Failure to file tax returns
results in $5,000 fines

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Star-Bulletin staff

Craig K.H. Lee has pleaded no contest to charge that willfully failed to file an annual excise tax return for Commercial Truck & Lift Center, Inc. for the fiscal year ending April 30, 1998.

Circuit Judge Derrick H.M. Chan granted Lee's motion to defer his plea. Lee's plea was deferred for a year on condition that he pay a $5,000 fine within six months. Lee's case will be dismissed if he complies with the terms of his deferral.

Meanwhile, Commercial Truck & Lift Center, Inc., also pleaded no contest to charge that it willfully failed to file its annual general excise tax return for the fiscal year ending April 30, 1996. The firm, which has an annual gross income of more than $600,000, was fined $5,000.

Willful failure to file a tax return is a misdemeanor. A corporation can be fined up to $100,000 for each year that a return is not filed. Also, a person can be fined up to $25,000 and be sentence to a year in jail. Officers responsible for filing returns for a corporation also can be fined up to $25,000 and be sentenced to a year in jail for each offense.

Anyone who has information concerning possible tax crimes should call the state Department of Taxation investigators at 587-1795.