Criminal Tax Defense Attorney

IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice

For those who intentionally or fraudulently misreported income or assets on their past filings and are now looking to come clean with the IRS, the Voluntary Disclosure Practice is for you. To learn more about this particular program, speak with a criminal tax attorney at Evolution Tax and Legal. Essentially, this program provides people protection against criminal prosecution for coming cleaning and accurately reporting and paying their taxes as they should have in the first place.

There is a very formal process implemented by the IRS to be taken through this program and should not be attempted without sound legal guidance from a tax attorney experienced in voluntary disclosures. As part of this program, the IRS requires a minimum of a 6-year disclosure. This requires the person entering the program to prepare and file directly with an IRS auditor from the time of their criminal investigation unit to at least six years prior of tax returns, as well as any other applicable reporting forms as implemented by the IRS and the United States Treasury.

In return for being provided protection against potential criminal prosecution, the IRS imposes a penalty regime based upon the year in the disclosure period that has the highest amount of income that went unreported, as well as a penalty based upon the year with the highest value of assets that went unreported.

This is a disclosure program that can take more than several months to complete and requires you to work hand in hand with an IRS auditor. If you believe you have misreported your U.S. or foreign income and assets and are at risk of prosecution, please contact our criminal tax defense attorneys at Evolution Tax and Legal to discuss your options and eligibility associated with this program.

IRS Criminal Investigation Representation

Falling under criminal investigation by either the IRS or a State tax authority can be extremely stressful and make it hard for anyone to sleep at night. While we cannot take all of this emotion out of the picture, the criminal tax lawyers at Evolution Tax and Legal are well-versed in dealing with criminal tax allegations and working with the government to dispel their concerns, thus ending the investigation, or mitigating the potential damage to you through a criminal investigation.

If you or your tax preparer suspect that you may be under criminal investigation, we recommend contacting a criminal tax defense attorney as soon as possible to engage as your counsel and represent you in any tax litigation proceedings.

A normal tax preparer (CPA, EA, CTEC) does not have the legal authority or wherewithal to properly represent you in court in such an investigation. Additionally, none of the conversations you have with a non-licensed attorney or tax professional are protected under the attorney-client privilege, exposing your sensitive conversations to being subpoenaed by the government and used in their case-in-chief against you.

IRS Criminal Investigation Process

How does a criminal tax investigation begin? Well, it can come from a civil audit, where the auditor sees “badges of fraud” in their dealing and examination of your prior tax filings, a referral from another case, where another taxpayer has disclosed names or information in exchange for leniency in a prosecution, or from the taxing authorities own direct investigation into your tax issues.

However, what is most common amongst all of these potential beginnings is the appearance of “badges of fraud” in your fact pattern.

Common Examples of “Badges of Fraud”

• Maintaining inadequate records or destroying records
• Failing to file tax returns
• Providing implausible or inconsistent explanations during civil examination
• Concealing assets during collection of tax liabilities or examination
• Failing to cooperate with tax authorities
• Displaying belligerent, rude, or disrespectful behavior to an IRS agent
• Excessive dealing in cash
• Filing false returns
• Intentionally underreporting or omitting income
• Overstating deductions or claiming false deductions
• Hiding or transferring income with relatives or related entities
• Keeping false records of your income or “second set of books”
• Falsifying books or records “forgery”
• Claiming fake dependents
• Falsely claiming credits
• Arranging affairs for the sole purpose of tax avoidance in a manner that lacks economic substance
• Prematurely destroying records
• Taking positions on a return that are “more likely than not” to be disallowed if discovered without sufficient disclosure

If the criminal tax defense attorneys at Evolution Tax and Legal are engaged to represent you or your firm in a criminal tax investigation, our first step is to meet with you to have an open conversation about all details and facts that have lead you to this point. Without an open and honest dialogue as to what actually occurred, we will not be able to fully and honestly represent you. We thereafter work with the investigators to determine what charges they are pursuing and our legal team can best defend you and prevent you from being prosecuted. There are a number of defenses available to best protect you during an IRS audit.

Defenses to Criminal Tax Investigations

The following defenses are available to you and your criminal tax lawyer: 

• Showing you were not properly entitled to your Fourth Amendment rights to not be subject to unwarranted search and seizures through the deceit of a civil examiner who obtained information from you, ultimately leading to the ongoing investigation;
• Proof of entrapment;
• Block subpoenas of information issued by the investigating government body;
• Raising sound explanations supported by facts during administrative review of criminal investigation such as lack of criminal intent, proving no was tax due, defects in the method of proof, dual prosecution, health, and the improbability of a conviction;
• Prevent the government from proving fraudulent act(s) were intentional;
• Prevent the government’s use of circumstantial evidence;
• Compromise with the government to avoid prosecution;
• Plea deals in the case the evidence against you is overwhelming;
• Passage of the statute of limitations to prosecute on a given crime for a given act; and
• Mitigating potential further prosecution or disclosure of harmful information to the investigating body in the hopes of limiting or eliminating potential criminal tax exposure.

Schedule a Free Consultation With a Criminal Tax Lawyer Today

If you believe that you are under criminal investigation or have received a notice from the government stating that you are under investigation, contact a criminal tax defense attorney at Evolution Tax and Legal as soon as possible to discuss your next steps. These types of legal matters are highly time-sensitive and require the immediate attention of a dedicated criminal tax defense lawyer. Call our law office at (949) 229-6015 or contact us online to schedule a free legal consultation.