A Message to Taxpayers: Pay or Be Prosecuted
While many late preparers are busy filling out forms, the United States District Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia has issued a press release to help motivate taxpayers to be honest with the Internal Revenue Service. United States Attorney David Nahmias told the press last Thursday that "The IRS and other federal investigative agencies are also on the lookout for related fraud, and taxpayers need to know that you--not your tax preparer--are ultimately responsible for the information that goes on your tax return" (not a promising sign for the trusty old good faith reliance on professional tax advice defense, but anyway).
Mr. Nahmias rounded out the release with a string of cautionary tales--or rather recent tax prosecutions by the USAONDGA against both filers and tax preparers. Among the cases are a tax preparer who neglected to file her own tax returns, despite an income of over $400,000, and another preparer which submitted over 100 returns claiming over $460,000 in false Telephone Excise Tax Credits.
