10) What are the penalties if I do not respond to the survey?
Both Title 13 and Title 18, United States Code, provide for monetary penalties for failure
to respond. Title 18, U.S.C., Section 3551, et seq., the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984,
establishes uniform penalties for all federal crimes. Title 13 U.S.C., Section 221, makes
it a misdemeanor to refuse or willfully neglect to complete the questionnaire or answer
questions posed by census takers and imposes a fine of not more than $100. This fine is
changed by the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 from $100 to not more than $5,000.
The Census Bureau is not a prosecuting agency. Failure to provide information is not
likely to result in a fine. The Census Bureau staff work to achieve cooperation and high
response rates by helping the public understand that responding to the ACS is a matter
of civic responsibility, and prefers to encourage participation in this manner rather than
prosecution.
Considering the cost of ObamaCare, they might just take the opportunity to extract whatever cash they can.