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Saturday, November 7th, 2009
Know what’s going on in your office! When an employee starts to embezzle money and evade taxes to line their pockets and offshore bank accounts, it often goes unnoticed by the company’s owners for months or years until a lot of money is stolen. If you own a business, being smart about who you hire is one thing, making sure they are doing their job accurately and honestly is another. Keep a watchful eye on your employees, especially those handling your taxes and payroll. If you feel something is wrong with your payroll or taxes, I highly recommend involving a tax professional immediately. A tax professional, tax attorney or IRS specialist can help you assess your situation and Tax Resolution Services offers a free tax consultation to get you started. Don’t let your employee cheat you out of money like this Illinois woman!
An Illinois woman faces up to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of tax evasion, willful failure to file federal income tax returns, embezzlement from an employee benefit plan and failure to pay employment taxes.
The convictions are the result of the conduct of Mary R. Storer, 40, formerly of Wood River, Ill., after she was hired by Elk Heating and Cooling as their office manager in 2006. Storer’s responsibilities included answering the telephones, setting up customer appointments and handling accounts receivable and accounts payable. She was also in charge of payroll and filing and paying Elk Heating’s payroll taxes. Storer immediately began embezzling money from Elk Heating and gambled away almost all of the money. In all, she lost over $103,000 at the Alton Belle Casino in 2006. As part of the plea, she admitted she committed tax evasion, embezzled money from Elk Heating’s employee benefit plans and failed to pay over employment taxes of Elk Heating. She has agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $266,056 to Elk Heating.
Remember to ask the right questions when hiring a tax attorney or tax professional. 1-866-IRS-PROBLEMS is the number for tax relief from Tax Resolution Services.
Tags: embezzling from employee benefit plan, failure to file taxes, failure to pay employment taxes, free professional tax consultation, Free Tax Consultation, irs problems, IRS specialist, tax attorney, tax evasion, tax help, tax professional, tax relief, tax resolution services
Posted in Tax Problem FAQs | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
In my years of experience as a tax resolution specialist, I have met many people who hold the misconception that the IRS primarily targets a specific group of people with back taxes–either the wealthy celebrity tax cheats or the Joe Six-Packs. This is simply not true.
Turn to the news and you will find a wide range of people who have been getting in trouble with the IRS. Just watch Entertainment Tonight and you will see that there is more than the usual glamor Hollywood news surrounding stars such as Nicholas Cage–a Hollywood A-lister and Academy Award winner, who owes Uncle Sam a whopping $6.6 million in back taxes due to a tax lien on his Louisiana property.
Additionally, don’t be surprised to find out that the IRS does not stop at just the living tax cheats who owe back taxes. In October, the Internal Revenue Service filed a tax lien against the estate of Vickie Lynn Marshall in Los Angeles County. Better known as Anna Nicole Smith, Marshall died in Florida in February 2007. The federal government says her estate owes $125,112.86.
Many people are mislead by the media coverage of celebrity tax evasion cases and feel a false security that the IRS is busy going after the “big fish.” But the truth is, the IRS is just as enthusiastic about going after the average folks–taxpayers like you or your neighbor.
Take Blainey J. Nicholas, a 43-year-old doctor in New Orleans who received five years of probation and a $20,000 fine for failing file a tax return that reported the $200,000 he had earned. Or Leonard Widman, a 54-year-old developer from Sherman, Conn. He was sentenced to a year in prison for not paying $170,000 in taxes.
But that’s not all. Even people caught doing one crime can end up finding themselves with tax charges to boot. Take the case of Mary R. Storer, 40, formerly of Wood River, Ill. She was caught embezzling funds from her employer and losing that money at the local casino. Of course, the IRS learned she didn’t report that embezzled income and hit her with tax charges as well.
Don’t be one of the people who underestimate the power of the IRS to come after tax cheats both big and small. The IRS is one of the very few government divisions that is expanding during this recession–this means they have more resources to collect unpaid income taxes. Even if you don’t know of anyone who has been in IRS trouble–don’t believe that it can never happen to you. The IRS will always find those who cheat on their taxes.
Learn more about how to protect yourself from the IRS. Read previous TRS Newspaper articles.
If you owe back taxes to the IRS, our team of TRS tax attorneys, CPAs and Tax Resolution specialists can help you resolve your tax debt. Find a resolution to your IRS problems today and call TRS now at 1-800-477-9609 for your free consultation.
Tags: Back Taxes, celebrity tax evasion, Michael Rozbruch, tax attorney, tax expert, tax help
Posted in Back Taxes, Expert Help From Tax Attorney, Tax Liens and Levies, Tax news and tips | 1 Comment »
Friday, October 30th, 2009
Earlier this week, Democrats offered a bill that will strengthen the IRS’s ability to crack down on tax cheats who “hide” their full income by using foreign bank accounts.
