Question: I am filing bankruptcy to get out from underneath debt brought on by some bad financial decisions. Can I discharge in bankruptcy the IRS back taxes I owe for tax years 2008 and 2009 that amount to roughly $25,000? I am struggling financially to pay off all the debt I incurred in this mess but am particularly overwhelmed with the tax debt. Do I have any chance at tax
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If you have tax troubles that haven’t been addressed, it’s time for you to see a tax professional and get to know your options.
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I remember his face, clear as day.
Panicked — that’s the only word to describe it.
I shook his hand; it was a clammy. He was nervous.
For the sake of this column, I’ll call him Bill. At the time, he was my newest client.
Bill was holding a copy of
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On February 3, 2013, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution authorizing the federal income tax turned 100. The 16th Amendment has certainly had its share of controversy, especially in its early years. A Forbes article titled, “Guess Who Turned 100 This Weekend?“ highlights the history and tumultuous beginning of our tax system. Here are some of the interesting facts Forbes presents:
The Federal Income Tax is Born
On February 3, 1913, Delaware became
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The New Year is a great time to get a fresh start with financial issues specifically tax debt problems that can only get worse if ignored. I created the national network television show, TaxMan to show folks struggling with IRS debt the entire tax problem resolution process; from soup to nuts.
This episode of TaxMan focuses on the “resolution” phase and introduces a valued member of the Tax Team, Installment Agreement
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If you have back tax issues, a New Year’s tax resolution should top the list. As I mentioned in a previous post, the IRS is getting more aggressive with consumers including celebrities who may be hiding income, cheating on taxes or ignoring their back tax debt.
The latest celebrity who should be considering New Year’s tax resolution is rapper Joseph Cartagena, aka Fat Joe. Accounting Today reports in their article: Rapper
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If you owe the IRS back taxes – you are not alone; 1 in 6 Americans has a tax problem. However, avoiding the IRS is a terrible strategy; the longer you wait the more serious and expensive your IRS issue becomes.
So, with a new tax year is approaching, I wanted to remind taxpayers facing tax challenges that there is a solution to every problem; even tax debts over $20 thousand
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A recent blog post mentioned an article I wrote entitled “The E-Commerce Conundrum: Taxing Virtual Businesses and Their Investors and the Law”. In that article, I discuss at length the tax issues e-commerce and virtual business face, specifically tax pressures from state governments interested in capturing sales taxes from them. Well, this week the Houston Business Journal featured an article Amazon, Texas comptroller negotiating sales tax deal that demonstrates how
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Happy Friday! The common theme in last week’s news was aimed at giving tax relief advice to those who did not make the tax filing deadline of April 17.
Here are some of the highlights:

The IRS just released a video entitled Employee or Independent Contractor? aimed at getting employers to properly classify their workers as either an employee or independent contractor. Improper classification can result in steep IRS penalties but many
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In the homestretch – less than a week until Tax Day!

During my recent appearance to the Midday Sunday Fox 11 with host Tony Valdez show, Tony and I discussed tax resolution and the burgeoning industry it has become. Highlights from the interview could prove helpful for those who may have back tax issues but be too overwhelmed to get help to resolve their tax burden.

These answers should
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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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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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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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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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