Tax Law BlogPage 16 of 31
Expert insights on IRS tax resolution, criminal tax defense, and compliance from our attorneys.
Did You Know?
Federal tax returns were not always due on April 15. March 1 was the due date in 1913 and it was changed to March 15 in 1918. The current tax date was established in 1954.
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readApr 23, 2020Leaving the Art House for the Big House
Philip Righter has pleaded guilty to the sale of paintings he claimed were created by artists such as Keith Haring, Andy Warhol and others, and admitted to lying on his income tax returns. Righter attempted to bilk victims out of six million dollars by forging authenticity papers for paintings he cl
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readApr 21, 2020How Many Scientific Calculators Does It Take to Send an Executive Assistant to Jail?
Kristen Martin, an executive assistant from Denver, pleaded guilty to mail fraud and federal tax evasion for a scheme that cost her employer $846,441. From 2013 to 2016 Martin used her employer’s Staples accounts to purchase unauthorized items she either kept for herself or sold online through eBay
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readApr 16, 2020Not a Lot of Compassion for this Office Manager
Alicia Raynor, the business manager for Compassion at Home in Buffalo New York, has been charged with wire fraud and filing a false tax return for diverting $238,871 of company funds to personal accounts. Raynor was in charge of the company’s accounting and covered her tracks by disguising entries i
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readApr 14, 2020Livin’ on a Prayer and Stolen Parishioner Donations
A former ordained priest in South Dakota, Marcin Stanislaw Garbacz, faces up to 65 years in prison and penalties totaling $1,250,000 for wire fraud, money laundering, transportation of stolen money and five counts of making and subscribing a false tax return. While employed as a priest with the Cath
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readApr 9, 2020No Soft Landing for this Downey
David Downey of Indianapolis was sentenced to 72 months in prison for defrauding clients of his payroll company of more than 9.4 million dollars. From 2013 to 2017 Downey used 20 million dollars from his clients’ accounts to fund his Charles Schwab brokerage account, and ultimately returned only 11
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readApr 7, 2020Your IRS Questions Answered Here… COVID-19
Question: My business has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 Corona virus. I’ve had to lay off all of my employees and basically shut down my operation. I don’t have the money to pay my payroll taxes that I owe. Is there anything I can do? Answer: Yes. The Small Business Administration (SBA) ha
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readApr 2, 2020Did You Know?
U.S. car buyers pay sales tax on a new car, but it’s nothing compared to what Danish car buyers pay. Depending on the price of the car, the registration tax has been as high as 150 percent of the sale price.
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readMar 25, 2020Alabama Shakes Down Tax Evader
Alabama resident John Cooney has pleaded guilty to tax evasion. In 2011 Cooney filed delinquent tax returns for 2008 through 2010, and admitted that he owed the IRS almost $780,000, but failed to include a payment with his returns. To evade the tax debt and future taxes, Cooney created an entity, GV
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readMar 19, 2020Golf Pro Swings and Misses
Kevin Kennedy, a former golf pro and owner of Kennedy Golf Management, has been indicted on embezzlement and tax fraud charges. Kennedy managed the two public golf courses in Springfield, Massachusetts and collected cart rental and greens fees on behalf of the city. From 2010 to 2016 Kennedy stole f
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readMar 17, 2020Inventor Bets on Gold & Loses
Attorney and Idaho state lawmaker John Green, and his client, inventor Thomas Selgas, were convicted by a jury for conspiring to defraud the United States. Selgas was also convicted of tax evasion. A long time tax defier, Selgas converted all his money to gold coins and bought his Texas ranch with g
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readMar 12, 2020A Bunch of Jail Time for a Brady
Monique Brady owned a property rehabilitation business that turned out to be a 10.3 million dollar Ponzi scheme. From 2014 through the summer of 2018 she claimed to be overseeing major renovations on foreclosed properties under contract with lenders such as Freddie Mac. She promised investors half t
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readMar 10, 2020Knock Knock, Who’s There?
The IRS is making house calls. In an effort to reach high-income individuals who have not filed one or more tax returns in recent years, the IRS is sending several dozen agents to make at least 800 face to face visits before April 15. A last ditch attempt to encourage compliance, this is the final [
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readMar 5, 2020Timeshare Salesman Now Sharing His Time in Jail Cell
A timeshare salesman in Virginia, Gregory Overton Powell, 62, was charged with evading his federal income tax obligations for approximately 13 years. Powell made roughly $300,000 a year between 2006 and 2016, but neglected to file his tax returns on time and made minimal payments towards his tax lia
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readMar 3, 2020Your IRS Questions Answered Here…
Question: I received a Notice of Federal Tax Lien via certified mail for unpaid back taxes and I’m scared and don’t know what to do. Can you help? Answer: Yes. A Notice of Federal Tax Lien (NFTL) is public record and is generally filed with the County Recorder where you reside. A federal tax lien […
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readFeb 27, 2020Did You Know?