Following the latest UBS deal that brought 7,500 Americans forward who had previously concealed their foreign bank accounts from the IRS, this new bill “would impose new reporting requirements on foreign financial institutions doing business in the United States, and on American advisers who help United States residents invest abroad. Foreign institutions that do not comply would be hit with a 30 percent withholding tax on income from their American assets”–according to Associated Press.
This bill is estimated to raise $8.5 billion over the next ten years–an effort by the IRS to cash in on some of the $100 billion per year the government loses to overseas tax evasion.
For American taxpayers and business executives who wish to hold their monies overseas, it’s important to recognize that these foreign banks have been given a choice: either they report their American account holders or they don’t get to access the American capital markets.
Gone are the days where the wealthy can “store” some money away without being discovered for unpaid taxes. The IRS is stepping up its game to heighten international compliance from offshore banks to give up information instead of protecting the privacy of their account holders.
If you have an overseas bank account, it is advisable for you to disclose your foreign funds to the IRS instead of gambling that you will never be discovered. Oftentimes, the IRS penalties on back taxes of foreign funds can equate to almost the full amount in these foreign bank accounts. Don’t wait another day, take control of your financial future by getting tax help now!
Read more about how the new Democratic bill will help strengthen IRS powers for delinquent tax collection.
If you have been caught in IRS crosshairs for not paying taxes on your overseas money, you can still get professional tax help to get a penalty abatement. It’s not too late to save your financial future. Call us today at 1-866-477-7762 for a free consultation or visit our website at www.taxresolution.com
Tags: delinquent taxes, IRS debt, Michael Rozbruch, offshore tax settlement, penalty abatement for offshore accounts, tax attorney, tax evasion, tax expert, tax help
Posted in Back Taxes, Penalty Abatement, Seeking Professional Tax Help | No Comments »
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
Tax problems are tough to deal with–especially when the economy is not looking good. While it may be difficult to talk about your tax problems, it’s important for you to know that there are many taxpayers just like you who have resolved their overwhelming IRS debt by seeking professional tax help.
There are many reasons why taxpayers procrastinate on resolving their tax problems. Oftentimes, it can be easy to get paralyzed by anxiety and helplessness when you don’t have enough money to pay the IRS. You are not alone.
While you don’t have to be a cheat or criminal to end up on the wrong side of the IRS, it is still difficult for many people to talk about their tax problems and seek the help they need. Check out The TRS Files for more real-life tax resolution stories and find out how people like you have successfully put their IRS problems behind them!
To read more about how you can resolve your tax debt, check out our IRS tax debt relief newsletter.
If you are in trouble with the IRS, our specialized staff of attorneys, CPAs, EAs and tax professionals can help. Visit the Tax Resolution Services web site for a free tax relief consultation or call us at 866-IRS-PROBLEMS.
Tags: irs problems, Michael Rozbruch, tax attorney, tax expert, tax help, tax resolution, tax resolution services, The TRS Files, true tax resolution stories
Posted in Seeking Professional Tax Help, TRS Files | No Comments »
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
While the IRS is still busy sifting through some 7,500 names of Americans who disclosed their foreign bank accounts before the amnesty deadline earlier this month, Uncle Sam is already focusing its resources on catching other wealthy people who may have been evading taxes through other creative means aside from using foreign bank accounts.
This latest IRS reorganization program is lead by the “Global High Wealth Industry Group,” which will will launch “a small number” of audits of individuals with assets or income in the tens of millions of dollars.
According to the Wall Street Journal, this new unit of auditors hopes that by targeting the very wealthy, “it will help the tax agency decode partnerships, offshore trusts and other complex techniques used to hide income.”
Since an accurately filed 1040 form may not tell the entire story of someone wealthy with multiple sources of income, the IRS is taking this next step to help ensure that wealthy people are not evading taxes through some other means aside from foreign tax havens.
For those wealthy Americans who have been evading taxes creatively without attracting attention, it’s time to recognize the IRS’s iron determination to catch tax evaders by using whatever means necessary. The IRS has already penalized some taxpayers based on findings through investigative research on social media networks such as Facebook. Read more about how the IRS is using Facebook to find tax cheats.
If you are facing a severe IRS penalty or expecting an IRS audit, you can get professional tax help now to help you resolve your tax problems!
Note: If you have a foreign bank account and did not make the voluntary disclosure deadline on October 15th, you can still obtain tax help to reduce severe IRS penalties.
