Wealthy Miami Resident Faces Tax Evasion Charges After Allegedly Concealing Millions in Swiss Bank Accounts

Dan Rotta, who owned a home on exclusive Fisher Island, is accused of concealing more than $20 million in assets in twenty four accounts at five Swiss banks, including Credit Suisse and UBS, and failing to report the income received from these holdings on his tax returns, according to a criminal complaint that has been filed by federal prosecutors. Rotta appeared in the federal court last Monday on charges of conspiracy and false-statement.

Rotta allegedly deliberately concealed his holdings and transferring his cash assets to Credit Suisse and some other Swiss banks and opened the accounts in other people’s names, according to the complaint.

The IRS started an audit on Rotta after being provided with evidence of unreported overseas financial accounts. At that time, Rotta denied falsely holding these accounts, but IRS investigators revealed evidence that showed Rotta received hundreds of thousands of dollars of transfers originating from these overseas accounts that he failed to include in his tax returns, prosecutors stated.

Penalties for Tax Evasion in Florida

Tax laws are complicated, and honest mistakes can even lead to penalties or criminal charges. If you are facing accusations of tax fraud or tax evasion in Florida, you will need an experienced attorney to help you to protect your rights and ensure you don’t get penalties for an honest mistake or misunderstanding of the tax laws.

What is Tax Evasion?

Tax evasion includes:

the claiming of fake business expenses;
telling lies about present residence status in order to avoid paying taxes;
failing to report cash income;
concealing money in accounts offshore.

Making an error on your tax returns doesn’t always constitute evasion as the IRS needs to provide the evidence you tried to deliberately defraud it.

Both the state and federal government can demand criminal charges for anyone who engages in tax evasion. This can include income tax, sales tax and payroll tax.

At the state level, penalties will depend on the amount of tax that has been avoided:

Amount and possible penalties

$301 to $20,000 is considered a 3rd degree felony with a prison term up to 5 years and a $5,000 fine
$20,001 to $100,000 is a 2nd degree felony, attracting a prison term of up to 15 years and a $10,000 fine
More than $100,000 is a considered a 1st degree felony, resulting in a possible prison sentence of 30 years and a $10,000 fine.

The state could also require civil fines be paid which could be up to 200 percent of any unpaid taxes.

For any federal tax evasion found under IRC § 7201, penalties could include:

A fine up to $100,000;
corporate penalties rise to $500,000;
paying back all taxes as well as interest and penalties;
the defendant may also be required to pay prosecution costs;
up to a 5 year prison sentence served in a federal prison. Criminal Tax Defenses in Florida

Possible defenses if accused of tax evasion could include:

You simply made an honest error such as misunderstanding what counts as taxable income or you made an error when calculating deductions. As long as there is no proof that you intended defrauding the IRS, you could be acquitted.
The statute of limitations given to the IRS is 3 years after the filing of your tax return has expired so your charges could be dismissed.
You didn’t have much knowledge of the tax laws could lead to the claims that you didn’t intentionally break them. A defense attorney could present an argument that your actions were in good faith.
You have already paid sufficient taxes despite underreporting income, if you have met your total tax liabilities it could helps to defeat tax evasion claims.

If you have been arrested or anticipate arrest for tax evasion, contact “Albert Quirantes Esq. Criminal DUI & Ticket Lawyers” in Miami, as their experienced legal team may just get your charge dismissed or reduced. They can also negotiate with the IRS or Florida Department of Revenue before any charges are filed. They could agree to lower penalties or keep the case civil if prosecution doesn’t appear to be warranted.

Contact https://g.co/kgs/6X4EXsg Albert Quirantes, Esq. Criminal DUI & Ticket Lawyers (305) 644-1800.