August 3, 2022

A California businessman pleaded guilty yesterday to willfully failing to account for and pay over employment taxes to the IRS.

According to court documents, Larry Kudsk, of Berkeley, operated two construction businesses, Kudsk Construction Inc. and M. Gutierrez Inc. The companies served as a general contractor or subcontractor on various construction projects, including some government projects. For both companies, Kudsk was responsible for filing quarterly employment tax returns and collecting and paying to the IRS payroll taxes withheld from employees’ wages. Kudsk, however, did not timely file employment tax returns or pay over withholdings to the IRS, for 2014 and the last three quarters of 2015 for M. Gutierrez Inc., and for 2016 for Kudsk Construction Inc. In all, Kudsk caused a tax loss to the IRS of more than $250,000.

Kudsk is scheduled to be sentenced on November 8. He faces a maximum of five years in prison for willful failure to account for and pay over employment taxes. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds for the Northern District of California made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Charles A. O’Reilly and Julia M. Rugg of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Lloyd-Lovett of the U.S. Attorney’s Office are prosecuting the case.