WASHINGTON - Kevin Kilduff, a Massachusetts tax attorney, has been barred from practicing before the Internal Revenue Service for a minimum of 48 months for failing to file one federal tax return and for filing another five returns late. Kilduff, who once worked for the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, had blamed his late filings on his need to take care of his sick mother.
An administrative law judge initially suspended Kilduff for 24 months, but the attorney appealed the decision to the. Secretary of the Treasury’s Appellate Authority, which then imposed the 48-month term that had been sought by the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility. The OPR has sole discretion in deciding if the attorney will be reinstated at the end of the that period. During that time, he must file all federal returns and pay all taxes due or enter an acceptable installment agreement or offer in compromise.
The complaint was issued against Kilduff on May 30, 2008, alleging he failed to file federal returns in a timely manner for tax years 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 and failed to file a return at all in for 2002.
A tax partner at a Boston lawyer firm, Kilduff had responded with defenses that included an allegation of a vendetta against him by an IRS revenue officer and also that he had moved in with his parents to take care of his sick mother and lived with the for five years. The complaint reported his justification as follows: "During this period, he and his sister cared for their parents, cooking and taking them to doctor appointments: 'That’s why my tax returns were late.'” The administrative judge rejected his defenses.
