Category: Criminal Tax Law

Other Posts in this Series #1: Identity Theft #3: Phishing #4: Return Preparer Fraud #5: Hiding Money Offshore #6: Inflated Refund Claims Last month we blogged about a new law that gives the IRS the power to revoke U.S. passports and to contract with private debt collectors. In that post...

Other Posts in this Series #2: Phone Scams #3: Phishing #4: Return Preparer Fraud #5: Hiding Money Offshore #6: Inflated Refund Claims The IRS recently released its annual "Dirty Dozen" list of scams that taxpayers should look out for this tax season. There is nothing surprising on this year's list,...

This is a continuation of the first post on trust fund recovery penalties. Eric Anderson, an owner of three construction companies, was sentenced last June to 18 months in jail followed by 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $1,080,222 in restitution to the IRS.  From 2006-2008, Anderson...

As we noted in last month's series on employment taxes, every business with employees is required to remit employment taxes to the federal government. These taxes, held in trust by employers for the benefit of their employees, may be collected directly from personal assets of the owners and operators of...

The United States Tax Court recently affirmed that Yvonne K. Young, an income tax preparer, is liable for a 75% civil fraud penalty.  Young failed to respond to IRS affirmative allegations that she had underreported her income and grossly overstated withholdings over the course of three years.  She did not...

The IRS's Top Ten Identity Theft Prosecutions of 2014 The IRS has released another list of favorites - this time the Top Ten Identity Theft Prosecutions of 2014.  This series of posts will provide an overview of the cases that warranted this level of notoriety, as well as the resulting...

Identity theft cases have grown to represent about a quarter of all IRS criminal investigations. Note identifying identity theft has been a top priority of the IRS for years. On May 5, 2015, the IRS formally announced that it formed an additional criminal investigation unit specifically targeting the identification of...