Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, held that the crimes of willfully making and subscribing a false tax return and of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return are aggravated felonies under the Immigration and Nationality Act when the loss to the government exceeds $10,000.
In Kawashima v. Holder, a husband and wife who had been lawful permanent residents of the United States since 1984 were held to have committed deportable offenses by filing and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return (although, the Court remanded the case to the Board of Immigration Appeals in the case of the wife to determine if the loss to the government with respect to her offense exceeded $10,000).
Justice Thomas wrote the majority opinion, and he was joined in that opinion by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Alito and Sotomayor. Justice Ginsburg wrote the dissenting opinion, and she was joined in the dissent by Justices Breyer and Kagan.