The IRS has announced a six-month Voluntary Disclosure program that offers lower penalties to those who come forward and pay taxes due on the secret holdings in offshore accounts. Until now, the IRS could impose penalties of at least 50% for all years in which an account wasn’t disclosed. In some cases, that could exceed the value of the offshore holdings.
The announcement comes amid a U.S. legal battle to
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A commercial real estate agent in Florida has been charged with tax evasion. The government alleges Thomas W. Daugherty, 53, of Fort Myers, evaded paying approximately $1.6 million in taxes from 1998 to 2005.
According to the government, Daugherty maintained a cash lifestyle to hide his earnings. He  refrained from depositing his commission checks into his bank account and instead converted his commission checks into cash and multiple cashier’s checks payable
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Obama proposed nearly doubling funds to enforce tax compliance and has asked Congress for a $400 million boost for IRS enforcement activities in fiscal year 2010, to support its goal of cracking down on offshore tax dodgers.
The additional $400 million is an increase of about 8% that would bring the total IRS enforcement budget to around $5.5 billion for FY 2010. By doubling the tax law enforcement budget, the White
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There are currently 35 million taxpayers in trouble with the IRS. When I appeared on LA Talk Radio with T.J. McCormack earlier this week we talked about income tax relief advice for the 15% of the population of tax paying adults that are in trouble with the IRS.
We’re past the April 15th tax deadline, but this is when people start thinking about the tax returns they haven’t filed. If you’re
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A revenue agent with the Internal Revenue Service has agreed to plead guilty to a federal tax fraud charge for filing a personal income tax return that claimed he suffered a loss in a real estate transaction when in fact he realized a substantial profit.
In a plea agreement, Jim H. Liu, 43, of Diamond Bar, Calif., agreed to plead guilty to subscribing to a false tax return — a charge
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President Obama announced an overhaul of the tax code to “detect and pursue” U.S tax evaders and go after their offshore tax shelters.
The President’s two-part plan calls for nearly 800 new IRS agents to enforce the U.S. tax code – and help wage war against multi-national corps and their offshore tax havens.
Under the current tax code, companies with operations overseas pay U.S. taxes only if they bring the profits back
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CCH (http://tax.cchgroup.com/) reports:
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released a new report praising the IRS’s performance with respect to the issuance of 119 million economic stimulus payments in 2008. The report, entitled, “Evaluation of Efforts to Ensure Eligible Individuals Received Their Economic Stimulus Payment” (Reference Number: 2009-40-069), concluded that the IRS made significant efforts to ensure eligible individuals received their economic stimulus payment and also initiated actions to
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CCH (http://tax.cchgroup.com/) reports:
The IRS will move from the process of modernization to actually arriving at “being modern” within the next year or two, IRS officials forecasted during the Council for Electronic Revenue Communication Advancement (CERCA) Spring 2009 conference held on April 30 in Arlington, Va. IRS Deputy Commissioner Mark Ernst and IRS Electronic Tax Administration Director David Williams both reiterated the Service’s continuing commitment to utilizing electronic administration to promote
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Question: Does the 10 year collection statute begin when the civil penalties are due?  Or, when the installment agreement has begun?  Or, as in my case, when the installment agreement was reinstated?
Answer: The 10 year Collection Statute Expiration Date (CSED) begins on the ASSESSMENT date, not when the taxes are due and not when you begin an Installment Payment Plan.
There are exceptions to this rule, including if the taxpayer agrees
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I was recently interviewed by Thom Senzee for the San Fernando Valley Business Journal.  We talked about companies that utilize online technologies like webinars and online video to reach customers and educated the public.
In addition to this blog, I Twitter (@taxresolution), author tax help articles, and use YouTube to share helpful income tax relief videos. We use these online channels to educate users on some lesser known facts about tax
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Danny Pang, and Orange County money manager, was  arrested on suspicion of evading currency reporting laws. According to the Los Angeles Times, Pang is accused of bilking investors of hundreds of millions of dollars and has allegedly sought to hide more than $300,000 in cash from the government.
On Monday, Pang’s assets and those of his Irvine company, Private Equity Management Group Inc., were frozen at the request of the
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The IRS just released its strategic plan for fiscal years 2009-2013. The plan outlines how the agency will improve service to taxpayers and enforcement of the law over the next five years.
According to IRS Commissioner Douglas H. Shulman, the agency’s first goal is to make voluntary compliance easier in an effort to maintain the fairest and most effective system of voluntary compliance in the world.
In other words, their goal is
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Thank You! Thank You!
Thanks to YOU, the word is spreading.  Thanks to my clients and friends who graciously referred me to their friends, clients and relatives last month!  I enjoy building my business based on the positive comments and referrals from people just like you.
Lorrie Thomas and Carrie Bergman
 I just couldn’t do it without you!
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I’d Like To Hear From YOU!
Whether you’d like to avoid the IRS, contact the IRS, settle
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I’ve blogged before about the investment fraud loss and deductibility rules outlined in Internal Revenue Code 165, and how the tax code can help victims of investment fraud recoup their losses. Now Madoff victims are hoping to get refunds on past state taxes paid on income from Madoff that they might never have received.
The Los Angeles Times reports that hundreds of Californians, many of them elderly and nearly broke, are
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QUESTION: Some of my income is paid to me in cash.  If I do not report all of it, will the penalty be a fine?
Answer: Whether you underreport some, most, or all of your income, the penalties are severe!  Do not think that the IRS will fine you and that is it!  The IRS will consider you a tax cheat and you will be guilty of tax evasion, even
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