What seemed like a minor transgression when filing your tax return could end up being a tax crime punishable by years in prison. The IRS Criminal Investigation Division (CI) pursues about 3,000 criminal prosecutions per year to provide a deterrent effect to all taxpayers. If you have been chosen as…
An abusive tax shelter is an investment scheme that attempts to reduce income tax without serving any other economic purpose. The value of income or assets is not changed, so the sole purpose of an abusive tax shelter is to avoid tax. The IRS attempts to deter participations in abusive…
Tax fraud is a crime that involves intentional wrongdoing when failing to comply with a tax law. If you simply make a mistake when filing your taxes, the IRS may charge you with civil penalties, but they will not pursue any criminal charges. If, however, the IRS believes that you…
Tax fraud occurs when an individual’s conduct goes beyond negligence and becomes intentional or willful wrongdoing. It has been described as an intentional violation of a known legal duty. If you want to fight tax fraud penalties, you will have to convince the IRS that they have insufficient evidence to…
The idea of being sent to prison for making a mistake on your tax return may seem ridiculous — and also scary — to the average taxpayer. With so many regulations to follow that even IRS employees can become confused, how can a lay person with no tax expertise be…
The IRS reported 2,672 convictions for criminal tax violations in the 2016 fiscal year. While criminal tax charges are not common, the penalties —which can include jail time — are severe enough to cause any taxpayer to be concerned. Most criminal tax penalties can result in a five-year prison sentence…
Timely filing of IRS tax returns is always preferable to missing deadlines and facing tax return penalties for doing so. Failing to file tax returns leaves you liable for some potentially expensive penalties. Depending on how late, the amount of taxes involved and how many years of returns are delinquent,…
Failure to file tax returns can be classified as tax fraud by the IRS. While that term does manage to make it sound much more serious, failure to file by itself doesn’t often result in jail time. Still it’s not impossible—just ask Wesley Snipes! Usually though, the government wants taxpayers…
The U.S. Tax Code is, essentially, in a constant state of flux. While there are certain bedrock principles, such as the obligation to file and pay taxes, particularities regarding both substantive and procedural handling of tax issues can change with time. Decisions made by judges, changes to the Internal Revenue…
As many tax controversy attorneys can state, tax problems can lead to major issues including a tax audit and even criminal tax charges. Even though tax problems are typically serious matters there are certain tax crimes that stand out even among serious offenses. Tax Evasion and tax fraud involving the…