Texas man gets 60 months for selling abusive trust tax shelter nationwide

A Texas man was sentenced this week to 60 months in prison for promoting an abusive tax shelter to business owners across the country, the Justice Department announced.

Aanand Shukla, of Jonestown, Texas, pleaded guilty on March 10 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. According to court documents and statements made in court, Shukla and his co-conspirators promoted, sold and personally used an abusive trust tax shelter from 2017 to 2025, promising clients — for quoted fees as high as $225,000 — that they could “own nothing, control everything” and eliminate taxes on nearly all of their business income while retaining full control over their money.

Shukla marketed the scheme nationwide through seminars, webinars, podcasts and direct sales pitches. He instructed clients to restructure their companies so that approximately 98% of their business income flowed through layered trusts and a private family foundation, according to court documents. He told clients to run personal expenses — including vehicles, entertainment and mortgage payments — through trust accounts and claim those expenses as deductions.

The Justice Department said Shukla typically sold the trust packages for $25,000 to $55,000, created trust documents, trained other promoters and referred clients to tax preparers he had personally selected and knew would participate in the scheme. His conduct facilitated the concealment of more than $27 million in income from the IRS, according to the department.

Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas announced the sentence.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Acting Assistant Deputy Chief Boris Bourget, Trial Attorney Michael L. Jones and former Trial Attorney Lauren K. Pope of the National Fraud Enforcement Division’s Tax Section prosecuted the case.