A Jacksonville sales representative who earned a staggering $10 million over twelve years but paid zero federal taxes has pleaded guilty to tax evasion after an elaborate scheme to hide his assets from the IRS.
Phillip Mak, who raked in millions between 2008 and 2020, admitted to evading more than $3.7 million in federal tax obligations, according to a Justice Department announcement. Rather than paying what he owed, Mak orchestrated a sophisticated plan to shield his wealth from tax authorities.
Following the Money
How far would someone go to avoid paying taxes? In Mak’s case, quite far. Between 2019 and 2021, he transferred $1 million to his domestic partner while simultaneously moving ownership of his personal residence into a trust that his partner controlled, effectively placing valuable assets beyond the government’s reach, investigators revealed.
The evasion scheme didn’t stop there. Mak also created a corporate entity that served as a shell for his personal finances, depositing his income into the company’s bank account in what prosecutors described as a deliberate attempt to conceal funds from the IRS.
“Mak admitted that he committed at least one of these acts with an intent to evade payment of his taxes and knew that his conduct was against the law,” the Justice Department stated.
Years of Defiance
Despite receiving multiple notices from the IRS and even having a Notice of Federal Tax Lien filed against his property, Mak remained defiant. By the end of 2021, he had gone 13 years without paying any federal income tax, authorities confirmed.
The case was jointly announced by Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida, who disclosed that Mak now faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Trial Attorneys Isaiah Boyd and Michael Jones from the Criminal Division’s Tax Section, alongside Assistant U.S. Attorney John Cannizzaro for the Middle District of Florida, are handling the prosecution, officials noted. The investigation itself is being conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation, the department added.
No sentencing date has been set yet, leaving Mak in limbo as he contemplates the possible five-year prison term that awaits — perhaps a steep price for the years he enjoyed millions while contributing nothing to the tax system that most Americans dutifully support each April.
