The owner of Zion Outfitter, a tour guide operator and rental shop near Zion National Park’s entrance, is accused of evading over $1.8 million in taxes. The company offers bike tours, guided tubing down the Virgin River and trips through the Zion Narrows slot canyons,
Court documents allege 42-year-old Phyllip Hallman Heaton, of Washington, failed to report over $5.4 million in sales between 2018 and 2022 and faces five counts of evasion of assessment of income tax and five counts of fraud and false statements.
According to a statement from the Department of Justice, District of Utah, “He did so by providing his tax-return preparers with profit and loss statements that underreported Zion Outfitter’s gross receipts, falsely representing to his tax preparers that the profit and loss statements were accurate, signing and authorizing the filing of tax returns with the IRS that he knew were false, and structuring cash deposits into Zion Outfitter’s checking account. This resulted in Heaton evading over $1.8 million in taxes.”
U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgins for the District of Utah made the announcement. The case is being investigated by the IRS. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen P. Dent of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah is prosecuting the case. The court has set a date of October 28 to hear the case.
*An indictment is an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Image courtesy Zion Outfitter
