Early this past month, David Kamal, a Stafford, Connecticut native, was arrested and charged with several tax code offenses ranging as far back as 2012. Kamal faces an 11-count indictment, including charges of tax evasion, filing a false tax return, obstruction of a proceeding, and unlawfully using someone else’s identity in furtherance of the aforementioned crimes.
Combined, these charges present a massive hurdle for the defendant. One way or another, the trial will cause tremendous financial strain and reputational damage. To avoid finding yourself in the same situation, you should be aware of the nature of these charges and how you can act now to prevent them.
The first step in this effort is calling the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing. Our dual-licensed Tax Attorneys and CPAs are uniquely qualified to assist you in all your tax preparation, amending, or defense needs. To hear more, call us at our offices at (800) 681-1295.
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 disclosurebefore 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!
Connecticut Man Facing Criminal Tax Prosecution for Consecutive Years of Violations
A federal grand jury returned an indictment featuring 11 different charges against David Kamal in early February. The indictment alleges that Kamal, 60, willfully provided false documentation regarding unreimbursed medical expenses totaling more than $400,000. The government also claims that Kamal provided falsified bank statements and invoices to the IRS, submitted false documentation during a tax court proceeding, and used another person’s personal information to file false tax returns.
In total, Kamal was charged with two counts of tax evasion, one count of obstructing an official tax court proceeding, four counts of filing a false tax return, and four counts of unlawful use of a means of identification. The office of Leonard Boyle, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, claims that the charges carry a potential prison sentence between 3 and 20 years.
Kamal was arrested on these charges on the morning of Thursday, February 3. He pled not guilty to all charges and was released on bail for a $50,000 bond.
Various Charges Involved in the Case
The defendant is obviously in some hot water, as he faces 11 counts of four separate charges. But you may be wondering what each charge means and how they differ from one another?
Tax Evasion
Tax evasion is a nebulous term used in various ways to indicate some sort of noncompliance. However, as it is used in Kamal’s case, tax evasion refers to a criminal tax offense characterized by the defendant’s knowing and willful attempt to avoid either reporting taxable income or paying the taxes owed.
The key criteria of tax evasion here is the “knowing and willful” element. In order to secure a criminal conviction for tax evasion, the prosecutor must be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally acted (or failed to act) with the express purpose of avoiding tax liability. This is a difficult hurdle to meet, so the IRS often opts to pursue civil charges instead when they don’t have the requisite evidence that the defendant meant to defraud the system.
Filing a False Tax Return
Knowingly filing an income tax return with the federal government that contains misstatements of material fact is a federal crime under 26 U.S.C. § 7207. This crime differs from tax evasion, though one charge typically accompanies the other.
This charge casts a wide net. You do not need to make affirmatively false statements to be convicted under § 7207. You could also face charges for leaving out material information, filing late, or not filing at all if the government can show that you did so intentionally. You also don’t need to owe any tax debt to be found guilty of filing a false tax return. If found guilty, you could face fines up to $10,000 per offense, which is not based on your outstanding tax balance. This is on top of a potential prison sentence of up to one year per offense.
Unlawful Use of a Means of Identification
This charge is a form of identity theft. You may think of identity theft as a shady email or a hacker stealing your passwords, but the criminal act of using someone else’s identity reaches far wider activity than that. Under the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, this offense occurs when a person knowingly transfers or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identifying another person with the intent to commit or to aid or abet any unlawful activity. Violations could result in up to 15 years imprisonment.
Obstruction of an Official Proceeding
This charge comes from 26 U.S.C. § 7212(a), commonly referred to as the “Omnibus Clause.” The Omnibus Clause prohibits taxpayers who are the subject of an audit or investigation from impeding IRS agents or attempting to obstruct the IRS’ efforts. If there is no ongoing proceeding, a person cannot be found guilty of obstruction under the Omnibus Clause. However, if you are facing a proceeding, you should work with a dual-licensed Tax Attorney and CPA to ensure that you don’t make an already difficult situation even worse.
How Can a Dual-Licensed Tax Attorney and CPA Help You with Tax Fraud Charges?