The important thing to remember is that the IRS will stop at nothing to collect unpaid back taxes, IRS penalties and accumulated interest from you. If you think that you may need professional tax help from a tax attorney, CPA, or certified tax resolution specialist, call us today at 1-866-477-7762 for a free consultation or visit our website at www.taxresolution.com
Tags: Back Taxes, delinquent taxes, foreign bank accounts, Global High Wealth Industry Group, IRS audit, IRS debt, IRS help, irs problems, Michael Rozbruch, tax attorney, tax evasion, tax evasion from wealthy, tax help, UBS
Posted in Back Taxes, Seeking Professional Tax Help | No Comments »
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
On Friday, the first American was prosecuted in a UBS tax case and sentenced to house arrest after admitting he concealed about $6 million in assets from the IRS.
Americans who missed the October 15th deadline for tax amnesty can still reduce severe IRS penalties for offshore accounts (including FBAR penalties that can amount to 200-300% of the asset value of the account!) Account holders need to get expert tax help as soon as possible to seek penalty abatement to reduce the impact of financial penalties and criminal implications.
According to the New York Times, a wealthy accountant who provided extensive help in the tax evasion inquiry of the Swiss bank UBS was sentenced to a year of house arrest Wednesday after admitting he concealed about $6 million in assets from the Internal Revenue Service.
Steven Michael Rubinstein, 55, was the first United States citizen charged in the investigation. Federal District Judge Marcia Cooke said his prosecution sent a message around the globe about the risks of hiding assets in offshore accounts — and that he deserved credit for helping federal investigators find more tax cheats and crooked bankers within UBS and other institutions in Switzerland and elsewhere.
“Thousands, if not millions, of taxpayers now know what the legal landscape is,” Judge Cooke said. “Now, we will not tolerate offshore tax evasion.”
Read the full article from NYTimes.com here: Accountant Sentenced to House Arrest in UBS Tax Case.
Our team of tax attorneys, tax resolution specialists and CPAs can help you mitigate the severe IRS penalties and criminal sanctions for offshore account holders. Don’t wait for IRS to come after you, we can help you resolve your IRS problems before it’s too late. Call us at 866-IRS-PROBLEMS (1-866-477-7762) or for a free consultation.
Tags: FBAR penalties, IRS penalties, offshore account holders, offshore accounts, Penalty Abatement, tax help, UBS tax case
Posted in IRS Tax Cases, Offshore Tax Settlements, Penalty Abatement, Seeking Professional Tax Help | No Comments »
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
More than 7,500 Americans rushed to take advantage of a the opportunity for tax amnesty offered through a special voluntary disclosure program for offshore accounts that ended last Thursday. But what can you do if you didn’t come forward to the IRS last week and still need to declare your offshore account?
If a U.S. taxpayer or U.S. resident was not able to file the voluntary disclosure memorandum by the October 15th filing deadline to qualify for tax amnesty, there is a heightened need for that account holder to get expert tax help as soon as possible.
All offshore reporting activity is being managed thru the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID). The Foreign Bank Account Reporting (FBAR) penalties for not filing and meeting the amnesty guidelines are severe:
- FBAR penalties can amount to 200-300% of the asset value of the account.
- If CID makes a referral to the U.S. Department of Justice for felony indictment, the criminal sanctions can be as much as 10 years in prison.
Depending on the magnitude of the penalties, it may be appropriate to seek redress through the penalty abatement process – this may be an effective approach to minimize or reduce the impact of these penalties.
Every year the government loses billions in tax revenues from offshore accounts held by Americans. According to The New York Times, The Obama administration is determined to smoke wealthy tax cheats out of their offshore hiding places. In recent months, dozens of formerly uncooperative sanctuaries, from Singapore to Liechtenstein, have rushed to sign on to new multinational agreements on information sharing. The Treasury Department is negotiating with several countries to establish common protocols to exchange information about foreign accounts. The Internal Revenue Service is opening offices in Beijing, Sydney and Panama and opening a new unit to investigate evasion by high-net-worth individuals, at home and overseas.
Due to the severity of the financial penalties and criminal implications, it is not in the account holders best interest to wait for the IRS to approach them. Even though the amnesty deadline has passed, the account holder should retain specialized tax representation now.
Effective representation means that your tax attorney, tax resolution specialist or CPA will take over all communications with the IRS, making the required disclosures, filing FBAR reports and amending tax returns typically for 2003 thru 2008.
Our team of tax attorneys, tax resolution specialists and CPAs can help you mitigate the severe IRS penalties and criminal sanctions for offshore account holders. Don’t wait for IRS to come after you, we can help you resolve your IRS problems before it’s too late. Call us at 866-IRS-PROBLEMS (1-866-477-7762) or for a free consultation.
