Michael Taylor, Employment Tax Violations, West Virginia 2010

Two West Virginia business owners have been indicted for their role in a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of employment taxes withheld from employees' wages.

Michael Taylor and his wife, Jeanette Taylor, were charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by impeding the IRS in the collection of employment taxes withheld from the wages of employees of their businesses, Taylor Contracting/Taylor Ready-Mix LLC and Bluegrass Aggregates LLC, which were in the business of transporting steel and the sale of gravel and concrete.

The indictment alleges that the Taylors withheld approximately $1,002,392 in payroll taxes from employees' paychecks at Taylor Contracting/Taylor Ready-Mix LLC from the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2007, through the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2009, and approximately $161,218 in payroll taxes from employees' paychecks at Bluegrass Aggregates LLC during the 2010 calendar year.

However, instead of paying these taxes to the IRS, the Taylors used the money to make personal expenditures, including payments toward their personal credit cards and a horse farm.

If convicted, the Taylors face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 for each count. They also face a term of supervised release and an order of restitution.

The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury sitting in Charleston, West Virginia on May 25, and charges the Taylors with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of willfully failing to truthfully account for and pay over employment tax withheld for their employees at Taylor Contracting/Taylor Ready-Mix LLC.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Mara Strier and Alexander Effendi of the Tax Division, and was investigated by special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation.

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