PETER F. IOCONA: ORANGE COUNTY CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER

Tax evasion is the deliberate act of avoiding paying the amount of taxes owed by an individual, trust, or company. There are several different ways that income tax fraud or income tax evasion can take place, but the offense ultimately comes down to misrepresenting financial statements or information in order to appear as if less money is owed to the IRS.

Some examples of tax evasion include the following:

Underreporting the amount of money that you earned in a tax year is one of the most basic forms of income tax fraud and tax evasion. If an individual made $100,000 in a year, or if a company made $1million in a year, but reported 40% less in their taxes, so reporting $60,000 or $600,000 in the aforementioned examples, this is a clear and basic example of an attempt to avoid paying taxes on 40% of the earned income for that tax year.

IRS auditors have a variety of ways to find corroborating evidence for incorrect information that is submitted, including gathering 1099 and W-2 documents from parties who paid the individual or company, or by compiling information from other third parties in order to identify inconsistencies. 

In order to create a “compelling” amount of evidence or information to submit to the IRS in order to corroborate their misrepresented tax reporting, an individual or company may forge, edit, or otherwise falsify certain documents that they submit to the IRS on their tax returns. This can be done in combination with a variety of other methods in order to attempt to mislead IRS officials into believing that the information being provided is accurate and complete.

As with all other auditing methods that the IRS may use to clarify and possible concerns about tax information that they have been provided, an auditor will want to take a closer look at these documents, as well as any contributing or corollary information, in order to confirm the legitimacy of this information. Falsifying documents can be more serious than misreporting income because it is a lot more difficult to claim ignorance or error; but whether in the case of income tax fraud, general tax fraud, or tax evasion, you need a skilled Criminal Defense Attorney.

Typically a business—though in certain cases an individual or household—will report a variety of expenses throughout the tax year that will reduce the amount of taxable income that they earned throughout that year, and therefore reduce their tax burden. This is a completely legitimate method of tax avoidance that is intended to determine a reasonable amount of money that any one individual or company owes after paying these costs.

The issue of whether income tax fraud or tax evasion occurred most often arises when the IRS suspects that a company (or individual) has reported expenses that either did not happen, or the amounts are incorrectly calculated. These expenses and the necessary proof will be central to the audit that the IRS will undertake in this situation.

We have defended clients against a wide range of federal charges and federal indictments, including insurance income tax fraud, tax evasion, fraud, Medicare fraud, Medicaid fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, mortgage fraud, RICO conspiracy, kidnapping, child pornography, distribution and possession of drugs with the intent to distribute, computer crimes and even flying a commercial jet while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

A federal criminal defense lawyer can make the difference between a longer or a shorter sentence, or even being federally charged. It is for this reason that if you or a loved one is facing federal charges or a federal indictment, you need to contact The Law Office of Peter F. Iocona today for a consultation.