Tags: Foreign Bank Account Reporting (FBAR), offshore accounts, Penalty Abatement, tax amnesty, tax attorney, tax help, Voluntary Disclosure
Posted in Offshore Tax Settlements, Penalty Abatement, Tax news and tips | 3 Comments »
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
Celebrities, just like average taxpayers, can run into serious IRS problems. You have an edge over the high-profile celebrity tax cheats in that you can learn how to avoid IRS tax problems from the worst celebrity tax evasion cases.
Recently Access Hollywood compiled a list of celebrity tax cheaters who found themselves in deep IRS trouble with Uncle Sam. With thousands of fans and loyal followers, ending up on the California’s list of people who owed the most in back taxes does not sound very good for publicity.
The old trick of moving overseas no longer work for tax evasion as many foreign bank accounts are seriously contemplating not accepting American account holders (after the latest UBS ordeal). Some countries like the UK has set up special VIP celebrity tax evasion squads to come after those who are rich and famous with a dislike of paying taxes.
The list of celebrity tax cheaters is impressive: Leona Helmsley, Al Capone, Judy Garland, Annie Liebovitz, O.J. Simpson, Luciano Pavarotti, Martha Stewart, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, David Brenner, Anna Kournikova, Lea Thompson, Method Man, Floyd Mayweather, Jim Thorpe, MC Hammer, Nicolas Cage, Stephen Baldwin, Toni Braxton, Robin Givens, Dionne Warwick, Sinbad, Buster Keaton and Willie Nelson.
Some of the most famous celebrities are on the California’s Top Delinquent Tax Bill List. Read more on my blog post about how celebrity tax evasion added to the $143 Million in California Back Taxes. Let these celebrity tax cheaters’ pains be your gain. Here are some important tax evasion lessons you can learn from these celebrity tax cheaters:
1. Marc Anthony’s celebrity tax evasion lesson: Trust, but verify. Celebrity tax cheater Anthony’s (singer, actor and J.Lo’s husband) tax evasion problems started with four years of unfiled tax returns. With the help some of the best tax attorneys money can buy, he convinced the IRS that he didn’t commit tax evasion because he trusted his financial team to file the returns for him. According to Anthony, he didn’t know he was a celebrity tax cheater and was surprised to discover his team had gotten him on the hook for tax evasion. Because he convinced the IRS he wasn’t complicit in the unfiled tax returns, Anthony escaped the celebrity tax cheater label (and more importantly tax evasion jail time), but still had to pay $2.5 million in back taxes. The tax evasion lesson here is to confirm that your taxes have been filed. If you suspect someone on your team is making you a tax cheater, or hasn’t been acting properly, contact a tax attorney immediately.
2. Sophia Loren’s celebrity tax cheating lesson: Even an innocent spouse can end up doing jail time. The tax evasion case against the Italian screen siren had more to do with her celebrity tax cheater husband Carlo Ponti’s unpaid taxes, but Loren ended up doing 17 days of a 30-day sentence in a Naples jail for tax evasion. If you file a joint return, your neck is on the tax evasion line for your tax cheater spouse’s taxes. Many couples appoint one partner to handle the finances. If you feel your tax cheater spouse hasn’t been faithful with their taxes, take your returns to a tax attorney or tax resolution specialist to see if you qualify for innocent spouse relief.
3. Abbott and Costello’s celebrity tax cheating lesson: Don’t let your nice guy image get in the way of avoiding a tax evasion problem. Although he played the fool in the movies, Lou Costello (the dumb one of the comedy duo) was the more astute businessman and Bud Abbott (the smart one) was constantly making bad business decisions. Sometimes our self or public image prevents us from being assertive with our business and financial advisers when it comes to the topic of tax evasion. This lack of follow-through cost the celebrity tax cheating comedy duo dearly. According to Wikipedia, in 1956, the Internal Revenue Service charged the celebrity tax cheaters with tax evasion, forcing them to sell their homes and most of their assets, including their lucrative film rights. In 1957 they formally dissolved their partnership. Don’t let a tax evasion problem destroy your partnerships, always asks tough tax evasion questions of your financial team. And contact a tax evasion attorney or certified tax resolution firm immediately if you need tax help with your IRS problems.
4. Wesley Snipes’s celebrity tax cheating lesson: Write your politics on your blog, not on your tax forms. According to his tax evasion trial coverage, one of the reasons celebrity tax cheater Wesley Snipes didn’t file his tax returns was due to bad tax evasion advice that was politically motivated. Although failure to file your taxes is a misdemeanor, celebrity tax cheater Snipes was sentenced to three years of jail time and millions in back taxes and tax evasion penalties. You may have heartfelt political or religious feelings about how your taxes are used, or even the validity of the U.S. Government to levy taxes, but put those tax evasion thoughts in your blog, not on your tax forms. Once you file (or don’t file) your taxes, it becomes tax evasion, which can send you to jail. If you’ve gotten on the tax cheating side of a political tax protest, contact a tax evasion attorney before the IRS or other G-men come knocking on your door.
