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New Hampshire Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion Laws

Created by FindLaw's team of legal writers and editors | Last reviewed June 20, 2016

This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by FindLaw’s team of legal writers and attorneys and in accordance with our editorial standards.

The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area.

Intentionally underpaying your taxes, or failing to pay your taxes all together, is a serious criminal offense. While the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigates federal tax evasion, evading a state tax can result in a criminal prosecution within the applicable state.

In New Hampshire, both tax evasion (intentionally underpaying your taxes) and tax fraud (intentionally falsifying information a tax return in order to limit the amount of taxes owed) are serious offenses that are punished harshly. The table below outlines a few of the acts that can get you in trouble for tax evasion in New Hampshire.

Code Section

New Hampshire Revised Statutes section 21-J:39: Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion

What's Prohibited?

  • Willfully attempting in any manner to evade any tax or payment thereof
  • Willfully failing to pay any estimated tax, make a return, report or declaration, to keep records, or to supply any required tax information
  • Willfully making and subscribing any return, report, statement, or other document that is made under the penalty of perjury and that the offender doesn't believe to be true and correct as to every material matter
  • Aiding, assisting in, procuring, counseling, or advising the preparation or presentation of any tax document that the offender knows is fraudulent or false as to any material matter
  • Willfully removing or concealing any goods, chattels, or commodities with the intent to evade the assessment or collection of a tax
  • Receiving money from another person with the understanding that the money will be used to pay a tax and then willfully failing to pay the money over to the state of New Hampshire, or
  • Willfully corrupting, by force or threat of force, an officer of the tax department in order to deter them from acting in their official capacity

Penalties

 Penalties for a natural person who violates this law range from a misdemeanor offense to a class B felony.

Fraud vs. Negligence

In order to understand New Hampshire's tax evasion laws it is important to understand the distinction between fraud and negligence. The statute outlined above only criminalizes fraudulent acts, not negligent acts. Fraudulent acts are done intentionally with the purpose of gaining an unjust benefit.

On the other hand, negligent acts result from the failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised under similar circumstances. For example, making an honest mistake on your tax return may qualify as a negligent act, but you won't be convicted of tax fraud because the act wasn't done willfully.

Additional Resources

State laws change frequently. For case specific information regarding New Hampshire's tax fraud and tax evasion laws contact a local tax attorney.

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