Section 2842 | CALCRIM (Jury Instructions)

but are not required to conclude that the defendant received money or
property during the year. If the People also prove beyond a reasonable
doubt that the money or property received did not come from
nontaxable sources, then you may but are not required to conclude that
the money or property was also taxable income. If you have a reasonable
doubt about whether the People have proved any of these factors, you
may not take the expenditures into account in applying the net worth
method.]
In order to rely on the net worth method of proving income, the People
must prove the defendant’s net worth at the starting point with
reasonable certainty. Here the starting point is January 1,
<insert year alleged>. The People are not required to prove the exact
value of each and every asset the defendant owned at the starting point.
However, the People must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that all the
assets the defendant owned at the starting point were not enough to
account for any proven increase in (his/her) net worth during the year.
In deciding whether the defendant’s net worth at the starting point has
been proved with reasonable certainty and whether the People have
proved that any money or property the defendant received during the
year did not come from nontaxable sources, consider whether law
enforcement agents sufficiently investigated all reasonable “leads”
concerning the existence and value of other assets and sources of
nontaxable income. Law enforcement agents must investigate all
reasonable leads that arise during the investigation or that the defendant
suggests regarding assets and income. This duty to reasonably investigate
applies only to leads that arise during the investigation or to
explanations the defendant gives during the investigation. Law
enforcement agents are not required to investigate every conceivable
asset or source of nontaxable funds.
If you have a reasonable doubt about any of the following:
A. Whether the investigation reasonably pursued or refuted the
defendant’s explanations or other leads regarding defendant’s
assets or income during the year,
B. Whether the People have proved the defendant’s net worth at the
beginning of
<insert year alleged> to a reasonable
degree of certainty,
OR
C. Whether the People have proved that any increase in the
defendant’s net worth[, together with any nondeductible
expenditures the defendant made during the year,] was
substantially more than the income that the defendant reported
on (his/her) tax return for
<insert year alleged>,
TAX CRIMES
CALCRIM No. 2842
703