5. Richard Hatch’s celebrity tax cheating lesson: Don’t “forget” to pay taxes on income (especially when 51 million people saw you get it). As the first winner on Survivor, celebrity tax cheater Richard Hatch argued that he wasn’t guilty of tax evasion because he believed that CBS had paid the taxes on his million-dollar win (despite clear language in his contract explaining that he was liable for paying all taxes). If you get advice that says you don’t have to pay taxes on income, get a second opinion. If you make serious bucks, have your financial team’s tax work audited by another firm. If you think you’ve been given bad tax evasion advice, run, do not walk, to your nearest tax attorney or tax resolution specialist.
6. Joe Francis’s celebrity tax evasion lesson: Just because you’re incorporated, doesn’t make everything you grope a “deduction”. The celebrity tax cheater producer of the Girls Gone Wild videos claimed more than $20 million in phony tax deductions. His tax cheating returns were more like Accountants Gone Wild. If you’ve got some filer’s remorse, and suspect that you might be guilty of tax evasion, you can always file an amended return, but consult with a tax evasion attorney first. You don’t want your amended return to be seen as an admission of guilt for more serious tax evasion charges.
7. Darryl Strawberry’s and Pete Rose’s celebrity tax evasion lesson: What part of INCOME taxes don’t you get? At one time, celebrity tax cheaters Darryl Strawberry and Pete Rose were baseball’s biggest stars, making their autographed memorabilia very valuable. While these celebrity tax cheaters could rattle off their statistics for every season, the one figure they forgot to include was the income from autograph and memorabilia shows. When they autographed their tax returns without that income, they became celebrity tax evaders. Celebrity tax cheater Strawberry was ordered to pay $450,000 in back taxes, while celebrity tax cheater Rose had to pay $366,000 and went to jail for five months for tax evasion. If you’ve “forgotten” some income (such as eBay profits), you’re a tax cheater. Consult a certified tax resolution specialist or tax attorney on how to amend your IRS return without getting hit with severe penalties for tax evasion.
It is true that even the beautiful and rich cannot escape Uncle Sam, but some people may not realize that the IRS doesn’t only go after the “Big Fish.” I recently blogged about how average Joes are just as likely to get into IRS trouble. You may envy the celebrities for their glam and fortune–but if you take these tax evasion lessons to heart, you will have something much more valuable than fame. You will have your financial and personal freedom.
For more information on achieving a tax resolution for your back taxes or IRS debt, visit www.taxresolution.com for a free tax relief consultation or call 866-IRS-PROBLEMS.
Tags: Back Taxes, celebrity tax cheats, celebrity tax evasion, Innocent Spouse, IRS debt, Michael Rozbruch, tax attorney, tax expert, tax help, Tax Tips, unfiled taxes
Posted in Back Taxes, IRS Question Corner, Innocent Spouse, Seeking Professional Tax Help | 2 Comments »
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
If you need proof that the IRS is thinking more creatively than ever to catch tax evaders, read this article on how the IRS is mining social media networks like Facebook and Myspace to find people whose profiles reflect more income than their tax returns do.
The IRS is searching for information such as relocation information, professional profiles, and financial bragging updates such as “leaving on a private jet to France.” According to WSJ, “agents in Nebraska collected $2,000 from a deejay after he advertised on his MySpace page that he would be working at a big public party.”
The IRS is truly growing more aggressive: “One agent collected $30,000 of unpaid tax from a resident after a Google search found him listed as a high-ranking local marketing rep for a national firm. If a Google online search isn’t productive, agents use the social sites or chat rooms in a last-chance hunt for their quarries.”-WSJ.
Recently on my guest appearance on the Big Biz Show with Russ and Sully, I cautioned taxpayers from openly publicizing their latest financial victories because you really never know who will read it. After the latest UBS settlement where hundreds of tax cheats were revealed, the IRS realized that social media is another channel in which they can mine to catch tax evaders–most of whom live in America right in the IRS’s back yard.
By giving tax help and talking with the IRS every day, I notice it when certain agents are pulled off a case. In my recent experience, I have realized many IRS agents have been pulled out of the field to be a part of this special social media network “task force” to investigate tax cheats.
This latest IRS trend further proves how desperate and as a result, aggressive, the IRS has grown to collect taxes. It is using any available resource to detect and collect unpaid back taxes from tax evaders. It is a signal to America that the age of creative tax evasion may be coming to an end–or in the very least, it will be much more difficult to evade taxes like the old days.
Learning about what the IRS is doing to chase after unclaimed tax money can be appalling. The important thing to remember is no matter how big or small your tax problems are, there is a tax resolution for you. You do not have to deal with your IRS tax problems alone—many times, getting professional tax help will reduce your IRS penalties and you will have a tax settlement that won’t ruin your financial future.
