How much of the 3 yrs will Snipes spend in jail?

[Zee]

I was sure happy to read Snipes got a 3 year sentence, but what does that mean? How much time will he actually spend in jail? I have little respect for his Hollywood character witnesses, and Judge Joe Brown (the TV judge) asking for no jail time for Snipes. His actions were so flagrant and open, it's disgusting to the masses paying their fair share of taxes. I still can't believe a jury let him off of the other charges.

[erchess]

I have not

followed the case closely but my sympathy is with Snipes. I personally do not think that a person who pays for tax advice should be eligible for punishment beyond payment of tax and interest (not even financial penalties) unless it can be shown that the individual deliberately deceived the the tax advisers who did all their due diligence and were completely competent. In other words if ya jail Snipes ya have to hold that his advisers were all one hundred percent honest and competent. And yes if the client and the advisers point fingers at each other and yell loudly enough they are likely to confuse the juries and all be found to have reasonable doubt.

[Zee]

followed the case closely but my sympathy is with Snipes. I personally do not think that a person who pays for tax advice should be eligible for punishment beyond payment of tax and interest (not even financial penalties) unless it can be shown that the individual deliberately deceived the the tax advisers who did all their due diligence and were completely competent. In other words if ya jail Snipes ya have to hold that his advisers were all one hundred percent honest and competent. And yes if the client and the advisers point fingers at each other and yell loudly enough they are likely to confuse the juries and all be found to have reasonable doubt.

Wow! I'm surprised any professional tax preparer would have sympathy for Wesley Snipes.

His actions, letters, phone calls, and words indicated an open, flagrant, violation of the tax laws based on the advice of a well-publicized convicted felon known to be a screwball tax protester. There have been plenty of writings, television programs, etc. that indicated such tax protesters have consistently lost in the courts and would continue to be prosecuted.

Letting people off the hook for violating laws simply because they relied on the advice of others is far too lenient. It could apply to almost anything.

Wesley Snipes didn't file tax returns since 1998, I assume he watches TV and reads the papers. Some people just think the law doesn't apply to them. His tax-protester advisers also got jail time.

[anu31402]

I think Snipes was just lying about being deceived by some tax advisors he paid. They gave him the results he wanted. I just hope this would serve as a reminder to those clients who think they are not supposed to pay their fair share.

...and hopefully it will drive individuals and businesses to our offices.


Kay

[erchess]

I have a friend

who is convinced by a DVD he purchased that the Constitutional Amendment allowing income tax was not properly ratified and therefore no one has to pay any income tax. (Sometimes I think he is yanking my chain and really files as he should.) Anyway, when it comes to a time of reckoning I want to get the bad adviser and not the person who followed the advice. Another little point would be that I watch TV but the only places I can remember hearing about illegal tax schemes are here and on the IRS website. Another little point is that when it comes to legal and tax advice I don't know how a layperson is supposed to tell who is giving proper advice. It is not like choosing a doctor where you can at least ask if the person is board certified in the specialty.

[snowbird]

I was sure happy to read Snipes got a 3 year sentence, but what does that mean? How much time will he actually spend in jail?

I would bet none ... Also, he probably will pay considerably less than the tax bill. Most of his assets are probably offshore so there is no accounting. His lawyer will negotiate an OIC … we will never know because of privacy laws. His total costs … tax and legal will probably be 50% of his tax bill.

[Koss]

Snipes

Generally, I agree with the sentiment that Snipes "knew or should have known" that he was getting "professional advice" from people who were not competent, and who had been identified as tax protestors, and that their interpretation of the law has been repeatedly discredited.

I believe there was some testimony from legitimate attorneys and accountants that they warned Snipes not to get involved with those guys, told him that their ideas were b**ls**t, and tried to get him to come to his senses. And in a way that strengthens my belief that he knew he was involved in something illegal, or at least on the fringes of the law.

But I have to concede that to an unsophisticated person, it may simply create the perception that you have two or three different professionals offering competing opinions. People with cancer, lupus, autism, and other serious, chronic illnesses often seek unorthodox treatments when regular doctors are unable to help them. And those unorthodox, fringe treatment modalities are often found... outside the United States. Many of these treatments are available from legitimate, licensed practitioners in other countries. But they are not approved for use in the USA. So here you have doctors offering various competing ideas and treatments, some of which may be illegal in the USA, but legal in other countries, and might actually help some patients.

I can begin to see how, under the wrong combination of circumstances, almost anyone, including a wealthy actor, could be hoodwinked by professional advice from tax protestors.

I happen to believe that most laws in this country that prohibit private citizens from owning or carrying firearms are unconstitutional. I have held this belief for many years. It is a curious coincidence that this year the US Supreme Court decided to review the issue. For the most part, the courts have held that such laws are consitutional, and the Supreme Court has not taken a case on the issue for a long, long time.

Setting aside the case that is currently before the Supreme Court, my belief is in conflict with the prevailing interpretation of the law.

Does that make me a flake, like the guys that were advising Wesley Snipes?

Maybe the difference is that I'm not giving professional advice to people on when and how they can possess or carry a firearm...

[joanmcq]

The tax, penalties and interest will still be due. I believe it is somewhere around $34 million. Somehow I doubt an OIC is going to be available...he doesn't have assets and can't pay...hell he gave checks for 5 mill as a down payment in court.

He was repeatedly warned by his former tax advisors that this was a scam, yet ignored them. He also refused to pay his employees payroll taxes and told them they shouldn't pay taxes either (in other words, he was also a promoter). I have no sympathy. He should have been popped on the conspiracy just because of the promotion to his employees. The other wackos being tried with him go some serious jail time.