The highest income tax bracket today is 37% but it has been much higher. The individual Income Tax Act of 1944 raised tax rates to the point where the highest bracket was 94%.
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readFeb 25, 2020The IRS Dirty Dozen
For the last several years, the IRS has issued a list of “Dirty Dozen” tax scams. Below are a couple recently released from 2019. Promises of Inflated Refunds Unethical tax return preparers promise taxpayers inflated tax refunds. Often, it’s the elderly and low income taxpayers, with no obligation t
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readFeb 20, 2020Bad Sport Didn’t Play by the Rules
Peggy Ann Fulford, 60, was sentenced to ten years in prison for defrauding former NBA players Travis Best and Dennis Rodman and NFL players Ricky Williams and Lex Hilliard out of millions. Fulford befriended the athletes before getting them to let her handle all their finances – including paying the
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readFeb 18, 2020Troupe of Frauds
Aaron Troupe, 30, who was in the business of filing false tax returns using stolen identities, was sentenced to five years and one month in federal prison for theft of government property and aggravated identity theft. Troupe also had debit cards in his name that had been loaded with illegally obtai
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readFeb 13, 2020They Knew the Drill But Cheated the IRS (and got caught) Anyway
Dentists Mike Hsieh and Christine Chen, owners of Comfort Family Dentistry in Washington state, have pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return. Between 2007 and 2014 Hsieh and Chen kept two sets of financial statements for the business. One set of books showed actual expenses while another showed
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readFeb 11, 2020Down for the Count
Rocky Tingler, owner of McWilliams Building & Construction in West Virginia, pleaded guilty to understating the gross sales on his 2015 tax return by more than $988,000. He also admitted that in the third quarter of 2014 he collected $790 in federal income tax from his employees when the amount shou
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readFeb 6, 2020Stormy Outlook for Attorney Michael Avenatti
Michael Avenatti became a household name as the attorney representing former adult film star Stormy Daniels in her case against President Donald Trump. But Avenatti’s most recent notoriety is strictly of his own doing. During a California Bar Association disciplinary hearing over allegations that he
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readFeb 4, 2020A Very Bad Day in Court
New Jersey tax preparer Brian Day pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns and bank fraud in a scheme to misappropriate clients’ money and defraud the IRS. Day told his clients that they owed more money to the IRS than they actually did. He instructed them to write checks made out to the IRS […]
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readJan 30, 2020Making a Profit from a Non-Profit
Movita Johnson-Harrell, a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, has resigned from office after being accused of using funds for personal items from a non-profit she created to help people struggling with addiction, poverty and mental illness. She founded the non-profit, Motivations, E
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readJan 28, 2020Multiple Businesses, Multiple States Multiple Prison Sentences
Vincent Celentano, the owner of several businesses in Florida and Michigan, has been indicted for tax evasion, employment tax fraud and other tax crimes. Celentano is accused of using more than $360,000 from his businesses’ bank accounts to pay for personal expenses, including credit card payments a
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readJan 23, 2020At Loggerheads with the IRS
For more than 20 years, Denver resident, Lawrence Martin Birk, failed to pay federal income taxes. It wasn’t until the IRS began collection efforts that the owner of Terryall River Log Homes, which built and sold log homes, hired a tax firm to prepare eight years of returns. However, Birk left out a
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readJan 21, 2020Unspeakable Lack of Vision
Robert Lawrence Gazdick, Jr., the owner of an audio-visual equipment rental business in Virginia pleaded guilty to tax fraud for failing to pay payroll taxes for his employees from 2013 to 2018. Gazdick deducted the taxes from his employees’ paychecks but failed to pay the funds to the IRS. In total
Gregory McCauley Jr., Esq.•1 min readJan 16, 2020Showing 406–432 of 825 articles
Beyond the blog
Hire us, don't just read about it
Criminal Tax Issues
When the government wants to put you in a cage — we put ourselves between you and them.
Tax Resolution Services
The IRS has lawyers. So should you.
IRS Collections Defense
When the IRS stops asking and starts taking — there's a legal counter to every move.
Additional Tax Services
Specialty tax matters — bankruptcy, foreign accounts, estate planning, payroll, gambling, and more.
More from the resource library