As any good criminal defense lawyer will tell you, evading tax responsibilities often leads to drastic consequences. As a prime example of such consequences, the Kingsport Times reports that Dean Stover of Johnson City, Tennessee was indicted on November 9, 2011 for four counts of evasion of sales tax in violation of Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-1-1440(d). According to the story, Mr. Stover purchased four vehicles and falsified records of his purchases resulting in $14,933.76 in unpaid sales tax.
T.C.A. § 67-1-1440(d) makes it lawful for "any person to delay, hamper, hinder, impede, obstruct or thwart the state of Tennessee in the collection of any of its lawful revenue, or to deprive the state of the realization of such revenue at the time it is lawfully entitled thereto by any artifice, design, false weight or measure, stratagem, or by the falsification of any record, report or return required by law."
Mr. Stover is facing a maximum sentence of two years and possible fines of $3,000.00 for each count of tax evasion. He surrendered himself to authorities on November 21, 2011 and his bond was set at $20,000.00. Revenue Commissioner Robert H. Roberts vowed to aggressively pursue all individuals that attempt to defraud sales tax and offered this case as an example of those efforts.
