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I'm on the list-serve for WA Dept of Revenue and I got this news release today: (my condensed edition)
Seattle, WA. April 13,2004. A Seattle cabinet and construction company owner pleades guilty today to 2 counts of first degree theft for stealing $170,000 in state sales tax and 2 counts of filing false tax returns with the Dept of Revenue.
Paul Vetter, 62, faces a maximun penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. The false return charges carry a maximun penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine...
The Financial Crimes Unit of the WA State Attorney Generals Office filed the charges against Vetter...at the request of the Dept of Revenue [who] uncovered Vetter's theft during an audit, which found that he reported only 2% of work done by his company...Vetter recieved more than $1,994,000 in gross income from his construction business during 1999-2001, and collected over $174,300 in sales tax on that work. However, [he] only reported $41,051 in gross income...and remitted only $3,568 in sales tax.
This should be a lesson to the unlicensed guys who read this forum. By working the underground economy in your state, is this the "cost of doing business" you want to take on?
And to the licensed guys who hate paying taxes and look for a way to "fudge" on our returns, is this kind of risk worth it?
Just something to think about.
Seattle, WA. April 13,2004. A Seattle cabinet and construction company owner pleades guilty today to 2 counts of first degree theft for stealing $170,000 in state sales tax and 2 counts of filing false tax returns with the Dept of Revenue.
Paul Vetter, 62, faces a maximun penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. The false return charges carry a maximun penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine...
The Financial Crimes Unit of the WA State Attorney Generals Office filed the charges against Vetter...at the request of the Dept of Revenue [who] uncovered Vetter's theft during an audit, which found that he reported only 2% of work done by his company...Vetter recieved more than $1,994,000 in gross income from his construction business during 1999-2001, and collected over $174,300 in sales tax on that work. However, [he] only reported $41,051 in gross income...and remitted only $3,568 in sales tax.
This should be a lesson to the unlicensed guys who read this forum. By working the underground economy in your state, is this the "cost of doing business" you want to take on?
And to the licensed guys who hate paying taxes and look for a way to "fudge" on our returns, is this kind of risk worth it?
Just something to think about.
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