TAXLITIGATOR – Tax Controversy (Civil & Criminal) Report

Prosecutors have nearly unchecked power to decide who to bring charges against and what charges to bring. Grand Juries almost always return a “true bill” when asked by federal prosecutors and 90+ percent of defendants plead guilty when charged with federal tax crimes. Once a defendant signs a plea agreement, there’s little analysis of the charges because the judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney turn their attention to sentencing. That means the defense counsel’s analysis of the law and strength of evidence and advice to plead guilty is often the sole check on prosecutors’ charging overreach. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals recently overruled a district court’s denial of a defendant’s attempt to undo her guilty plea after arguing her lawyer failed to inform her that her actions might not be illegal under a bank fraud statute and that the government had to prove she knew her failure to report certain income on her tax returns was illegal.

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Evan J. Davis has been a principal at Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C. since November 2016. He spent 7.5 years as a DOJ Tax civil litigator and then 11 years as a criminal AUSA in the Office of the U.S. Attorney (C.D. Cal), including 3 years handling civil and criminal tax cases and 8 years as a white-collar prosecutor handling tax and other fraud cases from investigation through jury trial and appeal. As an AUSA, he served as the Bankruptcy Fraud coordinator, Financial Institution Fraud coordinator, and Securities Fraud coordinator. Mr. Davis handles federal and state criminal and civil tax investigations/exams, white-collar defense, cryptocurrency clients, and civil and criminal appellate matters including having litigated the In re Grand Jury attorney-client privilege matter before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023.

For more information, please contact Evan J. Davis at davis@taxlitigator.com.

Sandra R. Brown is a Principal of Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C., where her practice focuses on criminal tax investigations, grand jury matters, litigation, and sentencing matters as well as representing and advising taxpayers involved in complex and sophisticated civil tax controversies, including sensitive-issue audits and administrative appeals and litigation. Ms. Brown’s extensive experience and successes have included many notable cases including two U.S. Supreme Court decisions, numerous 9th Circuit rulings and numerous favorable administrative resolutions for taxpayers involved in IRS investigations and audits. Prior to joining the firm in 2018, Ms. Brown served as the Acting United States Attorney, First Assistant United States Attorney, and Chief of the Tax Division in the Office of the U.S. Attorney, Central District of California; where, with 27 years as a trial lawyer, she personally litigated over 2,000 tax cases.

For more information, please contact Sandra R. Brown at brown@taxlitigator.com.