FEDERAL JUDGE BARS FLORIDA MAN FROM PROMOTING TAX-FRAUD SCHEME

The following press release was published by the US Department of Justice on Nov. 16, 2005. It is reproduced in full below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2005 WWW.USDOJ.GOV TAX (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888 Rockledge Man Sold “Corporation Sole” Materials WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department announced today that a Florida federal court has permanently barred James Kent Lansing, of Rockledge, from selling an alleged tax-fraud scheme known as a “corporation sole” program. The order, entered on Monday, Nov. 14, by Judge Anne C. Conway of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, also applies to Lansing’s business, Sole Resources.

According to court filings, corporations sole are authorized under the laws of some states to enable religious leaders to hold property and conduct business for the benefit of a religious entity. However, corporations sole, do not bestow a special tax status on their founders. It is alleged in the complaint that Lansing falsely told customers that if they purchased his corporation sole program they could be tax-exempt without having to meet the usual requirements under the Internal Revenue Code.

“The Justice Department is committed to stopping fraudulent tax schemes and scams,” said Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “People should not be fooled by promoters who promise to eliminate their federal income tax liabilities by helping them deceive the IRS.” More specifically, the court order prohibits Lansing from organizing, promoting, marketing, or selling any abusive tax shelter, plan or arrangement that advises or encourages taxpayers to attempt to violate the internal revenue laws; making false statements about the allowability of any deduction or credit, the excludability of any income, or the securing of any tax benefit by the reason of participating in such tax shelters, plans or arrangements; and encouraging, instructing, advising or assisting others to violate the tax laws, including to evade the payment of taxes.

Corporation sole programs are in the IRS’s annual list of the “Dirty Dozen” tax scams:.

More information about the Justice Department’s efforts against tax scam promoters can be found at. Information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at. 05-614

Source: US Department of Justice