The best way to defeat IRS criminal charges is to avoid them in the first place. At the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing, our dual-licensed Tax Lawyers and CPAs take a circumspect approach to representing our clients, including assessing their tax filing histories for potential issues and rectifying them before they actualize.
If you find yourself facing criminal charges or the subject of an invasive IRS audit, it is not too late to benefit from the assistance we can provide. Our dual-licensed Tax Attorneys and CPAs have plenty of experience dealing with criminal defense and can be by your side throughout your advocacy.
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.
Contact the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing Today for Your Tax Law Concerns
To benefit from the experience and resources of our team of dual-licensed Tax Attorneys and CPAs, call the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing today at (800) 681-1295.
More Commonly Asked Tax Audit Questions
- How should Tax Audits be Handled by Criminal Tax Counsel?
- How to survive audit when I cheated on return being audited
- What is an eggshell audit?
- What is a reverse egg shell audit?
- Why is a reverse egg shell audit dangerous for a taxpayer?
- Warning signs of a criminal referral from an IRS audit
- Effective tax defense counsels goals in an egg shell audit?
- How are the 4 goals and outcomes 1 and 2 best obtained?
- What are the possible outcomes of an egg shell audit?
- Is it my right to know why I was selected for examination?
- What can I do to prepare for an audit?
- What is an IRS civil examination?
- How IRS decides which tax returns are audited
- What are my appeal options if I disagree with IRS?
- What are my basic taxpayer rights if the IRS audits me?
- Options if I am unable to pay at the conclusion of audit
- What a 30 or 90-Day Letter from the IRS means
- What is involved with appealing disagreements?
- Rights to disagree with IRS tax auditor’s findings
- Can I stop the IRS from repeatedly auditing me?
- Can I have the examination transferred to another area?
- Can I record my IRS interview and is it a good idea?
- How many years of returns are at risk during an audit?
- Common reasons for the IRS to conduct a tax audit
- How to avoid negative consequences from an IRS interview
- Have to agree to interview by taxing authority directly?
- Are all audits the same?
- What should I do if the IRS is investigating me?
- What if I don’t respond to a taxing authority audit notice
- Your rights during an IRS tax audit
- Risks of attending an IRS audit without a tax lawyer
- Most common audit technique used by taxing authorities
- Don’t go into an IRS audit without representation
- Why hire an attorney to represent me in an audit?
- Why hire David W. Klasing to represent me in an audit
Questions and Answers for Criminal Tax Representation
- When tax defense counsel parallels tax crime investigation
- Guilty of tax obstruction by backdating documents?
- To be found guilty of tax obstruction must a person actually be successful in impeding the IRS’s functions?
- Help! The Document I Gave the IRS Had False Information
- Tax crime aiding or assisting false return IRC §7206(2)
- What is the crime known as tax obstruction § 7212?
- What is the difference between tax perjury and tax evasion?
- What is the tax crime commonly known as tax perjury?
- What is a Klein Conspiracy?
- Increased possibility of civil action in IRS investigation
- Am I Guilty of Tax Evasion if the Law is Vague?
- What happens if the IRS thinks I committed tax crimes?
- What are ways to defend against a tax evasion charge?
- Difference between criminal tax evasion and civil tax fraud
- What accounting method does the IRS use for tax fraud
- Can I Change Accounting Method to the Accrual Method
- What is the willfulness requirement for tax evasion?
- I didn’t know I committed tax fraud. Can I get off?
- Concealed assets from IRS. Can I avoid tax evasion charges
- How government proves I willfully engaged in tax evasion
- What is the venue or court where a tax crime case is heard?
- Must the IRS prove tax crimes beyond a reasonable doubt?
- Is it a crime to make false statements to the IRS?
- Will the IRS overlook my tax evasion if it’s minor?
- Failed to tell IRS about my nominee account
- Audit risk with cash based business transactions
- How to defend a client charged with tax evasion
- Is it tax evasion if I didn’t file income tax return?
- Government says I attempted to evade my taxes. Now what?
- I forgot to pay my taxes or estimated tax. Is this a crime?
