When dealing with marijuana, the issue of whether or not to declare it on your taxes is bound to come up sooner or later. Needless to say, one who makes their money through the illegal sale of marijuana should not declare such things. It is important to know the law no matter how little you may have to deal with accounting. With tax day come and gone, many may spend the entire year wondering if they made the right choice about declaring weed on their taxes. Hiring an accountant can always be a helpful way to make sure that you are getting all you can on tax day. There are simply too many things that can slip under the radar when a regular person is doing their own taxes. But the person in the following story may have done better without one. 
The Real Business of Drug Dealing
Rebecca Renae Powell is from Wasilla, Alaska where she works as an accountant. Though a previously trustworthy person, Rebecca has been recently charged with six counts of filing false tax returns. Powell was doing taxes for an acquaintance way back in 2007 when this whole mess started. She must have done a great job as the recipient of Rebecca’s work was able to claim Earned Income Credit. This just shows how professional Rebecca was when preparing her acquaintance’s taxes. Eventually, Rebecca Powell took on a more daunting case for a client who sold heroin in addition to marijuana. With all of these drugs floating around, it was only a matter of time before she got caught up in something bad.
Hard Time for Hard Crimes
To get by the detection of those higher up, Rebecca would not report the income as drug income. This is the obvious step that one would take when trying to declare drug dealing on their taxes. But this case also shows that there were falsified documents and invoices to make it seem like a legitimate business. This is where Powell really got ahead of herself and finally fell prey to the law. With all of the charges, Rebecca Powell faces three years in prison as well as a 250,000 dollar fine for each individual count of false tax returns. With six counts on her plate, Rebecca is looking at some hard time without a good lawyer. I guess the moral of the story is that illegal drug sales should not be filed on your taxes.
In the end, declaring weed on your taxes could get you a little money back. But make sure you are lawfully distributing this marijuana rather than selling it illegally. It is easy to get caught up with the law when you are breaking it so just make sure to abide by the law. If Rebecca Powell had decided not to file taxes for her couple of friends, she would be much better off right now so it is easy to see what the right decision is. So keep on smoking but remember, do it lawfully or trouble will always find you. Oh, and don’t declare weed on your taxes if you deal it illegally! 🙂
Recent Comments