Encinitas osteopath Dr. James Francis Murphy today (January 13) was sentenced to four years in prison and his wife, Denine Christine Murphy got a year under house arrest for paying almost no federal income taxes for ten years, despite regular warnings from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He was ordered to pay almost half a million dollars to to the IRS, and she is to pay almost $150,000.
Evidence at trial showed that the Murphys used a bogus trust and filed false returns concealing their actual income, which was as much as $1 million a year. When confronted by the IRS, the Murphys used a series of dodges: falsely claiming they were not citizens of the United States; claiming that federal tax laws did not apply to them; fraudulently presenting fictitious documents such as so-called "Indemnity Bonds" and "Bonded Promissory Notes," which they claimed to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, as payments to the IRS; and fraudulently claiming that the hundreds if thousands of dollars they paid to credit card companies, utilities, and others were actually withholdings of federal income taxes.
Despite their million-dollar annual income, the Murphys exploited the earned income tax credit, which is intended for low-income families, to get refunds.
Encinitas osteopath Dr. James Francis Murphy today (January 13) was sentenced to four years in prison and his wife, Denine Christine Murphy got a year under house arrest for paying almost no federal income taxes for ten years, despite regular warnings from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He was ordered to pay almost half a million dollars to to the IRS, and she is to pay almost $150,000.
Evidence at trial showed that the Murphys used a bogus trust and filed false returns concealing their actual income, which was as much as $1 million a year. When confronted by the IRS, the Murphys used a series of dodges: falsely claiming they were not citizens of the United States; claiming that federal tax laws did not apply to them; fraudulently presenting fictitious documents such as so-called "Indemnity Bonds" and "Bonded Promissory Notes," which they claimed to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, as payments to the IRS; and fraudulently claiming that the hundreds if thousands of dollars they paid to credit card companies, utilities, and others were actually withholdings of federal income taxes.
Despite their million-dollar annual income, the Murphys exploited the earned income tax credit, which is intended for low-income families, to get refunds.
This sort of sociopathic behavior borders on the insane.
Apparently not close enough to use insanity as a defense!
dwbat: There is no evidence that I am aware of that they tried the insanity defense. Best, Don Bauder
MichaelValentine: One would think that if they got constant warnings from the IRS, they would ditch these fraudulent excuses not to pay taxes. But tax protesters do weird things. Best, Don Bauder
The IRS has chosen another easy case. In the past they have gone after 'tax protesters', most likely because they might attract followers and start a trend. The Murphys may have been following the advice of a tax con artist. They were an easy mark. When will the IRS go after the mega-corporations that hide their income overseas? (Or are those targets too close to the seat of power in Washington?)
swell: Good question. The IRS does not go after the REAL tax swindlers -- the big corporations who use every trick in the book, including offshore tax havens, to cheat on their taxes. Companies complain that they pay 35 percent taxes. Balderdash. In reality, they pay 12 percent, which is quite low. Do you pay only 12 percent? I pay a helluva lot more than that. Yet it's the big corporations and their tax planners that want "tax reform." They want an even bigger break. Best, Don Bauder
Nobody has mentioned that as an osteopath, this guy is licensed to practice medicine in the state. That means he can make life-and-death decisions about care for patients who rely upon him for good judgment. Would you want someone like him caring for you, when he is so batty as to think that the family tax protest/evasion would really work?
Visduh: Good point. I would not go to any doctor who is regularly told by the IRS that he is breaking the law, but keeps doing it, and thinking of ever-more-creative excuses for not paying. Best, Don Bauder
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