But yep, taxes and all the laws regarding them are indeed crazy in the US. However, in other countries the actual tax rates are even higher (though I don't know how complex the laws are, or how fucking hard they make it for the average person to file their taxes without resorting to expensive software or hiring an accountant). I don't think the IRS is looking to put people in jail necessarily, but they just make doing your taxes unnecessarily difficult/costly as I just said. The amount of money involved in this case is huge, but for "little people" who owe back taxes or get caught up in tax issues, the IRS usually settles with them in the form of a fine, penalties, whatever and they don't end up in prison.
For 99%+ of the population of the US income taxes (the IRS) are actually easy. It's just that most people get caught up in the 'you need to have an accountant' or the 'you need a tax professional' For under $50 you can get software that will do it all for you. Even moderately complex things like crypto trading.
As for not paying your taxes most of the time there is no penalty if you don't not pay on a regular basis. Keep it up and they will nail you. Mess up here and there and you will own whatever you owe + interest. The flip side is also true, if you mess up and the government owes you money you get (minimal) interest.
Yes you can always get 'that guy' who works for the IRS who wants to nail you to the wall. But for the most part it's not that bad.
Stale / local / sales tax / property tax and all those other things are different but not really part of this discussion.
-Dave