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Specializing in IRS and NYS Tax Representation. Workers Compensation Audits, Payroll, Sales and Income Tax representation for Businesses, Individuals, Restaurants and Construction Companies. Civil and Criminal Workers Comp Audit representation includes: NYSIF Examinations, Premium Disputes, Employee Misclassification, Underreporting, Unreported Income, and Failure to Keep Accurate Payroll Records.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Attorney Suspended 18 Months for not filing New York State Tax Returns



The Panel noted that "[r]espondent did nothing to rectify his tax situation until he was caught red-handed and without a glimmer of a defense to felony charges." In aggravation, the Panel commented on respondent's intent:

"Respondent's failure to pay taxes was no accident. Nor was it the result of economic distress. Respondent's annual income during the years when he chose not to pay taxes ranged from $363,992 to $597,989. Respondent acknowledged that this failure to file his tax returns and pay his taxes was not the result of an inability to pay.

"Respondent knowingly and intentionally did not file returns and pay taxes. He received notices from the IRS, he read them, but he 'just didn't do anything further with them.' The decade-long pattern of filing for extensions with which he did not . . . comply, the calculated nature of respondent's actions, and the fact that, when he was caught, he was able to come up with the money in very short order—because it was tucked away in the bank, in the equity in his home and in his pension account—speak to a greater culpability here than in other failure-to-pay cases."

The Panel concluded that the evidence of mitigation in this case was not substantial while [*2]the evidence of aggravation was substantial, and recommended an 18-month suspension as appropriate for respondent's "willful and unexcused failure" to file five years' worth of returns.

The Hearing Panel's recommendation that respondent be suspended for 18 months is disaffirmed. While the Panel seemed to criticize him for promptly paying the money he owed and treating his charitable contributions of $160,000 as aggravation, both of those circumstances could also be seen as mitigation, at least in part. Moreover, respondent has practiced law for 36 years without blemish, he fully cooperated with all investigating authorities, he accepted responsibility for his actions and expressed remorse, he took corrective actions to ensure his nonpayment never happens again, and he has continued with counseling. A suspension from the practice of law for one year is appropriate under the circumstances (see Matter of Howley, 70 AD3d 218 [1st Dept 2009]; Matter of Goldman, 71 AD3d 9 [1st Dept 2009]).


Accordingly, the Committee's petition to confirm the recommendation of the Hearing Panel should be denied, and respondent{**82 AD3d at 88} is suspended from the practice of law for one year and until further order of this Court.

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Selig & Associates is a boutique Tax Representation and Risk Management Firm specializing in unpaid tax obligations and commercial insurance coverage

  Tax Advocacy      Federal Tax Practitioner, CPCU and Attorney. Practicing before the Internal Revenue Service and New York State Departmen...