Tax scam emails that appear to be from the IRS run the gamut from almost believable to incredibly bad. Thanks to a Forbes article by Tax Girl Kelly Phillips Erb titled: “Phony Emails Purporting To Be From IRS Popping Up Again,” we have two fine examples of email scams that run the good and bad spectrum.
Email scam example #1 – really bad.

A few points mentioned in the article demonstrate how
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The IRS just released its Dirty Dozen Tax Scam List for 2013 and introduced a video to remind taxpayers they need to protect themselves from the worst tax scams and schemes out there. While the “usual suspect” scams and schemes have not changed that much from last year, the notification explains how the IRS has stepped up their efforts to handle them, specifically identity theft related tax issues. Below the
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Let’s recap the tax relief news we covered this week. Featured topics were: eliminating joint filing to help innocent spouses, Florida brothers sentenced for tax evasion, ways to pay your back taxes, IRS tax scams and schemes to avoid, and the Southland Better Business Bureau (BBB) LA Chapter gets expelled for “pay to play” practices.
Joint Tax Filing Thought to Help Innocent Spouses
I wrote a post titled Eliminating Joint Tax Filing
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For some reason the IRS did not release an updated “Dirty Dozen Tax Scam List” for 2013. This annual list of tax scams and “phishing” expeditions warns taxpayers about scams that range from tax identity theft to tax evasion. As tax day draws near, scams and schemes tend to peak as people get their tax returns ready for the April 15th deadline. I updated information from the Tax Resolution University
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Donna Guerin, 52, former CPA and tax attorney for Jenkens and Gilchrist, received an 8 year prison sentence and will be required to pay $190 million in restitution for her participation in what the Treasury Department calls “the largest criminal tax fraud in history.” An Accounting Today article titled: “Tax Attorney CPA Sentenced to 8 Years for Massive Tax Fraud Scheme“ provides some details of this landmark case:

Guerin ran a massive
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This week was a busy one for tax relief news topics. Here are highlights of the ones we covered on the Tax Resolution University Blog:
Tax Fraud/Tax Schemes and Identity Theft
The tax season officially began on January 30. Therefore, it’s no coincidence there is already an increase in stories about tax schemes including tax fraud and identity theft. Here’s one we covered this week:

Reno, Nevada resident, Edward David Simon, 52 was
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I wrote a post on the Tax Matters blog about tax protesters and how their frivolous tax defense against the IRS is a losing battle. Evidence of that is celebrity tax protester, Wesley Snipes who is currently serving a three year prison sentence for willfully refusing to file and pay millions in taxes for years 1999 through 2001. A recent Forbes article titled: “Are Tax Protesters Actually Winning?” examined just
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As I have stated in previous blog posts, some of the largest challenges facing the IRS are identity theft and tax fraud. Currently, the IRS has been audited and is under pressure from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) to tighten the reigns regarding refund splitting. An article in Accounting Today titled Splitting Refunds May Lead to Fraud discusses a recent TIGTA report that scrutinizes refund splitting as
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Happy Friday! Here are some of the tax relief news headlines we reported on this short holiday week:
IRS Audits-Back Taxes
It appears that comedian and actress Janeane Garofalo never thought she was married believing her 20 year “sham wedding” in Las Vegas to writer and producer Rob Cohen decades ago was not real. However, the IRS may not see it that way. They couple could face an IRS audit and IRS
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In September, I wrote a blog post about how identity theft issues were adversely affecting the financial lives of everyday people we know. I used the case of Robert “Sully” Sullivan, Big Biz Show radio and TV personality and friend of Tax Resolution Services, who had just discovered he was a victim of IRS identity theft and was inquiring what to do next. Since that last meeting, I met with
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Happy Friday! Here’s a look at the top tax relief stories of the week:
Tax Scams, Tax Schemes and Identity Theft

New tax scams are appearing all the time these days – this week was no exception. The latest IRS announcement warns consumers NOT to fall for phony IRS websites including a new one that mimics the IRS e-Services online registration page and looks official. The tipoff: This email asks for personal
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Ahmad “Mike” Rahiminejad, 56, from Helena, Al., owner of Mike’s Crossroads strip club was sentenced to 21 months in prison for filing a false tax return and underreporting his income by almost a half a million dollars!
A Fox 6 News article titled: Mike’s Crossroads owner sentenced to prison for tax violation reported that in 2007 Rahiminejad, who owned or operated other Birmingham-area businesses including Mike’s Citgo 1 and the Gold
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Lately, there have been weekly warnings coming from the IRS that caution taxpayers about tax scams or identity theft schemes. Because of their pervasive nature, I feel it’s important to mention each and every one so that taxpayers can stay alert and avoid becoming victims.

The latest announcement can be found on the IRS’s Problem Alerts Page where the following text is posted:

October 2012
Don’t Fall for Phony IRS Websites
The IRS warns
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Late Monday afternoon, I read a Forbes article by Stephen J. Dunn titled Tax Resolution Schemes Persist and was stunned. Not because of the subject matter, but by Dunn’s inability to recognize tax resolution firms as anything other than a “scheme” to be avoided at all costs. As someone who has helped thousands of taxpayers achieve permanent tax relief since 1998, I took issue with Dunn’s limited view on tax
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Happy Friday! Here’s a look at tax relief news headlines we reported on this week:
Tax Scams and Schemes

Tax scams, tax schemes and identity theft are plaguing the IRS and taxpayers alike. This week’s tax scam warning advises taxpayers to lookout for an e-mail that appears to come from the IRS focused on confirming the EIN#’s of S and C-Corporations. Do not click on any links instead delete it entirely! Scammers
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