In the September Tax_Defense_Partners_Newspaper, I thought it was important to remind taxpayers that it’s not just celebrities, industry titans and scam artists who are going to prison on tax charges. In reality, it’s everyday people including your friends, neighbors, and perhaps you who are actually facing tax problems with the IRS.
We Just Hear about Celebrities with Tax Problems
These cases make headlines because the defendants are big names. For example, tax stories about Nicolas Cage, Wesley Snipes and Marc Anthony are legendary. Cage had several tax liens placed on his assets for owing $6 million in back taxes; Snipes went to prison for three years for failure to file and pay his taxes; and Anthony owed IRS back taxes to the tune of $3 million.
However, as I mentioned in the article, celebrities represent only a small portion of tax cases that are brought to U.S. courts. So, when I meet with clients or discuss tax issues before audiences, I always encourage people to remember that it’s easy to draw false conclusions.
What Taxpayers Should Know about IRS Tax Debt:
While you hear about Cage, Snipes and Anthony cases you don’t hear about the thousands of tax cases every year involving people who could be your friends and neighbors – people a lot like you who found themselves on the wrong side of the tax law.
Here are three tax stories about Average Joe’s who got caught trying to cheat the IRS:
- Large-engine mechanic, Arthur Risser Jr. of Las Vegas under reported his income by nearly $246 thousand. For his offense, Risser faces up to three years in federal prison.
- Tennessee lawyer John Oliver Threadgill, 70, of Knoxville, is going to prison for 51 months for evading $1.4 million in taxes over nearly a 20-year period. From 1985 through 2004, Threadgill used his law firm’s bank account and payroll account to pay for personal expenditures. He also opened bank accounts in the names of nominee trusts, and titled his personal residences in the names of nominee trusts. Threadgill spent what should have been tax money on a $69,000 wedding, a $60,000 country club membership, and a $213,000 property. Threadgill will now pay handsomely for his actions with prison time.
- A New York businessman, Thomas Nastasi III, 46, of Mt. Kisco, N.Y., failed to pay $1.7 million in payroll taxes to the IRS and now faces prison time as well.
These are just a few of several thousand stories showing how far IRS enforcement reaches. Sure, taxing authorities like to make an example of well-heeled celebrities who aren’t paying their share to the IRS. But for every celebrity case you hear about, consider the hundreds, if not thousands of Average Joes with similar stories who are facing steep fines or lengthy prison sentences for their tax issues.
