We handle a lot of civil and criminal payroll tax cases.  Since 2010, employment taxes have become a hot button issue with the IRS and Department of Justice Tax Division, with a recent trend towards stricter enforcement, including criminal punishment. On Thursday, January 12, 2017, a Pittsburgh tax attorney was sentenced to 48 months in prison for failure to collect, account for and pay over employment taxes following a September 2016 jury trial. A jury found that Steven Lynch, a tax attorney and co-owner of Iceoplex, a recreational sports facility, failed to timely pay more than $790,000 in taxes withheld from employees’ wages between 2012 and 2015. Lynch was found to have controlled the finances for Iceoplex and was responsible for collecting, accounting for, and paying over tax withheld from employee wages and timely filing quarterly employment tax returns. Akeia Conner, the Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation said that Lynch, as the person in control of the finances on behalf of the Iceoplex businesses, was entrusted with significant responsibility to collect and remit all IRS withholding taxes. In addition to the prison term imposed, Lynch was ordered to serve three years of supervised release, pay $793,145 in restitution to the IRS, and pay a $75,000 fine.