An interesting idea for software - from the United States Department of Justice:
Everett Software Salesman Sentenced to Prison for Selling ‘Tax Zapper’ Software to Enable Cheating on State and Federal Taxes
Promoted and Sold Software to Restaurants Resulting in More Than $3.4 Million Tax Loss
An Everett, Washington man who worked for a Canadian company that sells point of sale computer software, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in a scheme to sell ‘Tax Zapper’ software, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. JOHN YIN, 66, pleaded guilty in December 2016, to wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the government admitting that he promoted and sold a revenue suppression software that allowed restaurants to underreport their sales and illegally lower their tax bills. The software – sometimes called a “Zapper” program - resulted in a loss amount of more than $3.4 million. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones said YIN served as a facilitator for illegal operations. “This was illegal, this was criminal and you had to know you have to pay taxes… but you continued – motivated by greed.”
And they caught one of his customers - from The Seattle Times:
Bellevue restaurant owner pleads guilty to tax theft using software that hid cash
The owner of a Bellevue restaurant pleaded guilty Wednesday to using software that deleted transactions and allowed her to steal an estimated $395,000 in sales taxes.
Yu-Ling Wong, the owner of Taiwanese restaurant Facing East, has agreed to pay $300,000 in restitution to the Department of Revenue. The Everett man who sold Wong the software pleaded guilty in December. and was sentenced to 18 months in prison in April.
This was the first prosecution in the United States for the use of sales suppression software, according to a news release from the office of Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, which prosecuted the case.
What tipped them off?
Facing East’s missing taxes were brought to light when auditors looking over the restaurant’s 2010 to 2013 tax returns found that only 7 percent of the restaurant’s sales were in cash — far below normal — that cash tips on some days exceeded the restaurant’s total cash sales, and that bills seemed to be paid minutes after orders were put in the system.
Statistical and probability analysis will point out all sorts of things about a businesses operation that some people would rather leave undiscovered.