U.S. Attorney General files civil suit against Quincy attorney for failing to pay nearly $1 million in taxes

QUINCY — The U.S. Attorney General has brought a civil action against Quincy attorney Don Schuering, asking for $961,000 in unpaid taxes from 2009-18.

The complaint also calls for federal tax liens to be enforced against property — a residence and an office — Schuering owns. Schuering would be forced to file income tax returns for 2019 and 2020, during which he earned “substantial” income while making no estimated tax prepayments.

The law firm of Goehl, Schuering and Cassens LLP also would be required to withhold 35 percent of current tax withholdings from future distributions or other payments to Schuering and pay the IRS. The balance of the future payments would be paid into the registry of the Court, with an appropriate percentage to be released to Schuering with the rest to be paid to the Department of Justice to apply to past-due tax liabilities. 

The filing was made Nov. 11 in Springfield in the Central District of U.S. District Court.

Also named as defendants in the lawsuit were:

• Maureen Schuering, Don Schuering’s wife; 
• Teresa Spencer, co-executor of the estate of Russell Goehl, an attorney and partner of Schuering’s who died in 2017; 
• Annette J. Goehl, to whom the interest of Russell Goehl’s estate was conveyed; 
• Adams County;
• The Illinois Department of Revenue; and 
• Goehl, Schuering and Cassens, LLP.

The tax liens would be enforced on Schuering’s home at 2011 Prairie Avenue and the law offices at 506 Vermont. The office would then be sold in a judicial sale.

A May 2 letter from Schuering to the Adams County Bar Association noted the dissolution of Goehl, Schuering and Cassens. The firm’s attorneys — Schuering, Mark Cassens and Chris Schuering — have opened solo practices.

A delegate from the Secretary of the Treasury’s office reported Schuering owed $1,105,530 in federal income taxes, a figure that also adds in accrued late-filing and late-payment penalties. He owes the following amounts for the following years:

• 2009: $109,643.26
• 2010: $103,305.64
• 2011: $110,274.44
• 2012: $23,250,78
• 2013: $115,602.35
• 2014: $124,350.07
• 2015: $154,350.96
• 2016: $119,808.90
• 2017: $103,117.19
• 2018: $141,826.73

The filing also reports Schuering failed to pay “substantial” self-reported liabilities for tax years 2000 through 2008. However, the 10-year period of limitation on collection has expired. If Schuering files for bankruptcy, the collection expiration date would be suspended. Schuering would be liable for unpaid taxes for 2000-08.

Schuering denied the allegations against him in a response filed March 24.

Eric Ashby and Jeffrey Nunez with the tax division of the U.S. Department of Justice is representing the U.S. Attorney General. Daniel Fultz of Brown, Hay and Stephens in Springfield is representing Schuering.