Ohio website owner sentenced by IRS over tax failure

IRS/ withholding taxesEveryone loves a bit of gossip. Peddling juicy news about celebrities has made a number of gossips nearly as famous as the celebrities they chatter about. From Hedda Hopper to Perez Hilton and TMZ, scandalous gossip has been a mainstay of pop culture for decades.


In recent years, there have been twists on peddling gossip, including the Ohio-based AdvisorHUB, a website devoted to rumors, gossip and news about the brokerage industry. The founder of the site recently got some unwanted attention of his own when he was sentenced in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Ohio to 18 months in federal prison for failing to turn over to the government employment taxes withheld from his workers' paychecks.

Andrew Parish, 40, pleaded guilty to a single count of failing to pay those withheld taxes to the Internal Revenue Service. He wrote on his site that AdvisorHUB will stay up while he serves his sentence.

In many similar situations, the owner of a small business finds that he or she has trouble paying all of their bills in addition to their employees. So they decide that they will dip into the taxes they have withheld from workers and "borrow" those funds until their balance sheet improves. When things are better, of course, they figure they will pay the IRS.

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We do not know what happened in Parish's situation, but we do know that far too often, "borrowing" funds owed to the IRS causes serious problems. One possible development: the IRS exacts significant financial pain on the business owner who is required to pay the owed taxes, plus interest and significant penalties. Even worse, the IRS can open a criminal tax investigation as well.

In those situations, a Cleveland tax attorney can represent you in negotiations to resolve the matter before indictment occurs. If you have already been indicted, an experienced attorney pursues favorable resolution in negotiations and, when needed, with vigorous representation in district court.

Contact Robert J. Fedor, Esq.