A criminal defense attorney in Fort Lauderdale can explain that being convicted of tax fraud can be one of the most serious white collar convictions.  Tax fraud may occur on the local, state or federal level and may be committed by individuals, businesses or corporations that are willfully attempting to avoid paying taxes that they owe.  Here are some of the common ways that tax fraud is committed, according to our criminal defense attorney in Fort Lauderdale:

Not Filing Taxes

Tax evasion can occur when a person or business fails to file taxes, knowing that taxes are owed.  Celebrities are even sometimes convicted of tax fraud for this reason.

Altering Amount of Taxes Due

Another common mechanism for committing tax fraud is avoiding paying taxes by altering the tax liability of the filer.  This may be effectuated in one of the following ways:

• Under-reporting or concealing income – the individual may fail to disclose all earned income during the relevant time period.
• Over-reporting deductions – the taxpayer may claim dependents that do not exist or take credits or deductions for those to which he or she is not entitled.
• Over-reporting expenses –Another common method of committing tax fraud is to report personal expenses as business expenses or inflate expenses in order to conceal a higher profit margin.

Deceitful Bookkeeping

Companies may commit tax fraud by using deceitful bookkeeping methods.  The company may try to claim less income by underreporting amounts received through cash transactions.  It may transfer assets or income to a shell company.  It may conceal or destroy accounting records that do not work in its favor.