Originally Posted by
jackie5275
As a former IRS revenue agent [[the folks who do tax audits), the business taxes he skipped out on are not montrously complex. From everything I read about this, he neglected to file & pay the employer unemployment taxes for staff he hired. These weren't done for 4 years running. When you have a paid tax preparer as the article states, you still have the responsibility yourself to review your return before signing & filing it. I'd think that the attorney in him would know better to sign something without reading it. Apparently, he proved me wrong. Maybe the financial genius should be preparing his own return.
I question how he claims to not know of any liens. The IRS sends all their notices to THE TAXPAYER DIRECTLY, NOT THEIR PAID PREPARER. They will send scads of notices too. If it's a joint return notices get sent to each spouse separately. The placing of a lien on your property comes at the end of the collection process, so he would've gotten a whole bunch of certified mail about it before it happened. IMO there's no way he didn't know about it.
Failure to file & failure to pay taxes are violations of the Internal Revenue Code and are misdemeanors. Therefore, IT IS A CRIME. Does the IRS prosecute? It depends on the case, but generally no if you work with them to resolve outstanding issues. However, if you don't, it can be elevated to a felony. They really don't want to jail you, just get the tax money.
For those on this board who are saying Orr should get "pass due to an oversight", I have to disagree with you. This isn't a matter that's very complex or an isolated incident that fell through the cracks, especially with it happening 4 years in a row.