The best federal defense by attorneys for tax crimes often involves preventing the case from being referred by the IRS to the U.S. Department of Justice for criminal prosecution. The likelihood of non-referral is highest at the beginning of an audit or an investigation and diminishes significantly with time. Once the case has been handed over to the prosecutor, the difficulty of having the case declined is at it’s highest.
Attorneys know attempting to convince the prosecutor to decline the case is a risky endeavor and many factors must be considered. What and how evidence is presented must be carefully thought out as an attorney must lay bare at least part of the federal defense strategy that may be used later if the prosecutor decides to go forward with trial.
If the client is indicted for other co-occurring crimes along with federal tax fraud and evasion, it is not likely a prosecutor will decline a case. In these circumstances, the attorneys on the defense are probably best not to pursue a pre-indictment conference.
MOST COMMON FEDERAL CRIMES OCCURRING WITH TAX FRAUD AND EVASION:
A solid federal defense presented by attorneys to the prosecutor, pre-indictment, involves a strong legal argument based on facts. The argument presented by the attorneys for the defense will depend on the goal. For instance, is the attorney attempting to persuade the prosecutor to throw out the case completely or pursue lesser charges, such as a misdemeanor instead of a felony. The same analogy may be applied when attorneys present a defense in a trial, much will depend on the goal.
