Determining Criminal Tax Trials in Washington DC

A handful of criminal tax violations may make it to trial – but there are several layers of analysis that it must pass through to get there. Pontius Tax Law by itself does not handle criminal tax law at trial but can work with another co-counsel who is experienced in litigating these matters. The government is responsible for presenting their version of events and the evidence to show the jury, which is why they spend a lot of time analyzing the case and determining if this criminal tax case must go to trial.

Where Does a Criminal Tax Investigation Begin?

There are many sources of criminal investigations. It could initiate from a revenue agent or auditor, a revenue officer who is involved in the collection of a tax, or even an investigative analyst who detected the tax fraud. Information routinely comes from the public, as well as ongoing investigations by other law enforcement agencies or by U.S. attorneys across the country.

There are approximately 3,000 criminal tax prosecutions per year. The goal of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division is to provide a deterrent effect that signals compliance, and for taxpayers to understand that fraud will not be tolerated. The Department of Justice has a criminal tax manual as well, which lays out the logistics of how it prosecutes tax crimes, like the IRS’s Internal Revenue Manual, which largely handles the civil investigations.

Initial Criminal Tax Analysis

Generally speaking, there will be a preliminary analysis and investigation, and special agents will analyze all of the information and prepare a preliminary investigation. It then goes to the supervisor for approval, then the head of the office, and then the special agent may initiate a criminal investigation. At that point, at least two layers of management have looked through this primary investigation to determine if there is enough evidence to take it to trial.

Using numerous investigative techniques, the IRS must secure evidence, including third-party witness interviews, surveillance, search warrant subpoenas, bank records, and financial data. IRS special agents work closely with Chief Counsel and criminal tax attorneys during the investigation, looking over all the documents to decide whether to move forward with a prosecution. If there is not enough information to substantiate a criminal investigation, it will be discontinued.

Next Rounds of Analysis

If the case is to move forward, the agent’s frontline supervisor, called the Supervisory Special Agent, needs to look at the criminal investigation while a quality review team does the centralized case review. Then the Special Agent in Charge must determine if prosecution will be moving forward. Once that occurs, it gets forwarded to the Department of Justice Tax Division if it is a tax investigation, or the U.S. Attorney’s Office for all other investigations. At each level, they may determine that there is not enough substantiation for criminal charges and the investigation should not be prosecuted.

An Attorney’s Job During These Phases

The role of a criminal tax attorney would be to try and place doubt into the government’s mind at any of these levels to prevent this potential criminal investigation from continuing, and driving it back to a civil investigation. If it were to be prosecuted at a trial, it would be handled by the Department of Justice. Once the report is referred to prosecutors, their goal is to obtain a conviction, either by a guilty verdict or plea deal.

Call a DC Attorney While the IRS or DOJ is Determining Whether to Take a Criminal Tax Case to Trial

Ideally, a taxpayer would want to hire a litigation attorney when they are first contacted by a special agent from the Criminal Investigation Division. If an attorney is hired closer to the indictment, it may be too late to prevent a criminal trial from going forward.

Call us and learn what the IRS or DOJ will be looking at when determining whether to take your criminal tax case to trial in Washington DC.