- Chosen by Voters That initial idea came from Pelosi and was just flat out dumb. The only part that may be even close to that is if you fail to pay the fines levied against you for not carrying insurance the tax code comes into effect. If you willfully avoid taxes, yes you can be jailed or fined some more.To that point:"Prison terms are relatively rare. Barthold notes that in 2008 a total of 498 persons were incarcerated for federal tax crimes, while the Internal Revenue Service assessed 392,000 civil penalties for inaccurate tax returns. Imprisonment would require the government to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the tax evasion was "willful" and the accused had the ability to pay."In other words, no judge in their right mind is going to enforce prison time for someone who honestly can't pay.You can like or dislike the bill all you want, but that's the fact on the jail time. I offer no opinion on the final bill here. Source(s): http://factcheck.org/2009/11/imprisoned-… 2 years ago 33% 2 Votes