Attorney Lost Appeal For Disbarment To Practice Before IRS For Failing To File Federal Tax Returns

A Texas attorney has lost an appeal on an order for disbarment to practice before IRS for willfully failing to file his federal tax returns, according to the Decision on Appeal. (IR 2011-52) IRS's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) alleged that the attorney willfully failed to timely file his federal individual income tax returns for six years and willfully failed to file another tax return. The untimely filings were from two to four years late. It was also alleged that the attorney willfully failed to pay the outstanding tax balances due on the late filed returns. “This is yet another in a line of Final Agency Decisions in the past two years which reiterate that practitioners cannot expect to be excused for not filing or late filing their own tax returns when the record reflects their active engagement in other tax and business matters on behalf of paying clients, or active involvement with their own personal activities which belie any debilitation,” said Karen Hawkins, the director of the OPR. Additional information is located at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=239090,00.html.