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71 plus 28 equals a very old ex-inmate

June 28, 2010

The "tax honesty" movement has a long list of reasons why they say that the federal income tax is invalid. As convincing as they may sound in a seminar at the local motel, there's one problem that they can't overcome: they never work. Whenever a federal judge looks at these arguments, they fail.

That didn't stop Carel A Prater. From a U.S. Attorney press release:

According to evidence presented at trial, Prater engaged in a fraudulent scheme to interfere with the internal revenue laws by selling services that he claimed would legally remove his customers from the federal tax system. Prater advocated the position that income earned in the United States is generally not taxable, and, in exchange for fees, he prepared false tax returns and bogus tax documents on behalf of his customers that were submitted to the IRS and recorded in the public records. Prater also advised his customers to conceal assets and income from the IRS. Between 2000 and 2003, Prater’s gross receipts exceeded $2 million.

That $2 million will be of limited use to Mr. Prater. He was sentenced last week to 28 years in federal prison for "corrupt interference with the Internal Revenue Laws, aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return, failure to file a tax return, criminal contempt, structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements, and making false declarations before a grand jury." He continued to sell tax avoidance advice even after being enjoined by a federal judge. As Mr. Prater is 71 years old, his retirement plans are pretty much complete.

Tags: tax crime.tax protesters.