Tag: fifth amendment right

By Anthony Diosdi A taxpayer who is the subject of a criminal tax fraud case has the same rights as any other criminal defendant to decline to make any statement to the special agent or to a grand jury on the grounds that such a statement would “tend to incriminate him.” The right is a complete one, subject only to a grant of immunity, and the fact that the right was evoked cannot be used as evidence against the taxpayer. The right is also subject to the requirement that it be asserted. Any statement of the taxpayer other than a claim of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination is admissible in evidence if it is relevant. This is particularly important in criminal tax fraud cases because courts have held that…