​​​South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) agents arrested a Kershaw County woman on Friday and charged her with 12 state tax offenses, including one count of Income Tax evasion, two counts of failure to file an Income Tax return, three counts of Liquor by the Drink tax evasion, one count of failure to file a liquor by the drink tax return, three counts of Sales Tax evasion, one count of failure to file a Sales Tax return, and one count of failure to account for and pay Withholding Tax.

Debra A. Courtney, 63, of Lugoff, was the operator of Gadgets, a Kershaw County restaurant. According to arrest warrants, Courtney failed to file Income Tax returns for two years, failed to file a Liquor by the Drink Tax return for one year, and under-reported sales to the SCDOR, including Liquor by the Drink sales, by $2.4 million from 2019-2022. She also failed to pay the state Withholding Tax taken from employees' paychecks for 10 years.

Courtney is accused of evading a total of $238,384 in state taxes.

If convicted, Courtney faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine for each count of each charge. She was held at the Kershaw County Detention Center for a bond hearing Friday.

The SCDOR is committed to the fair administration of tax laws. By taking enforcement action against noncompliant taxpayers, the Department seeks to prevent unfairly increasing the tax burden on those who do comply. 

If you suspect or know of anyone or a business that has committed a state tax crime, such as tax evasion or tax fraud, contact SCDOR Criminal Investigation and submit a Tax Violation Complaint Form (CID-27) to FraudAdvisor@dor.sc.gov or mail it to:

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