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$2.8 million of Ozark Mountain tax trouble

November 20, 2008

A Missouri entrepreneur faces some serious tax trouble:

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A southwest Missouri businessman pleads guilty to failing to pay up to $7 million in federal income and employment taxes.
Kyle Jon Thompson owns Branson Trailer Manufacturing in Ozark. He faces up to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Springfield.

His waiver of indictment document says he tried to conceal his business income by:

...paying employees of my business, Branson Trailer Manufacturing, in cash; structuring cash bank deposits to avoid currency transaction reporting requirements; purchasing personal and real property with cash; and attempting to conceal my ownership interest in vehicles (including four limousines, three Corvettes, one Hummer SUV, two Cadillac Escallade SUVs, one Lincoln Navigator SUV, one Dodge Ram 2500 pick-up, one Ford F250 pick-up, one Jaguar, one Ford Mustang GT, one Ford Thunderbird, and one Ford Model-T) by not registering those vehicles with the office of the Assessor, Christian County, Missouri

Cheating taxes is unwise to start with. By paying his employees in cash, he was, in effect, letting his entire work force in on his tax scheme, raising the odds of being caught to approximately 100%. He may also have been fingered by a bank "suspicious transaction" report, which banks are supposed to file when it looks like somebody is trying to get around the $10,000 cash transaction reporting requirement. The results of this "planning" speak for themselves.

Court documents show a tax loss north of $900,000. If the judge gives him credit for accepting responsibility, that would give him a prison sentence of 27 to 37 months, or so. He also has to pay his back taxes before sentencing.

Links:

Waiver of Indictment
Criminal Information
U.S. Attorney press release

Tags: tax crime.