I love tax law, honest to goodness, and the US's tax code is so fascinating. Regardless of the political/economic reasons why a tax law exists, so many of the rules are so oddly specific that upon reading them I find myself smiling trying to think of the situation that caused a specific law to be made.
When I read these rules, I thought of a potentially amusing tax loophole with regards to the stolen property section:
>Stolen property. If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless in the same year, you return it to its rightful owner.
There's another rule[0] on the books that says interest-free loans to friends and family can have tax implications, but if your friend/family _steals_ the money from you and repays it later that year, they could potentially get a short-term, interest-free loan without incurring the tax implications. I'd have to dig into the details to see if this would actually work out, but it's an entertaining thought exercise nonetheless.