The deadline has already passed to file 2020 income tax returns. Federal law states who is required to pay income tax. A person can end up landing in prison for tax avoidance or tax fraud on federal charges if they fail to report their income and pay the taxes they owe.
Details provided by the Department of Justice US Attorney’s Office in Tennessee explained that a man who was 38 years old failed to report most of his income that he derived from a tax service company on his income tax return. A federal judge ended up sentencing him to 8 months in federal prison. After his prison sentence, he was also required to serve 7 months in home detention and one year of supervised release(probation) after his 15 months in prison and home detention. He was also required to pay $124,000 to the IRS in restitution.
Failing To Report
The IRS charges a business or a person with tax fraud if they intentionally and willfully report false tax return information to attempt in avoiding or limiting the amount of income taxes that they are required to pay. If the individual failed to file their tax return, pay their debt, report all their income, or claimed false tax deductions, credits, or a tax return, the IRS may cite this as proof for tax fraud. However, it doesn’t mean that the individual is purposely committing fraud just because the IRS accuses them of any of the above reasons. For example, a person who does their taxes may mistakenly think they qualified for specific tax deductions or credits and added them to their yearly tax return and just made an honest mistake. This doesn’t make a person guilty of tax fraud. But these mistakes can result in tax audits that could result in the taxpayer owing the IRS money and possibly be required to pay interest and penalties.
Contact A Tax Attorney For Help
If the IRS has accused you of any type of fraud or filing a false income tax return, contact an experienced and knowledgeable attorney to learn what your legal options are to defend the federal charges against you.