Here’s What to Do if You are Contacted by IRS Criminal Investigations in Boston

While most Internal Revenue Service (IRS) inquiries are civil in nature, many involve criminal allegations. IRS Criminal Investigations (IRS CI) is the agency’s division primarily tasked with investigating federal tax crimes, and it works with U.S. Attorneys around the country to pursue charges for tax fraud, tax evasion and other offenses.

Being contacted by IRS CI is a serious matter, and targets of federal criminal tax investigations need to defend themselves in order to avoid facing charges. Here, Boston criminal tax lawyer Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, explains what you should do if you are contacted by IRS CI:

1. Responding to the Initial Inquiry

When IRS CI launches an investigation, it may contact the target of the investigation by mail, or agents may pay a visit to the target’s home or office.

If You Receive a Letter from IRS CI . . .

If you receive a letter from IRS CI, you should review the letter carefully and then promptly send a copy to your attorney. You should not respond to the letter directly. Instead, you should discuss your situation with your attorney and then have your attorney respond on your behalf.

If IRS CI Agents Show Up at Your Door . . .

If IRS CI agents show up at your home or office in Boston, you should politely decline to answer any questions and ask them to leave. You are well within your rights to do so. Take their cards, and let them know that any further communications will need to go through your attorney.

2. Evaluating Your Risk of Prosecution

Once you are contacted by IRS CI, you need to promptly assess whether and to what extent you may be at risk for criminal prosecution. You will need your attorney to determine the specific allegations being targeted in the investigation, and then you will need to work with your attorney to gather all relevant documentation.

3. Develop a Defense Strategy

Once you know the allegations at hand and you know what, if anything, IRS CI agents are going to find, then you can work with your attorney to develop a targeted defense strategy. Allegations of income tax evasion, offshore disclosure violations, cryptocurrency fraud and other tax crimes all require very different defense strategies.

4. Have Your Attorney Deal with IRS CI on Your Behalf

With a defense strategy in place, your attorney can now deal with IRS CI effectively on your behalf. Your attorney will communicate directly with the agents assigned to your case in order to attempt to secure a favorable outcome short of charges being filed.

5. Know Your Options

If you have not violated the law, then your IRS CI investigation should end without any civil or criminal liability. However, if you have violated the law (even unintentionally), you will need to weigh the options you have available. Should you attempt to negotiate a settlement or offer in compromise? Or, is it in your best interests to fight IRS CI’s allegations? These, too, are questions you will need to answer with the help of your Boston criminal tax attorney.

Contact Boston Criminal Tax Lawyer Kevin E. Thorn

Have you been contacted by IRS CI in Boston? To discuss your investigation with criminal tax lawyer Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, in confidence, call 617-692-2989, email ket@thornlawgroup.com or contact us online now.