Listen to the full audio clip of my interview on the Big Biz Show.
Take control of your tax problems today! If you have unfiled tax returns or owe back taxes, my team of expert tax attorneys, CPA, and tax resolution specialists are here to give you the tax help you need. Contact us today for a free consultation. Call us at 866-IRS-PROBLEMS (1-866-477-7762) or visit our website at www.TaxResolution.com
Tags: big biz show, Michael Rozbruch, tax attorney, tax evasion, tax resolution
Posted in Seeking Professional Tax Help, Tax news and tips | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Lately, the rich and the famous who have been creatively evading taxes have been transformed by the IRS into the financially desolate and infamous.
The recent guilty plea by Joe Francis, founder of the soft-porn empire “Girls Gone Wild” demonstrates how omitting nearly $563,000 in interest tax can turn into 301 days in jail.
LA Times reports:
“Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis pleaded guilty Wednesday to filing false tax returns and will avoid further jail time in a tax case that spanned two states and several years.
Francis entered the pleas to two misdemeanor counts of filing false tax returns and one count of bribing Nevada jail workers in exchange for food.
An agreement with prosecutors calls for Francis, who has built a soft-porn empire filming and marketing videos of young women, to pay $250,000 in restitution and receive credit for jail time served.
Francis was indicted by a federal grand jury on tax evasion charges in 2007 and has spent 301 days in jail. U.S. District Judge S. James Otero accepted the plea and delayed sentencing until Nov. 6.
In the agreement, Francis acknowledged omitting nearly $563,000 in interest income on his 2003 tax return. Prosecutors initially alleged Francis took more than $20 million in fraudulent deductions in 2002 and 2003 on such items as a Porsche and a Mexican home where he entertained celebrities.
Cheating the IRS on tax payments will end up costing you more in the long run. Don’t end up like Joe–make sure that you file your taxes correctly in order to avoid an IRS audit and severe tax penalties. If you are unsure of how to resolve your tax problems, get tax help now before it’s too late!
If you are facing back taxes and potential severe IRS penalties, you are not alone. You have a choice to fight it with a well-qualified tax attorney, CPA, or certified tax resolution specialist. Call Tax Resolution Services at 1-866-IRS-PROBLEMS (1-866-477-7762) today or visit our website at www.taxresolution.com
Tags: "Girls Gone Wild", Back Taxes, FALSE TAX RETURNS, IRS penalties, Joe Francis, tax attorney, tax evasion, tax evasion penalties, tax help
Posted in Back Taxes | No Comments »
Monday, September 28th, 2009
The end is near for U.S. taxpayers who are using the world’s most famous tax haven to shield assets and avoid paying Uncle Sam his due. If you have an offshore account where you’ve been evading taxes, you should be worried! Did you know that the IRS is offering an extension to the voluntary disclosure program to come clean about undeclared income?
By Michael Rozbruch
———————————-
In one of the latest — and among the highest stakes — battles for the U.S. government in its war on tax cheats, the Internal Revenue Service won an agreement that will give it an unprecedented amount of information on account holders at Swiss bank UBS.
Under the agreement, the IRS will submit a treaty request to the Swiss government describing the accounts for which it is requesting information. The Swiss government will then direct UBS to initiate procedures to turn over information on as many as 4,500 accounts to the IRS.
The IRS will receive information on accounts of various amounts and types, including bank-only accounts, custody accounts in which securities or other investment assets were held and offshore company nominee accounts through which an individual indirectly held beneficial ownership in the accounts.
The agreement is a huge blow to the Swiss economy, which has long depended on its financial services industries and bank secrecy laws.
For the U.S. government, the agreement creates one of the hottest tip sheets in the tax-compliance game.
“We’re finding out about financial institutions that facilitated tax evasion and we’re going to pursue them,” IRS Commissioner Michael Schulman said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “We’re finding out about other intermediaries, like law firms and others who promoted tax evasion.”
Information provided to the IRS from the Swiss will be examined for all potential civil and criminal tax violations. The IRS will assess any additional tax, interest and a number of applicable penalties. This includes the penalty for the willful failure to file a report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). This penalty can be up to 50 percent of the value of the account for each year an FBAR was not filed.
The U.S. agreement with the Swiss government follows an admission by UBS that it aided Americans in evading taxes. In fact, two UBS bankers and four U.S. clients were prosecuted after UBS banker-turned- whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld, 44, helped investigators probe $20 billion in taxpayer assets hidden overseas.
In many ways, the U.S-Swiss agreement to disclose information on UBS accountholders is a symbolic victory, since the Swiss banking veil was largely considered impenetrable. The IRS has demonstrated that isn’t true, and in doing so, the tax-collecting agency shows that no tax haven in the world is completely safe.
