Date: November 11, 2021 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov St. Paul, MN — A Woodbury woman pleaded guilty to filing false federal tax returns to the IRS, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Charles J. Kovats. According to court documents, between 2014 and 2018, Shoua Isabelle Yang was an owner and operator of Atwork Staffing, a St. Paul temporary staffing business. In early 2018, Yang began to conduct the business of Atwork Staffing under the name Work Way Services Inc. Yang's business was responsible for all payroll taxes including withholding from employee pay, the payment of said withheld amounts to the Internal Revenue Service, the filing of true and correct quarterly Forms 941 to reflect the accurate withholding and payment of payroll taxes, and the payment of the employer's portion of Social Security and Medicare ("FICA") contributions. According to court documents and her guilty plea, Yang employed workers but caused her staffing agency not to properly withhold, account for, and pay over accurate payroll taxes, including federal corporate income taxes and payroll taxes. During the tax years 2017 and 2018, Yang caused quarterly Forms 941 to be completed and filed with the IRS that were willfully and deliberately false, in that they did not report all employees employed by Atwork Staffing and did not report all the payroll taxes owed by Atwork Staffing. Yang also caused Atwork Staffing to pay a portion of its employees' salaries in cash and not report the true payroll to the IRS. In addition, Yang's corporate income tax returns for Atwork Staffing were also false, as they underreported the gross receipts received from its clients, as well as the true amount of payroll expense for the wages paid to its employees. In total, Yang's false filings resulted in a tax loss of $1,019,572.12. Yang entered her guilty plea yesterday before U.S. District Judge Eric C. Tostrud. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later time. This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew S. Ebert is prosecuting the case.
