abreaction

QuoteThis practice is known as using a tax box, which physically is nothing more than an empty crate. But it's a means of illegal tax evasion that can provide major sales and use tax savings for art collectors.

It works due to how sales and use tax is calculated on art purchased from galleries and auction houses. In many cases, the tax rate applied is the rate of the buyer's residence. This gives an opening to potential evaders: Shipping the art to a state with no sales tax could yield substantial, albeit fraudulent, savings.

Of course, shipping a priceless piece of art to some distant warehouse and waiting can make a collector nervous. So, some evaders go all-in on the fraud and ship an empty box purporting to contain the artwork—while the real deal comes home with them.

https://news.bloombergtax.com/tax-insights-and-commentary/week-in-insights-tax-frauds-arent-always-conceptually-complex