Tax Law 1806
New York Tax Law 1806 Criminal Tax Fraud in the First Degree Lawyer
The first degree requires a tax fraud act or acts and an alleged underpayment or improper refund exceeding $1,000,000 in a period of not more than one year.
What Prosecutors Must Prove
These pages are built around the official statute and, where available, the New York Criminal Jury Instructions. The prosecution must prove the legal elements beyond a reasonable doubt, not simply create suspicion or rely on an accusation.
- The accused committed one or more tax fraud acts as defined in Tax Law 1801.
- The accused acted willfully, meaning with intent to defraud, intent to evade payment of taxes, or intent to avoid a known legal duty or lawful requirement.
- The alleged tax shortfall or improper refund meets the exceeding $1,000,000 threshold.
- The amount was calculated within the statutory period of not more than one year where a dollar threshold applies.
- The evidence proves criminal intent rather than civil tax error, bookkeeping mistake, or negligence.
Key Proof Issues
| Tax fraud act | The first issue is which Tax Law 1801 theory prosecutors are relying on. |
| Willfulness | Intent evidence may come from records, communications, audit history, filing patterns, cash handling, certificates, or business practices. |
| Amount calculation | For felony degrees, the dollar threshold and one-year period must be tested carefully. |
| Responsible person proof | In business cases, prosecutors must connect the accused person to the filing, remittance, or conduct charged. |
Example of How the Charge Can Arise
A non-graphic example is an allegation that a business underreported taxable sales or failed to remit collected taxes during an audit period. Defense review may focus on whether the audit math is sound, whether returns were prepared by a professional, whether records are incomplete, whether the accused had knowledge and control, and whether the alleged loss supports the charged degree.
Potential Defenses
- No willful intent.
- Civil tax/accounting dispute rather than criminal fraud.
- Incorrect tax-loss calculation or wrong aggregation period.
- Reliance on accountants, payroll providers, bookkeepers, or internal staff.
- Incomplete audit records, flawed extrapolation, or unsupported assumptions.
- Weak proof tying the accused person to the alleged act.
Early defense work matters
Preserving documents, reviewing agency records, analyzing warrants or subpoenas, testing the government’s timeline, and preparing for interviews, arraignment, grand jury, negotiation, or trial can change the direction of a case.
Related Defense Pages
Criminal Tax Fraud Hub · White Collar Defense · Fraud Defense · Federal Defense
Talk to a New York Defense Lawyer About Tax Law 1806
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Frequently Asked Questions
What makes this degree different from other criminal tax fraud charges?
The degree turns on the charged statutory threshold and the prosecution’s ability to prove both a tax fraud act and willful intent.
Can the amount be challenged?
Yes. The tax-loss calculation, audit method, time period, credits, payments, refunds, and business records should be examined.
Does a tax fraud charge require intent?
Yes. Tax Law 1801 defines willfulness in terms of intent to defraud, evade taxes, or avoid a known legal duty or lawful requirement.
Official Legal References
This page is general information, not legal advice. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case depends on its own facts, evidence, procedure, jurisdiction, and applicable law.
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Tax Fraud and Money Laundering Cases Often Turn on Records, Intent, Source of Funds, and Loss Theory
Criminal tax fraud and money laundering allegations can move quickly from document review into subpoenas, search warrants, bank-record analysis, asset restraint, restitution demands, professional consequences, and parallel state or federal exposure. The same investigation may involve alleged false filings, business records, grand larceny, scheme-to-defraud theories, forfeiture pressure, or federal money-laundering allegations.
Defense work should pressure-test whether prosecutors can prove intent, knowledge, a tax due or alleged criminal tax fraud act, a specific transaction or series of transactions, the source and ownership of funds, the dollar threshold, and whether a business, accounting, or reporting dispute is being overstated as a criminal case.
Criminal tax fraud pages
Money laundering and forfeiture
Call 646-663-4430 for a free attorney consultation. Lebedin Kofman LLP can evaluate tax records, business records, subpoenas, bank records, asset-seizure issues, loss calculations, witness exposure, and state or federal defense strategy.
Criminal Tax Fraud in the First Degree: What Prosecutors Must Prove
NY Tax Law 1806 - source framework: New York Criminal Jury Instructions for Criminal Tax Fraud.
- The prosecution generally must prove that the accused committed a tax fraud act under New York Tax Law Article 37.
- For the felony degrees, the People must prove intent to evade tax due or defraud the state or a subdivision, plus a tax-loss or refund/payment threshold of more than ,000,000 within the charged period.
- Defense review should examine tax records, bookkeeping, audit history, willfulness and intent, reliance on accountants or preparers, mistake, amended filings, valuation, cash-flow proof, business records, search issues, statements, restitution exposure, and whether the matter belongs in civil tax audit channels rather than criminal court.
First-degree criminal tax fraud generally involves alleged tax fraud acts with unpaid tax or wrongfully obtained refunds exceeding ,000,000, creating the most serious New York tax-fraud exposure.
Criminal tax-fraud cases often involve audits, bank records, business books, accountants, tax preparers, amended returns, restitution, licensing exposure, immigration concerns, and reputation damage. The firm handles serious fraud and criminal-defense matters and offers a free attorney consultation. Call 646-663-4430 so an attorney can quickly evaluate exposure and strategy.