Opinion ID: 1815199
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Complaint Concerning Income Tax Returns.

Text: The committee on November 20, 1985, filed a complaint against respondent contending that he had not filed his federal and state income tax returns for the years 1982 and 1983 within the time permitted by law. The material allegations of the complaint were conceded by respondent to be true when he failed to respond to written requests for admissions. Respondent also admitted when testifying at the hearing that he had not filed those four returns until April 15, 1985, which was many months after the dates in 1983 and 1984 when they were due. Respondent had obtained no extension of time for filing his Iowa income tax returns, and the extensions of time he obtained for filing the federal returns had long since expired by the date he posted them to the Internal Revenue Service. A convincing preponderance of the evidence establishes that respondent knowingly and willfully failed to file his 1982 and 1983 state and federal income tax returns on time. This misconduct involving late filing of income tax returns violated various state and federal laws, ethical considerations, and disciplinary rules which we have cited, explained, and relied upon in a legion of similar cases. See Committee on Professional Ethics and Conduct v. Vasey, 373 N.W.2d 146, 147 (Iowa 1985) (suspending license to practice law for filing of 1981 state and federal income tax returns in 1983; sixty-day extension for federal return had expired and no state extension had been requested); Committee on Professional Ethics and Conduct v. Crawford, 351 N.W.2d 530, 531-32 (Iowa 1984) (citing 13 preceding cases involving discipline of Iowa lawyers for income tax violations).