- Government proof I “willfully” failed to pay taxes
- 5 Ways to Respond to Tax Evasion Charges
- Being audited after using a tax professional
- Rules for what an IRS agent can do while investigating me
- How tax preparers, attorneys and accountants are punished
- How the IRS selects tax crime lead for investigation
- How does the IRS prosecute suspected tax crimes?
- Does IRS reward informant leads for suspected tax crimes?
- How the government proves deficiency in a tax evasion case
- Do prior tax crimes factor into new IRS tax convictions?
- Requesting conference before investigative report is done
- Requesting conference after IRS Special Agent Report
- What are my rights during an IRS criminal investigation?
- Avoid prosecution for tax crime with voluntary disclosure?
- Defense tactics that make it hard for to prove willfulness
- How a tax attorney can stop your criminal tax case?
- What can you generally tell me about tax crimes?
- Continuing filing requirement with investigation pending
- Federal criminal code crimes that apply to tax issues
- Penalty for making, subscribing, and filing a false return
- CID special agent’s report for criminal prosecution
- What is the discovery process in a criminal tax case?
- What the IRS includes in indictment for tax case
- What is the hardest element of a tax crime to prove?
- IRS methods of gathering evidence to prove tax crime
- What does a grand jury do in IRS tax crime prosecution?
- Failure to keep records or supply information
- Failure to make a return, supply information, or pay tax
- What is attempting to evade payment of taxes?
- What is income tax evasion and how is it punished?
- What is attempted income tax evasion?
- What is the crime of failure to pay tax? What is punishment
- Crime of making or subscribing false return or document
- Criminal Investigation Division investigation tactics
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- How the IRS generates leads about suspected tax crimes
- What is the crime ”evasion of assessment” of tax?
- Specific examples of “attempting” to evade tax assessment
- What is the so-called Spies evasion doctrine?
- Does overstating deductions constitute tax evasion?
- Is it tax evasion if my W-4 contains false statements?
- IRC §7201 attempt to evade vs. common-law crime of attempt
- What are the penalties for Spies tax evasion?
- How government proves a taxpayer attempted tax fraud
- What is a tax that was “due and owing.”
- What is evasion of assessment for tax liability?
- Is evasion of assessment different from evasion of payment
- Does the IRS have a dollar threshold for tax fraud?
- What is the IRS burden of proof for tax fraud convictions?
- Are Tax Laws Constitutional?
- What is the source of law that defines tax evasion?
- Does section 7201 create two distinct criminal offenses?
- Does tax evasion definition include partnership LLC
- What if I helped someone else evade taxes?
- Is it illegal to overstate deductions on my tax return?
- Is it illegal to conceal bank accounts from the IRS?
- Do later losses justify prior deductions?
- Common reasons the IRS and DOJ start investigations
- What is the Mens Rea component of tax crimes?
- What is a proffer agreement and what are the risks?
- Why to have an attorney to review a proffer agreement
- Why enter into a proffer agreement?
- Limited use immunity from proffer agreements
- Difference between civil and criminal fraud allegations
Questions and Answers on Unfiled Back Taxes
- What are the common issues that non-filers face?
- Risk of audit after filing delinquent prior year returns
- Can substitute return deficiency be discharge in bankruptcy
- Substitute return modified by subsequent delinquent return?
- Do I file every delinquent return for each missing year?
- How does the IRS identify non-filers?
- How important is it to the government that I didn’t file?
- Delinquent tax return criminal prosecution likelihood
- Will I get a refund on a delinquent tax year?
- What happens after enforcement action has begun?
- Should I use an attorney, EA or a CPA to represent me when I re-enter the tax system?
- Why do people drop out of the tax system?
- What happens after the IRS identifies me as a non-filer?
- IRS has not previously filed substitute returns
- Tax attorney representation when re-entering tax system
- How will the government force me to file returns?
- What penalties can IRS impose on delinquent tax filings?
- What should I do to re-enter the tax system?
- Can Law Office of David W. Klasing help me re-enter system?
- Will tax collection taken by authorities affect my credit
- I concealed bank accounts from the government
- Forgetting or failing to file tax return
