegal Pornography, Prostitution and Human Trafficking? Where [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15889,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[127,32,110,861,1142,2487,2482,2488,2492,2483,2477,2489,2490,2345,52,1758,1029,2481,2480,2493,2485,2491,2476,2484,2495,1587,2494,2486,2463,2478,55,2479],"class_list":["post-15881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criminal-defense","tag-attorney-bill-powers","tag-bill-powers","tag-bill-powers-attorney","tag-bill-powers-criminal-defense","tag-charlotte-lawyers","tag-constitutional-law-nc","tag-controlled-substance-law-nc","tag-criminal-fines-and-taxes","tag-criminal-justice-reform-north-carolina","tag-double-jeopardy-tax","tag-drug-tax-north-carolina","tag-drug-war-policy-nc","tag-economic-regulation-and-crime","tag-fourth-amendment-north-carolina","tag-iredell","tag-lawyer-bill-powers","tag-lawyers-near-me","tag-lynn-v-west","tag-mandatory-minimums","tag-nc-criminal-law-commentary","tag-nc-tax-collector-history","tag-ncga-controlled-substance-statute","tag-north-carolina-controlled-substance-tax","tag-north-carolina-drug-trafficking-laws","tag-north-carolina-legal-blog","tag-powers-law-firm-charlotte","tag-profiting-from-crime","tag-revenue-enforcement-north-carolina","tag-state-v-hickman","tag-taxing-crime","tag-union","tag-war-on-drugs-history"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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