What is tax evasion?

Tax evasion is defined as the purposeful illegal attempt of a U.S. citizen to evade assessment or payment of a tax imposed by the federal government. The organization that oversees taxes, the Internal Revenues Service, is in charge of investigating those who attempt to evade paying. According to estimates, the federal government loses billions of dollars in potential revenue to people who evade taxes. In 2006, that lost income gap was estimated at $450 billion.

Tax evasion includes some of the following:

– Misrepresenting or underreporting income
– Inflating deductions
– Tax protest/ resistance
– Use of offshore accounts to hide money
– Money laundering

**Penalties of Tax Evasion**

If you are caught and convicted of tax evasion, the federal government can impose some of the following sentences:

– Up to 5 years in prison
– Up to $250,000 in fines ($500,000 for corporations)
– Both in addition to the cost of prosecution

Additionally, any unpaid balance of taxes will accrue interest, which includes a failure to pay a penalty of 0.5% on the unpaid amount each month it is unpaid, and a tax evasion fraud penalty of 75% of the unpaid tax; this interest is all collectable by the government and must be paid in addition to the penalty fines.

If you have been involved in tax evasion in Miami, then you may want to call an experienced criminal defense attorney for legal advice.