Savannah Standard

Georgia-based tax preparer Samir Patel has been sentenced to two years in prison for evading over $1 million in personal income taxes, leading to a $550,000 loss for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Court documents and statements reveal that Patel filed false returns and omitted income from his coin-operated amusement machine business.

U.S. Attorney Steinberg, as reported by AllOnGeorgia, stated: "Much of our nation’s operating revenues are dependent on the lawful participation of citizens in the income tax system and those who evade their responsibilities place a greater burden on everyone else. This sentence demonstrates the substantial consequences of attempting to cheat the system."

According to AllOnGeorgia, U.S. District Court Chief Judge J. Randal Hall ordered Patel to pay approximately $550,000 in restitution to the United States and imposed a $95,000 fine. He also directed a three-year supervised release following Patel's prison sentence, highlighting the absence of parole in the federal system. As part of his sentence, Patel is prohibited from preparing tax returns for individuals or entities not associated with his interests during his supervised release period.

A press release by the Department of Justice reveals that Patel worked for a national return preparation business from 1999 to 2021 in Statesboro. After acquiring a franchise in Claxton, Georgia in 2015, he managed staff as an owner, trained tax preparers and continued handling customer returns. Despite these responsibilities, he evaded his personal income taxes by filing false returns from 2015 to 2017, hiding over $1.28 million in income including nearly $1.18 million from his business S&W Amusements. This fraudulent activity resulted in a tax loss of around $550,000 for the IRS. The case was prosecuted by Matthew C. Hicks and Richard J. Hagerman from the Department of Justice Tax Division along with John P. Harper III from the Southern District of Georgia.