Thomas B. Pruzan, Tax Evasion, New York 1997

A lawsuit has been filed against New York attorney Thomas B. Pruzan, d/b/a the Pruzan Law Firm, alleging repeated failure to timely deposit and pay employment and unemployment taxes due from his law firm.

The complaint, filed by the United States, alleges that since the quarter ended September 30, 1997, Pruzan has deliberately failed to make current employment tax deposits, using those funds as working capital instead.

This practice, referred to as ‘pyramiding,’ has resulted in a balance due to the government of more than one million dollars.

Despite the Internal Revenue Service’s best efforts over the past five years, Pruzan has made very minimal payments of his tax debt, and all attempts to induce compliance have failed.

The complaint seeks an injunction requiring Pruzan to, among other things, timely deposit and pay his employment and unemployment taxes, and timely file all employment and unemployment tax returns with the IRS.

Since 2001, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained more than 385 injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of fraudulent returns.

The United States’ Complaint for Preliminary and Permanent Injunction is available on the Justice Department website.

Mandatory facts: Defendant/Respondent: Thomas B. Pruzan, Exact criminal charges: Tax Evasion, City and State: New York, Exact Date: 1997, Sentence or outcome: Ongoing lawsuit, Dollar amounts: Over one million dollars.