AUGUSTA, Maine — A former Plymouth resident was sentenced to 364 days in jail, with all but 60 days suspended, and ordered to pay $70,298 in state income taxes he still owes during a hearing Tuesday at the Capitol Judicial Center.
Tracy Burke, 51, also was ordered to one year of administrative release upon the completion of his jail term, Attorney General Janet Mills said Tuesday.
Burke, a merchant marine now living in Virginia, had been charged with multiple counts of intentional income tax evasion, failure to file Maine income tax returns and failure to pay Maine income taxes from 2008 through 2013, Mills said in a news release. He evaded paying Maine income tax by pretending to be a New Hampshire resident, and later a Florida resident, while he was in fact living in Maine, Mills said.
New Hampshire and Florida do not have a state income tax.
During the years at issue, Burke earned an average of $90,000 a year but failed to pay any state income tax on these wages, she said.
Burke obtained out-of-state driver’s licenses and maintained memberships in out-of-state associations, among other things, to make it appear that he was not a Maine resident, she said.
Although he actually lived in Maine with his wife, Burke had his mail delivered out of state only to have it forwarded to his Maine address, and spent little time in New Hampshire or Florida.
When Maine Revenue Services contacted Burke on two separate occasions directing him to file Maine income tax returns, Burke claimed he was not a Maine resident and made multiple false statements to support his claims.
“Ultimately, the Criminal Investigative Unit of Maine Revenue Services uncovered Burke’s fraudulent residency scheme,” Mills said.
Burke could only be criminally charged for years 2008 through 2013 due to the statute of limitations. He had, however, been pretending to live out of state for more than two decades.
Burke agreed under a plea agreement to repay the state $125,819. That total represents $30,063 for years 2008 through 2013 and an additional $95,756 for the years 1988 through 2007, Mills said. As part of the plea agreement, the state already has recovered $55,521 from Burke.
This case was investigated by the Maine Revenue Services’ Criminal Investigations Unit. Assistant Attorney General Gregg D. Bernstein handled the matter for the attorney general’s criminal division.