If you have been charged with a tax offense, or are under investigation for a tax offense, you need an experienced criminal defense attorney who has represented people charged with tax crimes before.
A person who is convicted of tax evasion can face up to 5 years in prison for each count of tax evasion. People go to prison for tax crimes; you need a lawyer who knows what to do to protect you.
The two tax crimes most commonly charged are failure to file income tax returns and tax evasion. To convict you of failing to file a tax return, the government has to show that you had an obligation to file a tax return, and that you knowingly and willfully failed to file one. To convict you of tax evasion, the government has to prove that you knowingly and willfully evaded the payment of a federal tax obligation. There are a number of ways the government can try to prove that you evaded paying taxes. The government may try to prove that there was a specific item of income that you hid from the IRS, or they may try to show that you claimed tax deductions that you were not lawfully entitled to.
