Opinion ID: 4163636
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Musa’s Fraudulent Tax Filings

Text: Musa opened his restaurant in 2005. He is the sole member of the limited liability company that owns and operates the No. 16‐1841 3 restaurant. Since its early days, Musa’s family members regu‐ larly worked as employees at the restaurant, and he paid them based on informal agreements. Musa did not report their wages to the company the restaurant hired to assist with pay‐ roll. The payroll company’s services included withholding re‐ quired taxes from employees’ paychecks, issuing annual wage and tax statements to employees and the IRS, and filing Musa’s quarterly employment tax returns. Musa gave the payroll company his employees’ infor‐ mation over the phone on a biweekly basis. He did not in‐ clude any of his family members in the information that he provided between 2006 and 2008. He included only two of his family members during 2009 and 2010. Instead, Musa paid family employees in cash under the table and maintained no record of these payments. He also underreported the amount his staff received in tips. At the same time, Musa was underreporting the restau‐ rant’s revenues on his individual tax returns and the restau‐ rant’s Wisconsin monthly sales tax returns for 2006 to 2008. He did this by lying to his then‐accountant, J&M Accounting and Tax Services. Musa reported the restaurant’s monthly sales over the phone to J&M. He gave the accounting firm in‐ accurate information and failed to disclose relevant banking information.