COVID-related Tax Fraud Update

The IRS reported that its Criminal Investigation (CI) has investigated 1,644 tax and money laundering cases related to COVID fraud potentially totaling $8.9 billion, with well over half that amount coming from cases opened in the last year. Cases related to fraudulently obtained loans, credits, and payments by taxpayers; small businesses were specifically called out. As of February 29, 2024, 795 people have been indicted for their alleged COVID-related crimes and 373 individuals have been sentenced to an average of 34 months in federal prison. Some of the crimes relate to the employee retention credit, which account for over 380 cases worth almost $3 billion. During the last four years, CI has obtained a 98.5% conviction rate in prosecuted COVID fraud cases. #IdeaoftheDay