Tax Fraud

I often receives phone calls from potential clients that are worried that either 1) their tax return has exaggerated expenses or lacks all the income, or 2) they took tax credits that they were not entitled to take. Often the taxpayer went to a tax preparation firm, and did not review what the person included on the tax return.

With the recent Equifax Credit Bureau identity theft event, and many prior episodes of personal identifying information being stolen (Yahoo, etc) that appears to happening all the time now, I thought an article would be helpful on how your tax returns are affected by such events, and concrete steps you can take to protect yourself against IRS identity theft (and your parents if they are elderly).

If you're being investigated by IRS special agents, it's crucial to contact a tax attorney immediately. They can assist in handling the investigation, safeguarding your rights, and potentially providing legal representation in a criminal court case. IRS special agents investigate possible tax crimes, and an investigation can begin when an auditor, collection officer, investigative analyst, the public, or law enforcement alerts them to a potential crime.

The punishment for tax fraud depends on the type of fraud committed and the specific law broken. Criminal tax fraud can lead to imprisonment of up to five years and fines of up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations. Civil tax fraud leads to civil penalties of 75% of the under-reported tax.

Individuals who intentionally evade taxes can face criminal charges and potentially go to jail. Tax fraud and tax evasion are felonies, with penalties including fines and imprisonment. Nearly two-thirds of people convicted of tax fraud receive prison sentences, averaging 16 months. The IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program allows taxpayers to file back taxes and avoid prosecution if they voluntarily disclose their failure to file and make an honest attempt to pay.

If your tax account gets referred to the IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) Unit, then you’re in a precarious position. Statistics from 2023 showed that the IRS’s CI team investigated around 2,676 cases and obtained an astonishing 88. 4% conviction rate for cases referred to prosecutors.