[Zee]

The tax, penalties and interest will still be due. I believe it is somewhere around $34 million. Somehow I doubt an OIC is going to be available...he doesn't have assets and can't pay...hell he gave checks for 5 mill as a down payment in court.

He was repeatedly warned by his former tax advisors that this was a scam, yet ignored them. He also refused to pay his employees payroll taxes and told them they shouldn't pay taxes either (in other words, he was also a promoter). I have no sympathy. He should have been popped on the conspiracy just because of the promotion to his employees. The other wackos being tried with him go some serious jail time.

TV Judge Joe Brown (who asked for no jail time for Snipes) also indicated he warned Snipes about the tax scam. OK, I'm not a fan of Judge Joe Brown or any TV judge but, Snipes also chose to ignore him (a personal friend).

I'm still really surprised anyone (much less a professional tax preparer) can honestly believe Snipes didn't understand the risks of this situation. Can he really be that ignorant?

Actually, he should have got a much longer sentence.

[DTS]

Jail

I've known since the age of 12, that one day I would grow up, earn money and have to pay taxes like all adults. Most people won't buy this story (Snipe's story) for one hot second nor should they.

What a crock.

Dennis

[joanmcq]

The tax protesters are a truly clueless bunch. At quatloos.com, one poster let on that one of the clueless emailed Snipes' attorney, very earnestly explaining that if he just informed the court of whatever reasoning that particular person was buying (I think it was the 'amendment really wasn't ratified' one), then of course Snipes would be accquitted, and since the attorney wasn't presenting that arguement then he must be part of 'the system'. Tax protesters can get hit in the face with a judgement and still believe...if prosecuted it is just proof that the courts are part of the conspiracy to persecute them.

[erchess]

Interesting

points about Mr. Snipes have been raised in this thread. It may very well be that Snipes knew or reasonably should have known that he was behaving in an illegal manner. Can anyone tell me whether the court in order to sentence him to prison had to find that he knew or reasonably should have known, or was it enough to find that he did in fact break the law?

Also tell me this - how is a non tax expert supposed to know who to believe when two people who claim to be tax experts give very different advice? Maybe in this case there is a good answer to that. One set of advisers has offices in his community where they serve people of similar wealth to his own without attracting media attention for numbers of clients getting in trouble. The other adviser sells DVDs on the internet and maybe that alone should have given him pause, to say nothing of whether he was aware that the IRS was after the seller and his buyers.

I guess the idea of putting someone in jail over taxes when he paid anyone anything for advice without lying to the adviser and without willful failure to follow the advice rubs me the wrong way because I am afraid that someone who followed my advice as best he could will go to jail. I am perfectly willing to let a client pay tax I should have told them to pay and to pay interest on the tax but I don't even think penalties should apply to them. If I made the mistake make me pay a penalty and/or make me get more education or quit some aspect of the tax business or even the whole tax business.. Now I don't feel this way at all about a client who willfully recklessly or carelessly failed to give me information I needed or failed to follow my instructions.

[David1980]

Anyway, when it comes to a time of reckoning I want to get the bad adviser and not the person who followed the advice.

I agree, but only when the advise is clearly something beyond what a common person would be able to realize is wrong. A comparison might be to those "I'm moving and all my stuff is free!" scam posts to Craigslist where someone posts the address of someone they don't like and says all of the stuff is free. Yes, definitely go after the person who's causing the problems but also punish those who should have known better.

Otherwise, all it takes is one crackpot willing to lie through their teeth to give the bad tax advise to keep thousands protected from the fraud. There will always be someone willing to lie for enough money, so you would have a tax loophole indefinitely.

[joanmcq]

From what I've read, he had a perfectly good CPA firm doing his taxes when he met up with his codefendants. This firm warned him that the tax protester thing was a scam and criminal. His friends warned him it was criminal. The new 'CPA' doing his taxes had his license revoked in both Florida and Texas. He ignored the advice of his former advisors and filed fraudulent returns requesting refunds of millions he had already paid, and refused to file afterwards, also refusing to withhold taxes for his employees, even after they complained. He exhorted his employees not to file. He sent hundreds of pages of tax protester drivel in answer to IRS letters requesting returns, etc. He may have honestly believed the protester crap (as do hundreds or thousands of other truly delusional folk...see losthorizons.com for some really comical but sadly delusional people...the 'why did I lose my tax court case posts are really informative as to the alternate universe these people reside in) but had plenty of people trying to steer him straight. I have NO sympathy. TANSTAAFL.

[DaveO]

Beyond anything his so-called "Advisors"

May have told him the IRS had been telling him since 2002 that he was the target of a criminal fraud investigation. I think the "expert" advice of the folks at the IRS would have cleared the air a bit for Mr. Snipes. I'm sure that his 5th degree black belt and his cross-dressing ability will prove to be valuable skills at his new home.

All joking aside, I really doubt he will spend more than a few months behind bars if that. You can be sure an appeal is in the works which will stretch this out for a few more years after which he will walk with a suspended sentence.

My first encounter with tax protesters was in the early 80's. We had a sales person working as an independent contractor for a publishing company I was distribtution manager for. He gave me the whole story about how the tax code was illegal. I read his documents and concluded that he was probably wrong and even if he wasn't the force of law was on the other side of the argument. Unless I wanted to be looking over my sholder the rest of my life then I should just pay my taxes. After about a year some IRS agents paid the owner of the comapny a visit and informed him that this guy was a tax protester and that he should terminate his contract with him. He of course told the IRS agents that he would contract with whomever he pleased. They told him that was okay but to expect his last three years corporate and personal taxes to be groomed with the finest of combs. He quickly realized the error of his ways and sent the tax protester packing.