Fourth Circuit issues Guidelines Opinion in Tax Protest Case

In UNITED STATES v. BAUCOM, the Fourth Circuit held in a tax protester case that the District Court erred in refusing to include the state tax amounts when calculating the advisory guideline range. The district court misapprehended that state taxes owed could not, on federalism grounds, be used in calculating a federal sentence. Under the plain language of the guidelines, state tax losses caused by defendants were relevant conduct to the extent that they "were part of the same course of conduct or common scheme or plan" as defendants' failure to file federal tax returns.