There
are many different wrongful acts or offenses involved
in tax evasion charges.
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Failure to file a federal tax return
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Failure to Pay Federal taxes
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Failure to supply information to the IRS
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Failure to make accurate statements involving
tax liabilities
The
most common charges come from a taxpayer’s
unwillingness to pay a tax or to defeat a tax.
To
be convicted of tax evasion (26 U.S.C. 7201) in
most federal jurisdictions, an Assistant United
States Attorney must, beyond a reasonable doubt,
prove to a judge or jury that:
The
defendant owed considerably more tax than was report
on the tax return;
The defendant was aware of the discrepancy reported
on the tax return;
The defendant deliberately filed the tax return
with the intent to evade payment of taxes to the
government.
The
Courts Interpretation of Tax Violations
A.
A taxpayer may be convicted if the individual misrepresents
not just net income, but gross income. United States
v. Williams, 573 F.2d 284 (5th Cir. 1978).
B. Failing to report income allegedly skimmed from
an employer when the taxpayer files a 1040EZ cannot
be convicted for perjury and using the wrong form
since Form 1040EZ does not include a line to report
illegal income. Therefore not reporting the illegal
income was literally correct. United States v. Williams,
573 F.2d 284 (5th Cir. 1978).
C. A taxpayer can not refuse to pay tax as a symbolic
protest against the government. A defendant is not
protected by the First Amendment for this conduct.
To protest the United States involvement in the
Vietnam War, one defendant was convicted of tax
evasion for filing false withholding exemption.
United States v. Malinowski, 472 F.2d 850 (3d Cir.
1973).
Possible
Punishment
If
guilty of a felony, imprisonment is up to 5 years
and fined up to $100,000.
($500,000.00 in the case of a corporation).
Many
times the defendant will be charged not only with
tax evasion, but also with money laundering and
conspiracy to commit the aforementioned crimes.
It should be noted that parole in the Federal System
has been abolished since 1987 and that removal of
the conviction from public records (expungement)
is not available.
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