What’s the Difference Between Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion?
Anyone who has had a personal encounter with the IRS understands that pushing the wrong buttons can lead to a life full of bills, fees, and even penalties involving prison time. Filing your taxes is not merely an option, although many people choose not to have their return prepared. While it might seem deceiving that one doesn’t have to file each and every year income is received, the IRS will eventually catch up with this, and the burden of paying taxes is going to be the only desire you wish you had.
Tax lawyers in Wyoming want to be sure citizens are well aware of the penalties one may face for failing to file their taxes, but also the consequences one faces for providing the IRS with false information. There are two forms of punishment one may receive, although both are quite similar. Tax lawyers are referring to tax fraud and tax evasion. But what is the difference?
Tax Fraud:
When a taxpayer takes it upon themselves to intentionally fail to pay their taxes even though they are legally required to do so, they may find themselves facing a charge for tax fraud.
Tax fraud legal representatives in Wyoming warn individuals that while you may face penalties due to civil violations, which means you owe money back to the government, you may also receive criminal charges as well. In this case, you would also be facing some jail time.
Wyoming tax fraud lawyers acknowledge, though, that the difficult aspect of this crime is the government must prove an individual intentionally did not pay their taxes.
Tax Evasion:
When an individual is guilty of committing tax evasion, they knowingly filed their taxes while misrepresenting the true amounts of income they received or expenses they paid out.
The IRS explains that some forms of tax evasion include:
- Deliberately failing to report income earned
- Exaggerating the amount of deductions
- Keeping two sets of books
- Making invalid entries in books and records
- Using personal expenses as business expenses
- Hiding income
Should you be interested in obtaining a detailed explanation of the penalties one may face for such a crime, you can visit irs.gov where an outline is provided for you.
In essence, tax evasion is a form of tax fraud, although you can be charged differently. Basically, tax fraud means you chose to not pay money you owed to the government, and should you be found guilty of committing tax evasion, you either added more information or failed to provide documents to the IRS indicating the correct amount of money made or deductions applied.
Should you ever find yourself facing either charge, remember tax evasion attorneys in Wyoming are key to obtaining a successful outcome. Therefore, should you require legal assistance at any point, USAttorneys is where you want to go to procure your trustworthy tax lawyer.
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