According to a Department of Justice press release, a Minnesota man recently pleaded guilty to charges related to his scheme to assist in the preparation of false tax returns. This story exemplifies the potential implications of breaking U.S. tax laws. If you have failed to file a tax return for one or more years, or have filed a tax return that contains false information, you should discuss your case with an experienced tax defense attorney as soon as possible.
Defendant Assisted in Securing Over $1 Million in False Returns
We first brought you this defendant’s story early last year. As you may recall, Beau Wesley Gensmer, of Prior Lake, owned a consulting company and was accused of using false information to prepare income tax returns for members of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, a Native American tribe that owns Mystic Lake and Little Six Casinos outside of Minneapolis.
From 2014 to 2018, Gensmer convinced tribal members to hire him to assist in the preparation and filing of their tax returns and emailed false information to an Alaskan return preparer, who used the information to prepare the tax returns. The false entries in the tax returns claimed fraudulent business losses and charitable contributions, which resulted in tax refunds that averaged over $100,000 per client. The government alleged that Gensmer received approximately 30% of each inflated tax refund, causing a tax loss to the IRS of more than $1.5 million.
Gensmer will be sentenced in May. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison on the wire fraud count and three years in prison on the count relating to assisting in the filing of a false tax return. In addition to confinement in a federal prison, he may also face a period of supervised release. Finally, Gensmer will likely be ordered to pay restitution to the U.S. government, representing tax losses that he caused.
Appreciating the Potential Consequences of Breaking U.S. Tax Laws
The defendant in this case has likely released that there are very real penalties for willfully and knowingly violating U.S. tax laws. If you have filed a tax return that does not truthfully report all of your income or inflates your deductions, you too could have potential criminal exposure. Likewise, if you have failed to file a tax return altogether, you run the risk of an IRS criminal tax investigation which has the potential to result in a criminal tax prosecution.
If you have fallen out of U.S. tax compliance, it is in your best interest to contact an experienced tax attorney to help walk you through your potential exposures and next steps. Together, you can decide the appropriate actions that you can take to help bring you back into tax compliance while minimizing the potential for a life-altering investigation or prosecution.
If you have failed to file a tax return for one or more years or have taken a position on a tax return that could not be supported upon an IRS or state tax authority audit, eggshell audit, reverse eggshell audit, or criminal tax investigation, it is in your best interest to contact an experienced tax defense attorney to determine your best route back into federal or state tax compliance without facing criminal prosecution.
Note: As long as a taxpayer that has willfully committed tax crimes (potentially including non-filed foreign information returns coupled with affirmative evasion of U.S. income tax on offshore income) self-reports the tax fraud (including a pattern of non-filed returns) through a domestic or offshore voluntary disclosure before the IRS has started an audit or criminal tax investigation/prosecution, the taxpayer can ordinarily be successfully brought back into tax compliance and receive a nearly guaranteed pass on criminal tax prosecution and simultaneously often receive a break on the civil penalties that would otherwise apply.
It is imperative that you hire an experienced and reputable criminal tax defense attorney to take you through the voluntary disclosure process. Only an Attorney has the Attorney Client Privilege and Work Product Privileges that will prevent the very professional that you hire from being potentially being forced to become a witness against you, especially where they prepared the returns that need to be amended, in a subsequent criminal tax audit, investigation or prosecution.
Moreover, only an Attorney can enter you into a voluntary disclosure without engaging in the unauthorized practice of law (a crime in itself). Only an Attorney trained in Criminal Tax Defense fully understands the risks and rewards involved in voluntary disclosures and how to protect you if you do not qualify for a voluntary disclosure.
As uniquely qualified and extensively experienced Criminal Tax Defense Tax Attorneys, KovelCPAs and EAs, our firm provides a one stop shop to efficiently achieve the optimal and predictable results that simultaneously protect your liberty and your net worth. See our Testimonials to see what our clients have to say about us!
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Regardless of your business or estate needs, the professionals at the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing are here for you. We are open for business and our team will help ensure that your business is too. Contact the Law Offices of David W. Klasing today to discuss your business with one of our professionals.
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