Page 98 of Bourbon Bliss
Normally I would have sent anything tax-related to Andrea. But something about this made me wonder. If it was time sensitive, it might be better if I opened it.
I slipped my finger beneath the flap and tore it open. The crisp paper crinkled as I unfolded it. Scanning the letter, I stopped short.
… nonpayment …
… back taxes owed …
… applicable fines …
… investigation for tax evasion …
… will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law …
What the fuck was this?
I read through it again, letting the details sink in. It had to be a mistake. According to this letter, I not only owed back taxes for the last five years, they were threatening to investigate for tax evasion.
Tax evasion meantprison.
I grabbed my phone and tried to call Andrea, but she didn’t answer. I paced around the room, reading the letter again. This was bad. Really bad. A guy I’d played with in San Francisco had been caught cheating on his taxes. He’d lied about the income from his endorsement deals and tried to hide the money. They’d come after him hard core. He’d only avoided prison by paying an enormous amount in interest and penalties. It had nearly ruined him.
The urgency had me dialing my lawyer, Marc White. After waiting on hold for several minutes, his assistant put me through.
“Hi, GT. What can I do for you?”
“Marc, I have a problem. I got a notice from the IRS, and I’m not gonna lie, it’s kinda scary.”
“They always sound scary,” he said, his voice even. “Tell me what it says.”
I read it to him, then waited, hoping he was about to tell me I was overreacting.
“You’re right, that’s not good. I’m going to need you to level with me here, GT. We have attorney-client privilege, so be honest. Have you been lying on your taxes?”
“No,” I said, vehement. “No, Marc, I swear. This has to be a mistake.”
“All right. The first thing they’re going to do is an audit. We’ll need to pull together all your records—tax returns and every scrap of supporting documentation. Who’s your accountant?”
“My assistant Andrea does my accounting.”
“She does your taxes?”
“Yeah.”
Marc paused. “You don’t have a third-party accountant handle your taxes?”
“No. Andrea has an accounting degree. She’s always handled it for me.”
“That’s raising a red flag for me, GT.”
“You think Andrea made a mistake on my taxes?”
“If this is all due to an honest mistake, it’s more than one. An audit is one thing. Tax evasion is another. That means they have reason to believe you’ve falsified information to get out of paying what you owe. That’s not a mistake, GT. That’s either multiple mistakes over several years, or it’s something worse.”
June’s warning ran through my mind. She thought I trusted Andrea with too much. I’d figured she was overreacting—letting unnecessary jealousy cloud her judgment. Now I wasn’t so sure.
“What do we need to do to find out?” I asked.
“Does Andrea keep your files and records somewhere I can access without her knowing?”
