Thank you Grace Ruskin for this guest post!
Though 2011 is over, it is the time when you are required to get over tax issues. You will be required to file the taxes this year. You may think that filing the taxes is a tough job. Yes, it must be because taxes are a complex thing to be addressed. But, with the different online help that you can get, things may
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Happy Friday everyone, time for another tax news round up for the week!
The big tax news story of the week is the IRS crackdown on tax fraud. So scammers be warned, think you can steal from the IRS by filing false tax returns and identify theft? Think again:
IRS cracks down on fraud as tax return season begins
105 people were charged this week with fraud and identity theft
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With tax season fast approaching, those who need IRS tax relief are encouraged to examine the qualifications of tax resolution specialists before they hire help. Searching the Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) TrustLink Reviews is a great resource for such an investigation. Every year, the BBB receives feedback from people suffering from IRS debt.
TrustLink reviews include comments from consumers acknowledging their experiences, good and bad. Tax Resolution Services, Co. (TRS) holds
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A businessman in Naugatuck, Conn., was sentenced to two years of probation for underpaying his federal income taxes.
According to court records, Augustine C. Ofili, 54, was the owner of Augustine Insurance Agency in Bridgeport.  From 2004 to 2007, Ofili underreported on his federal income tax returns the insurance commission income he received from his insurance business.  Ofili also failed to report capital gains from the sale of real estate in
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A Dora, Ala., woman has been charged with tax fraud for her role at a medical clinic she managed and partly owned. Carol Twilley, 43, allegedly failed to account for and pay to the IRS the federal income taxes withheld and Federal Insurance Contributions Act taxes due to the United States on behalf of Horse Creek Family Medicine Inc. and its employees from November 2004 to January 2006. She faces
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Shenita Nicole James, 33, of Montgomery, Ala., pleaded guilty to preparing and filing false and fraudulent federal income tax returns. James was employed as an office manager and income tax preparer at We Finance Auto Sales in Montgomery in 2008 and 2009. We Finance Auto Sales prepared income tax returns for individuals who could choose to use their tax refunds to purchase or make down payments for automobiles.
On or about
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I was recently quoted in the US News World and Report on the topic of How to Avoid an IRS Audit.
As I said in the article, few Americans are subject to a second look from the IRS.   Audits are one of the few times that having an average salary is an advantage.  Only about 1.1 percent of people who file a 1040 [the most common tax return] for the
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A Colorado Springs, Colo., couple were sentenced to criminal obstruction and filing false income tax returns.
Gary Neuger, 56, was sentenced to serve 24 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, along with paying $393,791.20 in restitution to the IRS. Beth Neuger, 54 and Gary’s wife, was sentenced to serve three years of probation, with the first 10 months in home detention.  She was also ordered to pay
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Now that tax season is here, we will be seeing more and more headlines about the IRS, tax filing tips, news and more. This has been a busy week in tax relief news; here is my weekly round up of the top stories. Enjoy!
Let’s begin with celebrity tax headlines of the week:
Feds: Lindsay Lohan owes $94,000 in unpaid taxes
Well, I am sorry to say there is no surprise to
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Major news agencies are reporting the recent IRS announcement that it was “reopening” the offshore voluntary disclosure program to encourage taxpayers to disclose their offshore accounts and becoming current with their IRS tax debt. An article written in Forbes, IRS Offers Taxpayers One More Chance, shined some light on the most likely motives for this latest IRS amnesty: money.
In a statement from the January 9th press release, IRS Chief Doug
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According to a new article by the Los Angeles Times, the IRS is increasing the number of audits on taxpayers making over  $1 million a year.  In the article titled Big earners more likely to face audits by Tiffany Hsu, the majority of audits done by the IRS are done on those making $1 million and very rarely on anyone making under $20 k a year. Hsu states that in
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It has been an interesting week in tax news this final week of 2011. The last week of the year is always a big one in the tax relief industry since we have just days to take action to lower our 2011 tax bill. Here are  some of the top headlines that caught my attention this week:
IRS sues Yankees’ Hal Steinbrenner over tax refund
New York Yankees
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Every year, millions of taxpayers fail to file their federal taxes by the April 18 deadline. This inaction inevitably leads to paying more in the form of unnecessary fines and penalties on top of the taxes owed. Even those folks, who filed an extension, are still responsible for filing the taxes owed plus penalties for the delay. Depending on the tax amount due, continuing to neglect to file yearly tax
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The IRS has created its own storm of controversy by going after US Citizens worldwide to collect their taxes. But from the nearly one million American citizens who live and work in Canada, the IRS received a stern message: clarify the regulations for tax compliance. Initially, many law-abiding citizens living abroad who failed to file US tax returns or declare financial holdings were simply unaware that they needed to do
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As a certified tax resolution specialist, I have said it many times before; it never pays to hide from the IRS. Nowhere is that more apparent than with the government crackdown on off-shore tax evaders. The creation in 2010 of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) set into motion serious U.S. efforts to combat tax evasion by U.S. taxpayers with investments in offshore accounts. Not only do FATCA regulations have
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