Criminal Defense

The Internal Revenue Service has identified the failure to file tax returns as a heightened enforcement priority. These efforts will likely involve enforcement through increased collection efforts and also bring the possibility of increased criminal enforcement. In addition, the Office of Professional Responsibility has separately announced that it will focus on practitioners who fail to file tax returns. The crime of failure to file a tax return is a misdemeanor. Under the Sentencing Guidelines, however, the amount of the tax involved will be taken into consideration for sentencing purposes. The leading Supreme Court case defining the element of willfulness in tax crimes addressed the issue in the context of a tax protester claiming that he had no obligation to file a tax return. Ignorance of the law is a defense to tax crimes, including the failure to file a tax return. In situations involving the failure to file a tax return, perhaps the most common consideration will be whether a person was unable to file the return.