Ozark businessman sentenced for failure to pay employment taxes

An Ozark man was sentenced to one year and one day in prison without parole for willfully failing to pay hundreds of thousands in employment taxes.

Kerry May, 65, owner of Spring Creek Antiques Inc. and Riverview Antique Center Inc., pleaded guilty to two felony counts of failure to collect, or to truthfully account for and pay over employment taxes for the two corporations, according to a release from Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

On May 29, U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips also sentenced May to pay $94,485 in restitution on the unpaid interest, in addition to the $373,200 in restitution he already has paid following his Oct. 3, 2012, guilty plea.

According to the release, May admitted from 2003 through 2009, he engaged in a deliberate scheme to avoid reporting or paying the trust fund taxes on approximately $373,200 he withheld from his employees’ paychecks – 25 workers at Spring Creek and 10 at Riverview. According to court documents, May withheld taxes from his employees’ pay, but simply pocketed the funds without reporting the withholding to the Internal Revenue Service or making the required trust fund payments.

May personally maintained the books and records for both businesses, which operated as S-corporations and calculated and issued biweekly paychecks to employees, including himself and his wife.

According to the release, May, who has a bachelor’s degree in accounting, has been a senior tax advisor with H&R Block and previously had an H&R Block franchise. He also served as an enrolled agent, representing clients in their dealings with the IRS.