Below I present a trifecta of guaranteed methods to get you in very deep trouble with the IRS and your state tax agency. If you follow one of these methods you will likely find yourself on your way to ClubFed. Follow all of them, and a lengthy stay is almost guaranteed.
Let’s head first to Niles, Ohio. Niles is near Youngstown, and happens to be the home of the William McKinley Memorial and Library. I visited it two years ago, and it’s well worth the trip. But I digress….
John Matuszwski used to operate Matuszwski Roofing and Siding. He allegedly liked to pay his employees partially in cash. That’s not illegal. He also allegedly only included the portion of the money he paid his employees by check on their reporting forms. If true, that’s a crime. He also allegedly didn’t pay the trust fund (FICA) taxes to the government. As I’ve said before, not remitting those taxes is a sure-fire way to get in trouble. Mr. Matuszwski faces one charge of attempting to evade employment taxes totaling over $165,000.
Our second method of getting in trouble is one that has been tried many times. Just skim some of the revenue off the top from a business, and not report it on your tax returns. Mohammed Arif, Mohammed Memeon, Haji Memon, Mohammed Naemm, andd Mohammed Jaweed pleaded guilty earlier this week to tax evasion. The five, who are brothers, skimmed “significant” amount of revenue from their Dollar Dreams stores. They had their store managers keep good records of the skimming. That probably wasn’t a brilliant idea, as it gave the government good records of the skim, too. The five have agreed to make $1.2 million of restitution (in total) and will be sentenced in September.
Our third method comes straight from the Tax Protester FAQ. If you try to argue that there is no such thing as an income tax, or that it doesn’t apply to you, or that it has never been ratified, or that it’s unconstitutional, I guarantee bad things will happen to you.
And if you’re an attorney, you definitely should know better. Bernard Bagdis of Norristown, Pennsylvania, believed that neither he nor his clients had to file tax returns because of various business losses. (Hint: He’s wrong.) We’ve written about Mr. Bagdis before.
Mr. Bagdis boasted he was going to write Federal Tax Fraud: The User’s Guide. Instead of writing a book, he may have the book thrown at him. He was convicted last week of helping clients evade over $5 million in taxes on $24 million of income.
As I’ve said before, there is an income tax. There are also laws on withholding of income from employees’ checks. If you follow one of the methods outlined above your new home could be ClubFed.