Fraudulent Operation

Business owners are responsible for paying a variety of taxes for each employee. This is usually done over four installments during the tax year. An article in the Times of Northwest Indiana reports that an ear, nose and throat surgeon collected the appropriate taxes from his employees’ paychecks; however, he neglected to pay employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). (They’ll never notice.)

The story states that the doctor did not file his quarterly employment tax returns for 11 tax quarters. Over that period of time, he collected nearly $64,000 in federal income and employment taxes from his employees.

The 56-year-old doctor pleaded guilty to one count of failing to account for, collect and pay employment taxes. He was sentenced to one year and a day in prison and was ordered to pay more than $541,000 in restitution to the IRS.

The article doesn’t state the doctor’s motive for neglecting to file and pay the employment taxes. We can only speculate why he turned to crime to supplement his income. (Maybe it was a light flu season?) Thanks to the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, this fraudulent operation has been shut down.

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