Is this avoiding out-of-state taxes?

[mother moon]

What is the name of your state? Hawai'i

I have a friend of a friend who gets paid to receive someone else's mail, including rent checks, IRS checks, bills, and government assistance checks (for rent) because they live out of state. They own 3 houses locally and rent out all 3 (1 or 2 receive county housing assistance). On a weekly basis my friend-of-a-friend deposits money into their bank account (local bank, local account) for them, she collects all of their mail from a PO box, and mails them all their mail. As far as I can tell, they are pretending to live locally.

Is this legal? If not, what would be the penalty for all parties involved if the government found out about it?

[justalayman]

from what you have posted, it is impossible to tell.

There is not neccessarily anything illegal about living in another state and having mail sent to some other address.

When it becomes a crime is when where that person lives and they have lied about it. If that were the case, the friend doing the mail thing is also at risk of charges,. Not a sure thing but if they are aware of any scam, it could drage them into it as well.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by justalayman

from what you have posted, it is impossible to tell.

There is not neccessarily anything illegal about living in another state and having mail sent to some other address.

When it becomes a crime is when where that person lives and they have lied about it. If that were the case, the friend doing the mail thing is also at risk of charges,. Not a sure thing but if they are aware of any scam, it could drage them into it as well.

Its not even a crime to lie about where you live, unless its to scam money or benefits you would not otherwise be eligible to receive. The "government assistance checks (rent)" may possibly be an issue, but nothing else sounds like it is.

[justalayman]

Thanks LdiJ. I thought I had written that in there somewhere. I guess it;s on the cutting room floor.

Yes, the scam situation was the intent behind where I was going with that.

[mother moon]

Ok, thanks. I'm not really concerned with the mail thing. What I'm concerned about is the fact that our government believes they live here (tax relief check came here, local voter registration cards, etc.). I'm wondering if they are dodging out-of-state taxes with the rentals and government-assistance (county housing).

Plus my friend-of-a-friend pretends to be these people when she deposits their government checks for them (the bank doesn't ask who she is).

I have been asked to help out when she's out of town so I'm wondering if I shouldn't for legal reasons. Something just doesn't feel right about it.

[justalayman]

if you have any doubts, I would suggest not getting involved. There may or may not be anything wrong or illegal about what is going on but it appears you have no eveidence one way or the other.

If you don't feel comfortable, just say no.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by justalayman

if you have any doubts, I would suggest not getting involved. There may or may not be anything wrong or illegal about what is going on but it appears you have no eveidence one way or the other.

If you don't feel comfortable, just say no.

I agree. There is no reason to do something that makes you uncomfortable.