John Anthony Castro

The Dixon cases At Castro & Co., Castro issued "legal opinions" to United States expatriates living in Australia — some of whom were employees of investment firm Dixon Advisory — on ways they could exclude certain earnings from being reported on their U.S. tax returns. According to Justia's summary of the case:

Because federal law prevents a taxpayer from suing for a refund without having previously submitted a “duly filed” claim to the IRS, and the 2017 amended returns were not “duly filed” due to the lack of a proper signature, Dixon's case against the U.S. Government was dismissed leaving him, according to the Australian Financial Review, with "nought, aside from penalties and legal fees". Carlton Smith, writing in Tax Notes Federal, noted that "in all Castro cases" courts held that "the signature requirement mandating that the taxpayer sign is statutory and not subject to waiver".

Tax fraud conviction In January 2024, the United States Department of Justice unsealed a 33-count grand jury indictment against Castro, culminating a years-long investigation into Castro & Co. related to the filing of fraudulent tax returns.

United States Attorney Leigha Simonton said that Castro's crimes were "stunning" for their "brazenness" and involved him promising higher tax refunds to clients than they could legitimately receive, padding their tax returns with bogus deductions, and then keeping half of the amount refunded to the client by the government for himself. According to prosecutors, "for one client, who made approximately $103,000 in income, Mr. Castro claimed over $90,000 in deductions related to unreimbursed employee expenses" while, with another client he "deducted over $26,000 in expenses that he claimed related to a nascent cupcake business that had generated only $250 in revenue". Prosecutors went on to allege that Castro "often acted in a highly vindictive manner when questioned or challenged by clients or others, often berating individuals in emails, threatening legal actions, or by filing amended tax returns, without clients’ permission or knowledge, that removed all deductions, causing the taxpayer-victim to then owe the IRS tens of thousands of dollars".

Euclid University In 2016, Castro was awarded a teaching appointment at Euclid University, becoming the supervising faculty member for the university's Master of Laws program in taxation.

Politics

Campaigns Between 2004 and 2021, Castro unsuccessfully stood for election to Webb County Court of Commissioners, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives.

In 2022, Castro launched an unsuccessful run for President of the United States as a Republican in the 2024 United States presidential election. According to Castro, he ran to attempt to achieve legal standing to disqualify Donald Trump from seeking reelection under the 14th Amendment. Castro was a ballot-listed candidate in the 2024 New Hampshire Republican primary. Castro ultimately filed dozens of unsuccessful federal lawsuits in courts across the country seeking to have Trump disqualified and became, according to the New York Times and NPR, the "most prolific" advocate for disqualification. By the end of the year, more than a dozen of his cases had either been dismissed or non-suited, with additional dismissals that followed in 2024. Appellate panels in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit both rejected his appeals, while the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider his petition for a writ of certiorari.

Claims of harassment by Donald Trump In 2022, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader, Castro claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) attempted to plant listening devices in his automobile on orders of Donald Trump. The following year, Castro sued Trump for $180 million, alleging that the former president was engaged in a conspiracy with the IRS and CIA to “monitor, surveil, and harass” him. Castro's lawsuit was dismissed.

Views In 2008, Castro denounced the "corruption, lies, theft and war" of the George W. Bush administration in an opinion piece for the Houston Chronicle. In 2021, according to Politico, Castro said he wanted to "return to the compassionate conservatism of the Bush era".

Personal life Castro is a resident of Mansfield, Texas. He has served on the board of directors of the Harvard Business School Club of Washington, D.C.