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Tax Fraud and Five Years of Sleepless Nights

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Tax Fraud and Five Years of Sleepless Nights

In another tax fraud case the IRS and investigators patiently waited five (5) years before convicting the taxpayer for a 2007 false income tax return.

Authorities arrested Mrs. Aqsa Aslam (age 31) of Dixon City, Pennsylvania, after they raided her business, Alhmrah Corp., a business specialized in the sale of smoke shop items for convenience stores.

UNDERREPORTED INCOME

The documents from the ensuing lawsuit reveal that she reported only $31,249 for her 2007 income, but really there was something of the order of $4 million in dispute (unfortunately the record does not reveal precisely the amount undisclosed). The government seized nearly $4.1 million during the raid on the business.

In 2007 Mrs. Aqsa Aslam filed a false tax return, substantially underreporting the amount of income she earned. However, the IRS did not catch up with her until five (5) years later, in March of 2012. She pled guilty to filing the return.

FILING A FALSE RETURN IS TAX FRAUD

Tax fraud comes in many forms—and the Internal Revenue Code imposes no statute of limitations on tax fraud (that is, there is no “cut off” time for the IRS to discover it). But the IRS is very clear that tax fraud includes “[s]igning [a] return knowing that the contents of that return understated income” or making a “substantial understatement of income in successive years.”

THE MORAL OF THE STORY & SOME GOOD NEWS

One lesson to draw from this conviction is that tax fraud is that once a person commits tax fraud (e.g. underreporting the amount of income you earned), it will haunt you forever, just as it loomed over Mrs. Aslam all those years.

Fortunately, it is not all bad news. Qualified legal counsel can help you start afresh—whether you find yourself facing the IRS now or you are worried they will discover the fraud in the future.

For foreign account issues please see our page on the IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative Program.

For domestic issues, please see our page on Non-Filer Assistance.

Call The Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing at 800-681-1295. No matter how bad your situation, we can help!