2018 January Luncheon

IRS Special Agent Mark MacPherson from the IRS Criminal Investigations (CI) Unit discussed Current Tax Fraud Trends with our members at the January luncheon. Compliance with the tax laws in the United States relies heavily on self-assessments of what tax is owed. This is called voluntary compliance. When individuals and corporations make deliberate decisions to not comply with the law, they face the possibility of a civil audit or criminal investigation which could result in prosecution and possible jail time. Publicity of these convictions provides a deterrent effect that enhances voluntary compliance.

The highest-level government official charged with tax evasion was Spiro Agnew, the 39th Vice President of the United States from 1969 to 1973. More recently, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was indicted for nine criminal counts, including money laundering and tax fraud.

Since its inception in 1919 to the present, the conviction rate for Federal tax prosecutions has never fallen below 90 percent. As noted on the unit’s website, “If the motive of the crime is money, chances are Criminal Investigation special agents are involved in tracking the money, from the crime to the criminal.” Along with their financial investigative skills, special agents use specialized forensic technology to recover financial data that may have been encrypted, password protected, or hidden by other electronic means. For more information, check out their website: https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/criminal-enforcement