Tax Evasion Defense Lawyer in Birmingham, AL

Taxes have been levied for thousands of years, and for as long as there have been taxes, there has been tax evasion. Whenever people have to pay for something, you can expect them to attempt a way around it. However, those who engage in tax fraud nowadays have to come face-to-face with one of the scariest federal agencies in the country: the IRS. Those who are charged with tax evasion have likely already been under investigation for months or even years.

What does this mean for you if you’ve been charged with tax evasion? It means the IRS has a head start and you need help catching up if you want to protect yourself. You need an aggressive tax evasion defense lawyer who knows the type of evidence they have on you, how to tackle your case from different angles, and how to best defend your rights. Kirk Drennan Law is the team you need—call us at 205-803-3500 to schedule a consultation now.

Common Types of Tax Evasion and Fraud

The IRS uses a wide range of tactics to uncover tax evasion. In some cases, they are tipped off by people close to the person they’re investigating—wronging an employee, ex-spouse, or business partner can have significant consequences in this case. They’ll look through the documentation they have on you to look for proof of:

• Misusing company funds: When someone “lives off of their company,” they are using company assets and funds to pay for their own personal expenses. This conflation of company and personal money can lead to criminal charges.
• Failing to pay employee taxes: Employers have been caught taking taxes from employees’ paychecks but not forwarding that money to the IRS. They use that money for business instead. This may not come to light until employees go to file their own taxes and find out that they have supposedly not paid anything.
• Third-party payers: Companies may rely on outside companies to handle payroll tasks. When the company collects payroll taxes but does not send those taxes to the IRS, they are engaging in tax evasion.
• Fraudulent trusts: On the personal side of tax evasion, an individual may create a trust and move their home to it. They may then attempt to deduct maintenance expenses to avoid paying full taxes. They may do the same thing with a business.
• Not declaring all of your income: Perhaps one of the most common types of tax evasion is just not reporting everything you earn. People rely on the fact that the IRS is underfunded and undermanned, and therefore can’t possibly catch every incidence of underpaid taxes.
• Intentionally underpaying taxes: People may also attempt to pay less than what they owe. Again, this relies on slipping through the cracks at the IRS.
• Using fraudulent income records: Falsified income logs and pay slips are one way people decrease the taxes they owe. Not only is this illegal, but it’s also fairly easy to track.
• Hiding money: Hiding money in offshore accounts or unreported accounts is another common type of tax evasion.
• Falsified or inflated deductions and expenses: Your tax return should be a fair and accurate report of what you’ve earned and which deductions you are able to claim. Exaggerating your deductions and expenses is illegal.

What It Means If You’re Facing Federal Charges

You may have already discovered that you are going to be indicted on federal charges. If so, you must take the matter seriously and act quickly to protect yourself. The IRS and other federal agencies do not move to press charges unless they are certain they have a strong case.

You could be facing both IRS penalties and criminal penalties, costing you potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars and years in jail. By the time you’ve been charged, the agencies involved have already sunk a considerable amount of time and money into prosecuting you. You’ll need to move swiftly if you want a chance at fighting these charges.

Penalties for Tax Evasion

Tax evasion penalties depend largely on the specific charges you’re indicted on. Across the board, most tax crimes can put you in prison for up to five years and cost you up to $100,000. The maximum penalty for a corporation engaged in tax crimes is $500,000. If you are found to have fraudulently underpaid taxes, you may be ordered to pay the amount you underpaid plus a 75% penalty. If the government has a sizable case against you, you could be facing multiple charges and much stiffer penalties.

Possible Defenses Against Tax Evasion

When you choose Kirk Drennan Law, our team will take an in-depth look at your case to explore different defense options. Some valid defenses against tax evasion include:

• Limited evidence of underpayment. The IRS must prove that you actually underpaid your taxes. If they don’t have the documentation necessary to back up that claim, their entire case falls apart.
• Limited evidence of intentional fraud. For a tax evasion case, it’s not enough to prove that your taxes were underpaid. They must also prove that you did so intentionally. This protects people who made genuine errors on their tax documents from prison sentences and huge fines.
• Inadmissible evidence. Evidence must be obtained in a legal way for it to be admissible in court. If officers or investigators bent the rules or outright violated the law to get evidence against you, we can push to make it inadmissible.

Why You Should Choose Kirk Drennan Law

The team at Kirk Drennan Law has extensive experience in defending clients against federal crimes. We understand the severity of these charges and the fact that our clients are depending on us to give them a second chance. Our goal is to tackle these cases aggressively, exploring every potential defense option to build the strongest case possible for each client.

When you’re facing the possibility of prison time and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, you need a legal team with experience in federal investigations and trials. Tax evasion cases involve enormous amounts of documentation and evidence, and we have both the knowledge and experience needed to analyze the evidence properly as we prepare your case.

Contact Us Now to Protect Your Future

The longer you wait to hire an attorney for your tax evasion claim, the less time your attorney has to construct your defense. Set up a consultation with us now so we can get started. Reach out online or give us a call at 205-803-3500 to talk to a team member.