Biggest Tax Cheaters of the Past Decade

Filed under: Identity Theft, Investment Fraud, Scandals and Lawsuits, Ripoffs & Scams, Financial Education

With 30 percent of an average American's income going toward federal and state taxes, it's no wonder that some people cheat on their taxes. The $4.5 trillion that Americans will pay in 2014 in federal and state taxes is more than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined, according to the Tax Foundation.

Tax Freedom Day -- the day when taxpayers will have worked enough to pay their taxes for the year -- is April 21, 2014. If federal borrowing is taken into account, that date is extended to May 6, according to the foundation. That's a long time to start earning income for yourself. Some tax cheaters, especially the biggest cheaters, don't want to wait that long. They file fake tax returns, don't file and just plain lie to avoid paying taxes.

In fiscal 2013, the IRS increased criminal investigations related to identity theft by 66 percent from the previous year. Sentencing almost doubled to 438 cases, with prison terms ranging from two months to 317 months. Twenty-six years in prison is a lot of time to think about how being honest with the IRS might be more worthwhile.

Here are the worst and most widely known tax cheaters during the past decade who aren't celebrities, a group that's in a whole other world when it comes to avoiding taxes. The list isn't comprehensive because the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Justice don't publish lists of criminals with the highest tax bills.


A former newspaper journalist, Aaron Crowe is a freelance writer who specializes in personal finance, real estate and insurance for various websites, including Wisebread, insurance websites, MortgageLoan.com and AOL.

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