Opinion ID: 292272
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sufficiency Of The Evidence Of Willful Evasion

Text: 5 In the prosecution of a 7201 violation the Government establishes a prima facie case by showing a deficiency in the defendant's tax return plus a willful, affirmative act by the accused constituting an evasion or attempted evasion of the tax owed. Sansone v. United States, 1965, 380 U.S. 343, 85 S.Ct. 1004, 13 L.Ed.2d 882; Holland v. United States, 1954, 348 U.S. 121, 75 S.Ct. 127, 99 L.Ed. 150; Spies v. United States, 1943, 317 U.S. 492, 63 S.Ct. 364, 87 L.Ed. 418. 6 Appellant does not really dispute the deficiencies in his tax returns for the years 1962-1964, but argues vigorously that the Government conspicuously failed to prove a willful attempt to evade payment of those taxes. He contends that willfulness cannot be inferred from the mere understatement of income but must be shown by independent proof. Whatever validity this might have as a single, sole element, 4 the record here reflects a number of factors which Spies, supra, holds may warrant the inference of willfulness. An 'affirmative willful attempt may be inferred from conduct such as keeping a double set of books, making false entries or alterations, or false invoices or documents, destruction of books or records, concealment of assets or covering up sources of income, handling of one's affairs to avoid making the records usual in transactions of the kind, and any conduct, the likely effect of which would be to mislead or to conceal. If the tax-evasion motive plays any part in such conduct the offense may be made out even though the conduct may also serve other purposes.' 317 U.S. 492, 499, 63 S.Ct. 364, 368. Here the Government has established that during the years 1962-1964 Appellant followed a persistent pattern of under-reporting large amounts of income, 5 a failure to enter all of his income in his books and records, 6 a deliberate destruction of his books and records, and his habit of personally cashing patients' checks and depositing the cash rather than the checks, which allowed him to avoid entry of those payments in his books. Collectively this was quite ample.