## Facts

- Michael Sansone was charged with willfully attempting to evade federal income tax for tax year 1957 under 26 U.S.C. § 7201.
- Sansone and his wife bought land in 1956, sold part of it the same day, and sold another portion in 1957 for $27,000.
- Sansone did not report gains from the land sales on his 1956 or 1957 income tax returns.
- Sansone conceded the 1957 sale was reportable and that his omission understated his 1957 tax liability by $2,456.48.
- The government introduced a signed statement attributed to Sansone that he did not report the sale because he did not have enough money to pay the tax but intended to pay later.
- At trial, Sansone sought jury instructions allowing conviction on alleged lesser-included misdemeanors: willful failure to pay tax when due (§ 7203) and willfully filing a false or fraudulent return (§ 7207).
- The district court denied the requested lesser-included-offense instructions; the jury convicted Sansone under § 7201, and the court of appeals affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether 26 U.S.C. § 7207 applies to income tax returns such that it can overlap with §§ 7201 and 7203 for lesser-included-offense purposes.
2. When a defendant charged under § 7201 is entitled to a lesser-included-offense instruction on § 7203 and/or § 7207, and whether the evidence required such instructions here.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court affirmed Sansone’s § 7201 conviction (7–2).
- The Court held that § 7207 applies to income tax violations and that §§ 7201, 7203, and 7207 can overlap, making lesser-included-offense analysis possible in an appropriate case.
- The Court held that a lesser-included-offense instruction is proper only when the greater offense requires proof of a factual element not required for the lesser and that additional element is genuinely disputed on the evidence.
- The Court concluded that the record did not present a disputed factual element that would permit a rational jury to convict Sansone of §§ 7203 or 7207 without also finding a § 7201 violation; therefore, the trial court properly refused the lesser-included instructions.

## Legal Principles

- Lesser-included-offense instructions are not required merely because statutory provisions overlap; they are warranted only when the jury could rationally acquit on the greater offense yet convict on the lesser.
- A lesser-included instruction is appropriate only where the charged greater offense requires proof of a disputed factual element that is not required for the lesser included offense.
- In tax prosecutions, § 7207 applies to income tax returns and may overlap with §§ 7201 (tax evasion) and 7203 (willful failure to comply), but entitlement to lesser-included instructions depends on an evidence-based dispute separating the greater offense from the lesser.

## Conclusion

The Court held that although federal tax offenses under §§ 7201, 7203, and 7207 may overlap, a defendant charged with tax evasion is entitled to lesser-included-offense instructions only if the evidence creates a real factual dispute over an element unique to § 7201; because no such dispute existed on this record, the § 7201 conviction was affirmed.


Sansone v. United States, 380 U.S. 343 (1965)