A husband and wife from Wayne County, who are the owners of a gravel and concrete businesses, were charged Wednesday with federal employment tax violations.
Michael and Jeanette Taylor, of Wayne, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Charleston over allegations that they conspired to defraud the United States by impeding the Internal Revenue Service in the collection of employment taxes withheld from the wages of the employees of their businesses, according to a news release from both Acting U.S. Attorney Carol Casto and Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline Ciraolo of the Justice Department's Tax Division.
The Taylors own Taylor Contracting/Taylor Ready-Mix LLC and Bluegrass Aggregates LLC, and are in the business of transporting steel and the sale of gravel and concrete.
The couple also faces one count of willfully failing to truthfully account for and pay employment taxes withheld for their employees at Taylor Contracting.
The indictment alleges that from Sept. 30, 2007 through Dec. 31, 2009, the couple withheld approximately $1 million in payroll taxes from employees' paychecks at Taylor Contracting, according to the release.
The Taylors are accused of withholding $161,218 in payroll taxes from employees' paychecks at Bluegrass Aggregates in 2010. Instead of paying the taxes to the IRS, the couple allegedly used the money for their personal benefit. For example, according to the news release, the Taylors made payments on their personal credit cards and a horse farm.
The charges carry a maximum five year prison sentence and, if convicted, the couple could be ordered to pay thousands of dollars in fines.