The most important thing to remember is that a criminal tax investigation is very different from an audit. When your tax returns are audited, the tax authorities are attempting to find out if you owe additional taxes. With a criminal tax investigation, the tax authority is investigating to see if any tax crimes have been committed for which you should go to jail. A criminal tax investigation can start with an audit, but the audit takes on a whole new meaning if it becomes a criminal tax investigation.

You don’t always know when you are under investigation for a tax crime. Obviously, you will know that an investigation is being conducted if you receive paperwork from the tax authority telling you that you are the subject of an investigation or if you receive a visit from someone called a Special Agent, FBI Agent or other law enforcement officer who only conducts criminal investigations. Other times to be concerned are if your tax returns are being audited and you know that you have filed false income tax returns, if your bank, customers, or clients are asked to send information about your dealings to a tax authority, or if you are involved in an investigation of another crime that involves your finances.

Criminal investigations can get started with information given to a tax authority by an informant, by someone who is auditing your tax return and discovers something unusual, or by tax authorities sharing information with one another.