Last week the US Supreme Court in a 6 to 3 decision stated that Green Card Holders (Permanent Residents) can now be deported and their Green Card Revoked if convicted of Criminal Tax Fraud. In the case a Japanese restaurant holder and his wife in Thousand Oaks, California were found to have cheated on their corporate tax return. Even though he subsequently repaid the $244,000 taxes he owed, and served 4 months in jail, and had lived in the US since 1984 with his family and children, the Court upheld the decision of lower Court cases where ICE sought and prevailed in their request to deport him for aggravated fraud. This decision does not apply when the IRS imposes civil penalties and does not seek criminal prosecution.
The Supreme Court and statutes state that aggravated fraud is any fraudulent act that involves $10,000 or more. It should be noted that the IRS, if almost all circumstances, can proceed with criminal tax fraud charges for almost any violation of the IRS tax code. This decision could have consequences for all Green Card holders who fail to report their foreign bank accounts, foreign income, foreign corporations, foreign partnerships, foreign trusts, etc.
READ THE SUPREME COURTS DECISION IN KAWASHIMA ET UX. v. HOLDER, ATTORNEY
GENERAL HERE.
