Tax Fraud can bring serious consequences

Washington businessman Mark Standley was recently sentenced to six years in prison for one of the largest sales tax thefts in Washington state history. As the owner of a drywall company, Standley drastically under-reported the amount of sales tax collected from customers over a six year time period.
According to court documents, he only paid the Department of Revenue (DOR) $3,000 of the $855,000 tax owed. To make matters worse, Standley refused to pay workers’ compensation premiums for his employees.

He was convicted of filing multiple fraudulent tax returns and was given a year to repay the DOR and the Department of Labor and Industries the money he owed. One would think that the severity of the fraud accusations, would scare Standley straight. But that wasn’t the case—he only paid $500. As a result, the state ordered him to repay $2.5 million and he may be ordered to pay more retributions later. Had the drywaller valued his freedom, he would have invested in an automated sales tax management solution. Instead Standley is doing time for his crime.

Read the full article here.