Information is empowerment, and this article is about what the IRS has done to one of the non-filers in the recent past.
Here is a word-for-word example from the IRS.gov website on non-filer investigations:
“New Orleans doctor convicted of tax evasion On September 29, 2009, in Texarkana, Texas, Malcolm David MacHauer was sentenced to 33 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $222,782. MacHauer was found guilty by a jury on June 17, 2009, on three counts of attempting to evade and overdue payment of federal income taxes. The judge also ordered MacHauer to pay restitution of $222,782 and additional prosecution costs in the amount of $5,437. According to information presented to the court, although MacHauer received income from Wadley Medical Center in Texarkana, Texas, for his services as a physician, he did not pay the corresponding federal income taxes. Instead, MacHauer placed his income into his corporation, transferred the money to the MacHauer Family Trust, and then withdrew money from that Trust to pay for his personal expenses without paying income taxes.”
Much of the non-filer investigations involved taxpayers who moved money to avoid paying taxes.
Taxpayers should always remember that “money is traceable.”
Oh, did you take the money out of the country and deposit it in an account abroad?
Let’s see, was any law broken?
Yes.
You must declare all cash over $10,000 when flying on an international flight.
What’s that? Oh, do you want to transfer the money from your account to an account abroad? Fact: Any time there is a transaction, over $5,000, the financial institution must report the transaction to the IRS! Mr. MacHauer appears to have understood all of the above laws and decided to move the money within his own private circle. And he “forgot” to pay his earned income taxes! The IRS did not find his transactions amusing and put him in federal prison for 33 months. Although he is going through difficult times and his case is nothing like Mr./Dr. MacHauer, take a moment to realize that it’s “always” better if he contacts the IRS first, when he hasn’t filed taxes. Explain that he was sick or lost his job, had a death in the family, or just went through a recent divorce and lost track of time, or the hurricane took the roof off the house. The IRS will happily respond that you called! And they will tell him what years he must file for and provide him with a due date for filing late tax returns.
