A federal jury convicted a Maryland man Monday of 16 counts of failing to collect and pay over payroll taxes.
The following is according to court documents and evidence presented at trial: Brett Hill, of Parkton and Berlin, was the Chief Executive Officer of two telecommunications companies.
As such, Hill was responsible for withholding federal income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes from his employees’ wages and paying those funds over to the government.
He was also responsible for filing tax returns each quarter and for paying over the companies’ share of Social Security and Medicare taxes.
From the second quarter of 2016 through the fourth quarter of 2018, Hill withheld taxes from his employees’ wages at one or both of his companies but did not file tax returns or pay those taxes over to the government.
Hill did not pay over his companies’ share either. Instead of paying the taxes he withheld from his employees’ paychecks, Hill paid himself a salary and paid other expenses.
In total, Hill caused a tax loss of over $1 million to the United States.
Hill will be sentenced at a later date. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count of failing to collect and pay over taxes.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
