While taxpayers are allowed to represent themselves before the IRS, it doesn’t mean they should. There are instances where hiring a tax resolution expert such as a tax attorney or certified tax resolution specialist is highly recommended especially if your personal or business tax problems are too large, complicated and risky to handle on you own.
For example cases that involve IRS audit, IRS criminal prosecution, payroll/corporate tax issues and IRS
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“How the U.S. wound up with the income tax is the story of two wars, a Supreme Court justice on his death bed, and Donald Duck” begins an article from NPR’s Planet Money Team entitled From Abe Lincoln to Donald Duck, the Story of the Income Tax. This interesting article illuminates the obstacles income taxes faced so that ultimately every citizen was responsible to pay their share to help the
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A previous blog post entitled Tax Advocate Warns Taxpayers Rights at Risk mentioned the release of the annual report to Congress by National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson.
Olson, an outspoken official whose staff works within the IRS to resolve taxpayers tax issues, was very critical of several IRS practices and processes that end up putting taxpayers last.
In the Forbes article IRS Advocate: New Taxpayer Rights Crisis Is Brewing detailing the
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Tax preparers and non-profit group The Institute for Justice have banded together over their dislike of recent tax preparer regulations to sue the IRS sighting its powers as overreaching and unlawful. An Accounting Today article entitled Tax Preparers Sue IRS over New Requirements sheds some light on this issue by highlighting the plaintiff’s objectives not to seek damages, but rather an injunction against enforcement of new regulations.
The plaintiff’s in this
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On a recent episode of the TaxMan on the Big Biz Show, I discussed the topic of the “tax gap” that many self-employed and small business people out there should become aware of as they prepare their tax returns for the April 16 deadline. Since many are unfamiliar with the subject matter, listed are the four key questions and answers every individual and small business personal should know about the
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A recent IRS announcement plans to expand the “Fresh Start Initiative” to help unemployed taxpayers, unable to pay their taxes, avoid IRS penalties and make IRS Installment Agreements available to more taxpayers than before. Below is how the program aims to assist struggling taxpayers find tax relief:

Penalty Relief
IRS penalty relief will be available to two categories of taxpayers who will be subject to eligibility criteria and income limits:

Wage earners
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No matter how you look at it, living in a civilized society means you are obliged to file your taxes; if you owe, you pay. While many could argue the usual tax talking points such as fairness and tax rates, most of us would agree that taxes collected generate revenue to help fuel the economy. Yet there are people who believe that paying taxes is wrong, immoral and in some
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With the economy still sputtering, many tax stressed people teetering on the edge of IRS bankruptcy enter our offices wanting to know if their IRS tax debt could be wiped away with bankruptcy protection. While in some cases back taxes can be discharged (personal income tax), in most cases, they cannot. However,the good news is that taxpayers in this situation have options. Here are the five simple tax relief options
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No doubt about it, the IRS is making headway in their efforts to bring Americans with unreported offshore accounts into tax compliance with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and (FBAR) regulations. IRS enforcement and data sharing from European banks, has made it possible for the U.S. to gather account information on wealthy American clients; something just three years ago was impossible.
But an article in Forbes entitled Expats Lobby
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I was recently quoted in an article for CreditCards.com entitled Pros and Cons of Paying the IRS with a Credit Card where I encourage taxpayers to compare the costs of using their credit cards to pay their taxes versus a negotiated IRS installment agreement if they don’t have the case on hand. I enjoy lending my expertise to this conversation because all too often, I see very smart people rush
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If you have unfiled and delinquent tax returns, you’re probably dreading this tax season; owing back taxes to the IRS is a big burden. Doing nothing to resolve them, however only makes matters worse and more expensive. Even if the IRS isn’t currently knocking on your door to remind you of your tax debt, you are not out of the woods and will need to devise a plan for
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Some taxpayers have a tendency to overstate their income or expenses. The IRS “Dirty Dozen” Tax Scam # 6 – False and Inflated Income and Expenses makes this list annually simply because taxpayers still believe they can get away with it. What many don’t anticipate is that stepped-up IRS scrutiny of their flawed returns will yield not only IRS problems for them but also less money in their pockets as
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An article in Smart Money Magazine entitled Your Tax-Cheating Spouse May Cost You, considered the benefits of married couples filing joint tax returns. It also discussed what you may want to consider if your spouse was not on the level with “your” previous tax returns. Filing separately from your spouse could prevent IRS problems from occurring in the first place, but in each unique situation this may not be possible.
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Weekly, if not daily, there is news of yet another celebrity encountering IRS tax issues. While I stop to mention these stories as a cautionary tale of prevention, I am continually struck by how vulnerable the famous and newly wealthy really are with their finances, especially when it comes to paying their income taxes! I am beginning to think there should be a special course for celebrities to get their
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Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is frustrated with tax delinquency and last week introduced legislation aimed at those with back taxes. His message: pay up or face the consequences.
According to the Forbes’ article: Owe IRS Taxes, Lose Your Passport, Senator Hatch’s proposed laws are intended to force tax avoiding Americans to deal with their tax debt or suffer the following:

If you owe more than $50k to the IRS in back taxes
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