Failing to Deposit Collected Taxes in Trust Account as Required After Notice

United States Sentencing Commission · Effective November 1, 2026

(a) Base Offense Level (Apply the greater):

(1) 4; or

(2) 5 less than the level from §2T4.1 (Tax Table) corresponding to the amount not deposited.

Commentary

Statutory provisions

Statutory Provisions: 26 U.S.C. §§ 7215, 7512(b).

Application Notes:

1. If funds are deposited and withdrawn without being paid to the Internal Revenue Service, they should be treated as never having been deposited.

2. It is recommended that the fine be based on the total amount of funds not deposited.

Background

Background: This offense is a misdemeanor that does not require any intent to evade taxes, nor even that taxes have not been paid. The more serious offense is 26 U.S.C. § 7202 (see §2T1.6).

This offense should be relatively easy to detect and fines may be feasible. Accordingly, the offense level has been set considerably lower than for tax evasion, although some effort has been made to tie the offense level to the level of taxes that were not deposited.

Historical note

Effective November 1, 1987.

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