What is tax fraud? It is when a person deliberately makes inaccurate and false claims for deductions, credits, exemptions, or any form of financial benefit that is legally allowed by law. In some instances, the only motivation behind committing such an act would be to evade paying the right amount of tax due on various forms of income.
A tax fraud attorney is the best person to seek assistance from if you plan on appealing a notice of audit from the Internal Revenue Service. When tax fraud occurs, an attorney can take care of all the proceedings for you, as well as defending you against possible fines or penalties that could result from your actions. The attorney will also know exactly which laws apply to your situation, and how to proceed with any appeals or case defenses. In some cases, an audit is an innocent act that can be remedied easily, especially if the taxpayer is represented by a competent tax fraud attorney.
Every year, millions of innocent citizens are audited for tax payments they did not make. In many cases, individuals are accused of making false claims for deductions or credits that they did not claim on their tax returns for one year or another. It is a crime known as tax evasion. While there is no current national tax fraud database, the Internal Revenue Service and local state tax authorities do share information about such cases.
Tax fraud and tax evasion penalties can range from a small fine to years in prison. Even the smallest criminal conviction can send a person directly to jail time, while serious frauds with billions of dollars can have significant consequences. A tax fraud conviction can affect future employment opportunities, damage family relationships, and impact your credit score for up to 10 years. Many people will be unable to get jobs, get loans, buy homes, or even rent an apartment after serving time in prison.
One important point to remember about tax fraud and its possible consequences is that the vast majority of cases are handled by agents and tax fraud attorneys who do not perform a criminal investigation. Agents do the majority of investigations simply because they receive the payment for the investigation and then file the final report. Certified public accountants (CPAs) are often required to conduct an internal tax investigation, but CPA examiners are not licensed to investigate tax fraud. An experienced accountant can help you wade through the confusing collection accounts, find overpaid or underpaid deductions, and recover missing tax deductions. An attorney can help you win your case, negotiate a settlement, and apply for tax refunds or other relief. Hiring an experienced tax fraud attorney can save you a lot of time and expense.
Tax fraud according to missouritaxattorneys.net can take many different forms. The most common form is willfully misrepresenting information on tax returns or filing false documents to secure larger tax refunds. However, there are other forms of tax fraud as well including using false tax code information to apply for more deductions than are available, using non-standard pricing to charge more for items than are allowed, structuring your business so that it appears less prevalent to the Internal Revenue Service, or even committing tax fraud with your employees. Any taxpayer who engages in any of these kinds of behavior will face criminal prosecution.