Working on more than spines, a Pennsylvania chiropractor attempted a sort of tax decompression by manipulating and adjusting her tax return to file a 2006 federal income tax return that falsely claimed her taxable income was $89,754, when, in fact, she had taxable income of $1,151,928, and owed at least $363,566 in taxes for that year.

Unhappily for tspine-diagramhe chiropractor, Maria Giacalone-Hewson, 43, of Canadensis, Penn., who operated Canadensis Healthcare Inc. was sentenced to 15 months in prison for aiding the preparation and filing of a false federal income tax return and false statements relating to healthcare matters.

At her sentencing, Giacalone-Hewson was also ordered to pay $113,821 in taxes that she owed forthe years 2007 through 2010.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Mariani ordered that Giacalone-Hewson be supervised by a probation officer for three years following her release from prison.

And, this does not begin to deal with her Pennsylvania state income tax issue: i.e., the almost $300,000 increase in her federal income tax for 2006, plus the additional almost $114,000 for 2007 will all translate to increased state tax obligations.

This is how it works: states follow what the IRS determines and if the IRS finds a taxpayer has more taxable income in a particular year, the states will adjust their state tax calculation to match this federal change.