Jefferson County businessman admits failing to pay taxes on behalf of employees

Date: Feb. 11, 2026

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ST. LOUIS - A Jefferson County, Missouri, businessman on Wednesday admitted failing to pay 10 years of employment taxes totaling $774,081.

Danny L. Nickelson Jr. pleaded guilty to two counts of failure to pay over trust fund taxes.

Employers are required to withhold Social Security and Medicare taxes and federal income taxes. These "trust fund taxes" are held in trust by employers until paid over to the United States on a quarterly basis. Employers are also required to match the Social Security and Medicare taxes and pay that to the IRS. Nickelson owned General Physiotherapy, a manufacturer and distributor of massage and percussion devices used in medicine and physical therapy. For tax years 2013 through 2022, Nickelson withheld money from employees' pay but did not pay that to the IRS. He also did not pay the employer's share. Instead, he used the money for the business' operational expenses and personal expenditures including food, travel, retail purchases and credit card bills.

Nickelson did the same thing for tax years 2013-2015 for Tomichi Industries, a small plastic distributor and supplier for General Physiotherapy. Nickelson was sole shareholder of Tomichi.

Nickelson admitted failing to pay 40 quarterly employment tax payments, resulting in a tax loss of $774,081. He has agreed to repay the money to the IRS.

Nickelson is scheduled to be sentenced May 12. The charges carry a penalty of up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both prison and a fine.

The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting the case.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.