gavra: How is not putting money in the meter different halachicly than not sending money to the IRS?
Who says it isn’t? I’m not enough of a rabbinical contortionist to disprove one way or the other. After all, where there is a rabbinic will, there is a halachic way to obtain Gelt 🙁
Clear examples of “Stealing” from the government would be taking benefits where one is not eligible (e.g. due to money earned off the books). Another example is taking government funding that is earmarked for a specific purpose and using it for something else (for example, E-rate).
I said “stealing”. If you don’t consider the action “stealing”, then think of a different action.