Nashville Businessman Pleads Guilty to Sales Tax Evasion Charges

On April 26, 2007, Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Steve Dozier accepted Gunvantrai H. Patel’s guilty plea to three counts of sales tax evasion relating to his former business, Family Inns of America located at 3430 Percy Priest Drive, Nashville, Tennessee. The Special Investigations Section of the Tennessee Department of Revenue conducted the investigation of 56-year-old Patel that led to today’s plea.

Patel was placed on supervised probation until April 25, 2008. As part of the agreement, Patel made restitution of $14,004.36 to the state of Tennessee for sales tax owed plus court costs.

“Tennessee’s tax structure depends on taxpayers voluntarily complying with the laws,” said Commissioner Reagan Farr. “Taxpayers who collect but intentionally do not remit sales tax breach the public trust. This arrest underscores our commitment to collecting all taxes due the State of Tennessee.”

Patel was indicted by the Davidson County Grand Jury on Nov. 3, 2006, on 12 counts of evading sales tax due the state of Tennessee. The indictments charged Patel with filing false sales tax returns on behalf of Family Inns of America and failing to declare $152,400.56 of taxable sales and failing to remit $14,004.36 in sales tax collected and due the state. The indictments covered the monthly periods March 2004 through February 2005. Patel’s failure to pay collected sales tax is in violation of Tenn. Code Ann. Section 67-1-1440(g)

Citizens who suspect violations of the Tennessee revenue laws should call the toll-free tax fraud hot line at (800) FRAUDTX (372-8389).

These cases are pursued criminally by the department in cooperation with local district attorneys general.