We received an email regarding the post we did on Ace Tire & Parts. The owners of Ace are accused of violating federal employment laws and have each pleaded guilty to one count of tax fraud.
In any case, we were asked the following:
“just read your article. where did you get your information for bozo scheme failed? what makes you think these guys are going to club fed? what do you know about pa tax laws with regard to this case? isn’t this a rather common practice among small businessmen across the country? give me your thoughts.”
Well, as to where I got the information, it was published in multiple places, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I think they’re going to prison because of the nature of their crime. These individuals robbed what are called “Trust Fund” accounts. When I wrote, “And the DOJ and IRS really, really don’t like violators of employment tax laws.” And that’s what they did, to the tune of somewhere between $400,000 and $1,000,000.
As to whether this is a common practice, definitely not. Anyone who thinks that most small business owners steal from employment tax trust fund accounts needs to think that through. Do you really believe that most small business owners are tax cheats? Thankfully, most Americans do pay their taxes, and most business owners correctly forward the employment taxes they collect to the government.