By Bill Estep, Lexington Herald-Leader (TNS)
A former Kentucky accountant has been indicted after allegedly failing to report more than $320,000 in income on his federal taxes.
A federal grand jury indicted Charles Marshall Stivers, of Manchester, last week on two charges of making false statements on tax returns in 2018 and 2020.
Stivers reported gross income of $245,130 for one tax year, but failed to report another $170,507, the indictment charges.
In the second tax year at issue, Stivers allegedly reported gross income of $305,378 but failed to report an additional $157,922.
The charges are punishable by up to three years in prison each.
Stivers has had prior legal trouble over his actions as an accountant. He was a certified public accountant from 1989 until his CPA license was revoked in October 2015 after he pleaded guilty in Tennessee federal court in a case alleging tax fraud against a state legislator.
In that case, Stivers told authorities Rep. Joe Armstrong made a profit of about $500,000 selling cigarette tax stamps but had Stivers run the money through an account of his at a bank in Manchester to hide the windfall.
Stivers said he wrote checks from his account to Armstrong and did not include the money on a tax return he prepared for Armstrong.
Stivers pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to two years’ probation and restitution of $19,787 in restitution.
Armstrong argued Stivers was at fault because he relied on Stivers to do his taxes, but a jury convicted him of filing a false tax return.
A judge sentenced Armstrong to three years of probation, a $40,000 fine and restitution to the IRS of $99,943.
Stivers faced another charge in 2021 of putting false information in a document he submitted to the IRS.
Stivers said in the document that he had authority to represent a restaurant in a tax case, but was not authorized to practice as a CPA at the time and used his son’s license number, according to the court record.
Stivers pleaded guilty to making and using a false document.
U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom sentenced him in May 2022 to 10 months in prison and a fine of $30,000.
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©2023 Lexington Herald-Leader. Visit kentucky.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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Tags: Income Tax, IRS, Taxes
