From Howard Bashman:
Attorney’s willful failure to pay income taxes did not justify order disbarring him from practice in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Fourth Circuit panel rules: Today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit — holding that willful failure to pay income taxes is not a "serious crime" — can be accessed here [In Re: John Ashton Wray, No. 05-1106 (4th Cir. Dec. 29, 2005)].
4 responses to “Attorney’s Willful Failure to Pay Income Taxes Is Not a “Serious Crime”and Thus Does Not Justify Disbarment”
LET’S SET REAL HIGH STANDARDS
The TaxProf notes that willful failure to pay taxes is not a “serious” enough crime to merit disbarment from federal…
Having just read the 4th Circuit’s opinion, I must agree with it. This is a matter of technical construction of a rule, and the 4th Circuit interprets the rule correctly. The lawyer in question properly filed his tax returns, but being deeply in debt, he paid off certain business creditors rather than the United States. The 4th Circuit notes that no deceit was involved, although that was not crucial to its opinion. This is a case where the headline sounds outrageous, but I think the 4th Circuit was correct.
The 2005 Tax Offender of the Year
Boy, what a year. And what choices we have in naming our 2005 Offender of the Year. The nominees include,
– Richard Hatch, who had over 300 million witnesses to winning $1 million on Survivor, but didn’t include the winnings on hi…
The 2005 Tax Offender of the Year
Boy, what a year. And what choices we have in naming our 2005 Offender of the Year. The nominees include,
– Richard Hatch, who had over 300 million witnesses to winning $1 million on Survivor, but didn’t include the winnings on hi…