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Which IRS Violations Are Evasion Or Willful Depends On The Facts

Source: forbes.com - May 2, 2017

The tax law distinguishes between non-willful and willful conduct. Willfulness involves a voluntary, intentional violation of a known legal duty. In taxes, it applies to both civil and criminal violations. Big penalties and even prosecution can hang in the balance. Innocent mistakes can be forgiven, but conduct that appears to be intentional can be a different story. Many people think that even civil penalties cannot be imposed if you were not actually trying to cheat anyone. However, intent can sometimes be inferred from conduct.

The definition of willfulness causes many people to think that their conduct is not likely to be examined, and that their own knowledge is entirely subjective. If you didn’t know you had a legal duty to report income or a foreign bank account, you might reason, how can you be treated as willful? Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Take the recent case of Arthur Bedrosian v. U.S. reported here.

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Category: General Business