United States v. Leland M. Carriger

LIVELY, Circuit Judge.

The defendant was convicted by a jury of evading income taxes for the year 1971. 26 U.S.C. § 7201 (1976). The jury acquitted him of the same charge for 1972. The government sought to prove by the net worth method 1 that Carriger substantially understated his taxable income on the returns which he filed for each of the taxable years for which he was indicted. Prosecution witnesses testified that the defendant owed approximately $13,000 more federal income tax for 1971 than he paid.

The net worth method of proof requires the government to establish a taxpayer’s “opening net…