In fact, U.S. tax cheats are finding fewer and fewer places to hide. Recently, the IRS won agreements with U.S. credit card companies that disclosed to the government card members whose accounts were linked to overseas bank accounts — a formerly common tax evasion tactic.
Whatever tax avoidance or evasion scheme you’re considering, you may want to rethink picking a fight with the heavyweight IRS.
The IRS has generously extended the deadline for voluntary disclosure to October 15th, giving taxpayers an extra few weeks to come clean about undeclared income, specifically from overseas accounts. I blogged about the voluntary disclosure recently where one can reduce their chances of criminal prosecution. If you are ready to come forward, you need the help of a tax professional and that is what we are at Tax Resolution Services.
Michael Rozbruch is a Maryland CPA and a Certified Tax Resolution Specialist. You can contact him at 866-477-7762 to obtain a free subscription to his newsletter titled The IRS Times & Inquirer.
Tags: delinquent returns, filing late tax return, Offshore Banking, professional tax help, swiss bank working with IRS, tax attorney, tax cheat, tax evasion, tax professional, tax relief, tax resolution services, Tax Resolution Specialist, tax shelters, tax specialist, UBS and IRS, US and Swiss Bank Account Agreement, Voluntary Disclosure, Working with the IRS
Posted in IRS Tax Cases, IRS Times and Inquirer, Seeking Professional Tax Help, Taxpayer Rights, Unfiled Returns - Delinquent Tax Returns, Voluntary Disclosure, Working with the IRS | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
Recently, the IRS decided to expand on an existing program of mining mortgage payment data to catch tax cheats—anyone who reported less income than they paid in mortgage interest run the risk of getting an IRS audit.
Each year, the home lender sends the home owner a 1098 form, also known as the mortgage-interest statement. The IRS also receives a copy of this form and will cross-check the numbers on this form with the numbers on your tax return. This is to ensure that you did not deduct more interest than what you actually paid and to ensure that the lender reported all interest income.
Due to the economic recession, many people have lost their jobs (and therefore not filing taxes) but are still able to make mortgage payments on their homes from savings. In many cases, people like this may need professional tax help to prove their innocence from tax evasion. Consider the following:
According to the TIGTA report, the IRS had their computer match up filed tax returns with Form 1098s from 2004 and 2005 showing residential mortgage interest paid by individuals. There were hundreds of thousands of 1098s that had no corresponding tax return on file. After some filtering, IRS sent notices to 227,019 non-filers asking that they either file their tax returns or explain why they do not need to file. (Many people were living on savings or tax-free income.)
As a result, nearly 70,000 new tax returns were filed for those two years by the non-filers. For 2005, about 28,000 of those tax returns generated $276 million in assessments. TIGTA estimates that in a given year, this type of audit system will generate between $352 million and $900 million per year in additional tax assessments.
Of course, simply assessing taxes does not guarantee they can be collected. Remember, many people who earned a great deal of money last year or the year before are nearly broke now.
What’s the likelihood that this money will be collected? George and his staff don’t deal in that kind of information. And the IRS doesn’t publish statistics that track collections by these criteria. But look at this population logically:
• The Form 1098 shows mortgage interest actually paid, not just assessed.
• These people are paying mortgage interest of $10,000 or more (the TIGTA study considered Forms 1098 with interest of $20,000 or more). People wouldn’t waste that kind of money without equity in the home.
• Therefore, even if they don’t pay the taxes, when the IRS or a state files a tax lien, there’s apt to be enough equity in the house to force the taxpayer to pay the tax bill if they refinance or sell.
Tax Help Advice: Did you know that if you don’t file a tax return, the IRS and your state can audit that year forever? Yes indeed! If the government is really desperate for money and finds that you owe them money and have the funds to pay the taxes, beware. If you have not filed tax returns for years, file them now and close the statute of limitations for audits and collections. Otherwise the un-filed years are always in jeopardy.
(Source: Eva Rosenberg, MarketWatch)
The IRS may not always have the complete story to explain your un-filed taxes during years that you still have money to pay your bills; you may be using your savings or received a generous gift–it’s good practice to keep all records of monetary gifts, previous savings, and any other relevant documentations in order to prove your innocence if the IRS comes after you for back taxes.
If you receive a notice from the IRS, it’s important to act quickly and carefully. It is unwise to wait a couple of months after receiving an IRS notice because chances are, the IRS problem will only get worse. Remember that you are entitled to professional tax help–this means you can get a tax attorney, CPA, or certified tax resolution specialist to take over your IRS communication and help you handle the situation in a legal manner that will benefit you.
