Complainant is a Revenue Special Investigator in the Minnesota Department of Revenue (MDOR) Criminal Investigations Division (CID). In March 2024, CID received a referral from MDOR civil corporate staff regarding a business, LaCroix Law, PLLC, that had failed to file required S-corporation (pass-through) tax returns. Complainant investigated and determined that LaCroix Law’s owner, Codefendant TIMOTHY MICHAEL LACROIX [DOB REDACTED], and his spouse, Codefendant TINA LACROIX [DOB REDACTED], willfully attempted to evade or defeat tax by failing to file individual tax returns and failing to pay individual income tax when due for tax years 2019 through 2023. Codefendants’ aggregate tax deficiency from 2019 through 2023 totals roughly $35,000, exclusive of penalties and interest.
This complaint focuses primarily on Codefendant TIMOTHY LACROIX. A Minnesota resident who earns income above a specified threshold in a given year is generally required to file an income tax return with, and pay required income tax to, MDOR for that year. Complainant’s investigation ultimately revealed that each Codefendant’s income exceeded this filing threshold in each relevant year. The deadline for individual income tax return filings and tax payments is typically April 15 of the year following the year in which the income was earned, although the deadlines for tax years 2019 and 2020 were extended to July 15, 2020, and May 17, 2021, respectively, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
If a person required to file a tax return fails to do so timely, MDOR may file a return (known as a “Commissioner-filed return” or “CFR”) on the person’s behalf using the information available to it and may then undertake tax collection activity based upon the CFR. The filing of a CFR does not, however, relieve a person of the obligation to file their own tax return or to pay tax. Through the criminal investigation, Complainant learned that during the relevant years, 2019 through 2023, Codefendants were married to each other and residing in Hennepin County, Minnesota.
TIMOTHY LACROIX earned income through LaCroix Law, and TINA LACROIX earned income through employment as a property manager. Complainant also learned that each Codefendants’ income exceeded the thresholds for required income tax return filing for individuals of their ages and marital status between 2019 and 2023. For those years, neither Codefendant filed Minnesota individual income tax returns when required. Furthermore, TIMOTHY LACROIX did not file S-corporation returns for LaCroix Law. Complainant compiled evidence of Codefendants’ income through subpoenas to banks, TINA LACROIX’s employer, and an accounting/bookkeeping firm that occasionally did payroll-related work for LaCroix Law.
An MDOR tax specialist reviewed the information Complainant obtained and determined that TIMOTHY LACROIX’s taxable income for 2019 through 2023 ranged from a low of approximately $54,000 (2020) to a high of approximately $119,000 (2019) in those years. The specialist used the available information to estimate tax deficiencies, exclusive of penalties and interest, of $8,019 (2019); $3,278 (2020); $4,700 (2021); $5,708 (2022); and $6,699 (2023). Codefendants were aware of their tax return filing obligations.
