Federal Offense of Failure to File a Tax Return

What is the federal criminal tax offense of failure to file an income tax return? Like other federal tax fraud-related offenses, this specific offense requires the government to prove several elements of the offense in order to obtain a conviction, including willfulness or intent by the defendant. Our federal criminal defense attorneys in Tampa can explain.

Elements of Failure to File Under Federal Law

What does the government have to prove in order to convict a defendant of the failure to file an income tax return? In general, there are three major elements that the government must prove:

• 1) Defendant was required by law to file a federal income tax return during a specific year or years;
• 2) Defendant failed to file their tax return at the time that was required by federal law (typically by April 15 of each calendar year); and
• 3) Defendant acted willfully in failing to file their income tax return (in order words, the defendant acted intentionally when they did not file and intended to violate the law requiring them to file the income tax return).

Failure to File On Its Own Does Not Establish a Willful Attempt to Evade Income Tax

It is important to know that, while failure to file a tax return may be charged in connection with other related federal tax fraud charges such as tax evasion, the act of failing to file an income tax return is not, on its own, enough to show that there was any intention on the defendant’s part to evade income tax or to engage in tax evasion.

Pattern criminal federal jury instructions are clear, in explaining to members of the jury, that “failure to file a tax return, without any additional act, does not establish the crime of willful attempt to evade or defeat income tax.”

Penalties for Failure to File

You may face civil and criminal penalties for failure to file. In terms of civil penalties, the Internal Revenue Service will assess a 5 percent penalty for every month of unpaid taxes, with a penalty cap at 25 percent.

As for criminal penalties, you can face up to 1 year in prison for every year that you have not filed.

Contact Our Tampa Criminal Defense Attorneys Today for Assistance with Your Tax Fraud Case Involving the Failure to File a Tax Return 

Have you received a target letter informing you that you are under federal investigation for tax fraud, or have you been charged with a tax fraud offense such as failure to file a tax return? Federal criminal charges, including white collar cases involving tax fraud and other forms of fraud, are taken extremely seriously by the government and can result in severe penalties if you are convicted — including imprisonment. It is important to begin working on a defense to the tax fraud charges you are facing as soon as possible. One of the experienced Tampa federal criminal defense lawyers at the Law Offices of Daniel J. Fernandez, P.A. can start working with you on a defense strategy today. Contact our firm for more information about how we can assist you.

Sources: 

justice.gov/tax/file/1293361/dl