Tax Fraud Defense Attorney

Anyone can be pulled into a tax fraud investigation. While the vast majority of people audited are people with lower or modest incomes, your chances of being audited rises with your income. Every audit is scary.

While few people enjoy paying taxes, almost everyone wants to follow the rules: report what you made, deduct what you can, and pay as little as possible.

For some people those goals cause problems. Tax fraud investigations are complicated, document intensive, and often last years. They create a lot of stress for the individuals working to justify their tax strategies.

It can be scary! We understand that and can guide you through this process. Some of these investigations end without allegations of fraud, by requiring the payment of penalties, or in civil claims. Others result in criminal charges.

Under any of these situations, an audit, an investigation, or civil or criminal charges, you need the help of experienced white-collar criminal defense attorneys to help.

We have advised many people during investigations, represented witnesses forced to appear before grand juries, and helped clients prepare for imminent charges. We understand the exposure you face and can help you navigate this difficult process.

Tax fraud is defined by the statutes and generally involves signing documents or submitting information that is false and that the person knew was false when he signed or submitted it. Many people refer to tax fraud and tax evasion interchangeably but the terms are different.

Suffice it to say, the government charges the crime that is easiest to prove. Some differences between tax fraud and tax evasion means that the government often chooses to charge people with filing false tax returns. Under this statute, the government must prove that the person signed a false tax return verified by a written declaration under penalty of perjury knowing that the return included false information.

The government uses various actions to show that the person knew the return was false. Common allegations include depositing business income into personal accounts and not reporting the income. Taking deductions as business expenses that are personal expenses. Under reporting business income while claiming much more income in loan applications. Living above the means supported by the amount of income reported.

Tax fraud is a serious allegation and a conviction can result in serious consequences. Criminal penalties in federal court are founded to a great extent on the amount of loss, or the amount of taxes avoided by the conduct. Of course the losses include a number of years, usually six, of unpaid taxes.

These investigations are document intensive. While cases may include simple schemes like diverting cash from the cash register, most transactions leave an electronic footprint. That means the government compiles bank records, business accounts, and tax returns to analyze. Agents sift through these documents in search of irregularities, diverted income, inflated expenses, and inconsistent records.

The person responsible for preparing and filing the tax returns is critical to the investigation. Remember, a necessary element to proving a crime of filing a false return requires the government to prove the person submitted the return under penalty of perjury know the return included false information.

That means the government will want to know what information the tax preparer when preparing the return. The government exclude the possibility that the person signed the return believing it was correct.

Did the tax preparer have accurate information? If not, was the accurate information withheld intentionally? Was the tax preparer giving the person incorrect advice?

Given the multitude of documents involved in almost anyone’s life these days, these investigations include many cancelled checks, receipts, accounting records, bank statements, credit card statements, and tax returns. The agents consider the person’s spending habits, sources of income, methods of recording income and expenses, and methods of communicating with the tax preparer.

Counsel must be prepared to analyze this information and consider alternatives to willful conduct as well take into consideration lawful efforts to avoid paying taxes.

We have advised people during these investigations, consulted with forensic tax experts, and defended claims of civil and criminal tax fraud.

We understand the monumental task of gathering documents for an independent review, the worry associated with not knowing where the government’s investigation will lead, and the danger of losing everything you have worked for. We are prepared to help you challenge these investigations and defend you at trial when necessary.

We understand you risk losing everything. We are criminal white-collar attorneys prepared to help you achieve your best possible results and get back to leading a productive life.

Contact us now

Call, text, or email criminal defense attorney Amos Tyndall.

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