A more thorough explanation:

Tax evasion is when someone uses illegal methods to avoid paying taxes. This usually involves lying about how much money they make or hiding their money in secret accounts. For example, someone might say they make less money than they actually do, or they might pretend they have more expenses than they really do so they can deduct more from their taxes.

People who are involved in illegal activities often try to evade taxes because reporting their true income could get them in trouble with the law. But if they get caught, they could face serious consequences, like fines or even jail time.

For instance, in the United States, tax evasion is a crime that can result in a felony charge, a fine of up to $100,000 (or $500,000 for a corporation), up to 5 years in prison, and the cost of prosecution. To prove someone is guilty of tax evasion, the prosecution must show that the person had an unpaid tax liability, took an affirmative act to evade or attempt to evade the tax, and had the specific intent to evade a known legal duty to pay.

One example of tax evasion is when a business owner doesn't report all of their income on their tax return. Let's say a restaurant owner makes $100,000 in a year, but only reports $50,000 on their tax return. This is tax evasion because they're lying about how much money they made in order to pay less in taxes.

Another example is when someone hides their money in offshore accounts to avoid paying taxes. This is illegal because they're not reporting all of their income to the government, which means they're not paying their fair share of taxes.