Speaking of guilty pleasures, one of my favorite 1980’s songs is Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses At Night.” One New York seller of sunglasses forgot a not-so-minor detail of selling sunglasses, and may be finding his way to ClubFed.
Michael Stern was the owner of Prestige Optical in New York City. He branched out to selling sunglasses (and other glasses) online, collecting $656,780 of sales for 2007 and 2008. Just one minor detail was forgotten by Mr. Stern: Putting those sales on his tax return.
Yes, online income is just as taxable as through a brick and mortar store, and the IRS discovered the omission. He pleaded guilty to two counts of filing a false tax return; he’s already agreed to make restitution to the IRS of $190,781 but he also faces up to three years at ClubFed and a $250,000 fine.
I didn’t remember that the music video of Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses At Night” has a prison theme. It’s definitely apropos here: