Tire Importer Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy in Excise Tax Evasion Scheme
A tire importer in Miami pleaded guilty to playing a role in a conspiracy to evade excise taxes on imported tires, the Justice Department said in a Dec. 10 news release. Marco Parra operated Road Tire Plus Corp., and from 2013 to 2016 he conspired “with others in the tire industry to evade paying federal excise taxes on truck tires marked for highway use,” Justice said. “Tire importers are responsible for excise taxes when their truck tires are sold to tire retailers, who then resell the tires domestically. Tire importers typically pass on the cost of the excise tax to tire retailers and collect the excise taxes from them. But, if the tires are later exported rather than sold domestically, the law provides for a credit for the excise taxes paid.”
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He used fake bills of lading to claim the tires were exported “so that Parra could obtain an excise tax credit even though he knew the tires were not exported,” it said. Due to the “failure to timely file excise tax returns for 2014, 2015, and 2016, he caused an excise tax loss of approximately $887,112. Parra has since paid over $700,000” to the Internal Revenue Service.