Q: If I joke that I sell seashells by the seashore during a deposition, am I committing perjury?
I am doing legal research for a YouTube video in response to someone who seems to believe that a character saying, "on my tax returns, it says I sell seashells by the seashore, but I moonlight a bit" as a way of saying he does oddjobs, is somehow equivalent to perjury.
A: Perjury is an untruthful statement under oath. Nothing in your post suggests that the person was untruthful, just flippant and probably evasive in a situation that calls for serious answers.
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A: I'm not a tax lawyer, but typically perjury involves the intent to mislead and must be on a material fact in question. In this case, I would expect the IRS to possibly follow up with you and ask for clarification on your job, but I don't think anyone would reasonably believe you intended to criminally mislead the IRS about what you do for a living.
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