Palmetto man accused of evading more than $2M in taxes, federal prosecutors say
A Palmetto man is accused of evading more than $2 million in taxes and filing false returns over multiple years, federal prosecutors announced.
Terry Brunning, 64, is charged with one count of tax evasion and four counts of filing false income tax returns, according to United States Attorney’s Office Middle District of Florida prosecutors. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison for the evasion charge and up to three years for each count of filing a false return.
According to a federal indictment, Brunning failed to report and pay taxes on income earned between 1998 and 2001. Prosecutors said that despite an IRS tax assessment against him for more than $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest, he continued earning income from a new business between 2005 and 2018 without making substantial payments toward his earlier tax debt.
Instead, prosecutors say Brunning used that money for personal expenses while concealing assets from the IRS.
Brunning also failed to file tax returns from 2007 to 2018, according to the indictment. He resumed filing in 2018 after IRS agents attempted to contact him, but prosecutors say he under-reported more than $490,000 in income between 2015 and 2018.