Don’t fight the IRS alone–you can contact our team of experts for a free consultation. Call us at 866-IRS-PROBLEMS (1-866-477-7762) or visit our website at www.TaxResolution.com
Tags: Back Taxes, delinquent taxes, IRS debt, Michael Rozbruch, mortgage-interest database mining, tax attorney, tax help, tax resolution
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Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
The IRS is stepping up its creativity by utilizing resources that stem beyond the basic IRS database. Recently, the IRS announced that it plans to expand a program that cross-references between the IRS database and mortgage payment databases to catch any inconsistencies.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration announced that the IRS will use the mortgage-interest payment databases to inspect and find non-filers as well as people who reported less income than they paid in mortgage interest. Starting regionally, the IRS will examine more closely the databases to find any IRS tax inconsistencies. The program is scheduled to be implemented nationwide by December 2011.
According to WSJ, “The Treasury inspector general said in a Monday report that tens of thousands of homeowners who paid more than $20,000 in mortgage interest in 2005 either didn’t file a tax return or reported income that appears insufficient to cover their mortgage interest and basic living expenses. The data for 2005 was the latest tax data available when the Treasury inspector general’s office began its audit last year. Based on a sample of these returns, nonfilers and potential under-reporters identified by the inspector general could have owed a combined total of $1.4 billion in tax, penalties and interest, the auditor said.”
The problem with this initiative, one of many “Compliance Initiative Projects“, could be that many lawful taxpayers who have lost their jobs but have been living off of their savings may be audited by the IRS. Taxpayers with ample savings who are still able to make mortgage payments despite being unemployed may be suspected of tax evasion by the IRS who cross-references between these databases.
This could be very problematic for the innocent taxpayer. If you find yourself under IRS scrutiny, you will have to prove your innocence to them. In the current economic climate, it’s extremely important for taxpayers to not only pay their taxes, but also to resolve their existing IRS tax problems immediately before they get out of hand.
“We shouldn’t presume that these struggling families are tax cheats just because they continue to make their mortgage payments despite losing their income,” said Rep. Charles Boustany, the ranking minority member on the House Oversight Subcommittee.
Tax Resolution Services is a team of CPAs, tax attorneys, and tax resolution specialists who will help you with your IRS tax problems. Whether the IRS wrongfully accused you of tax evasion or you have years of back taxes, we will help you get the tax settlement you deserve. You can contact us at at 866-477-7762 or visit our website: www.taxresolution.com
Tags: Back Taxes, Compliance Initiative Projects, delinquent tax returns, IRS debt, IRS enforcement, IRS help, IRS tax audit, Michael Rozbruch, tax attorney, tax evasion, tax fraud, tax help, tax relief, tax resolution services
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Monday, September 14th, 2009
Tax evasion is tempting – especially when you are a business owner and the money is flowing in. Who doesn’t want to live a luxurious lifestyle by evading taxes and pocketing the extra money, like the story below of this man from Rhode Island. But what about his spouse? Is she an innocent spouse eligible for tax relief?
A Rhode Island man pleaded guilty to tax evasion and bankruptcy fraud after admitting he failed to pay $2.1 million in employment taxes for his two construction companies from March 2005 to July 2006.
Steven Allard, 47, of Scituate, R.I., also admitted that in October and November 2005, he made false statements in a personal bankruptcy petition and during the bankruptcy creditor’s hearing, in that he failed to disclose his ownership of real property in Warwick, R.I.
Instead of paying the employment taxes, Allard used funds from his companies for the benefit of himself and his wife and by diverting funds from the companies to Eaglewood Realty for the purchase of luxury automobiles. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
When someone in a marriage is caught up in a tax scam, what happens to the spouse? The IRS has Innocent Spouse Tax Relief Guidelines that may qualify a person as an “innocent spouse” and make them eligible for tax relief. If you find our that your spouse has been cheating taxes and you are an innocent spouse, you will need professional tax help! Tax Resolution Services offers a free tax consultation for those of you who find that you need a tax attorney or IRS specialist on your side.
Tags: innocent spouse help, innocent spouse tax relief, IRS help, IRS innocent spouse, irs tax relief, professional tax help, spousal tax help, tax attorney, tax cheat, tax evasion, tax fraud, tax help, tax relief attorney, tax resolution services, tax scam
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Friday, September 11th, 2009
A Baltimore man was charged in connection with an international tax-fraud conspiracy that sought to obtain more than $35 million in federal and state income tax refunds using the identities of 3,300 federal prisoners.
Ten men, including the leader of the conspiracy, Marvin Berkowitz, 62, of Jerusalem, Israel, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Chicago after Berkowitz and the others were arrested in Israel and other locations throughout the United States.
Joel S. Lowenstein, 63, of Baltimore, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and will appear at a future date in Harrisburg, Penn., for his arraignment.
If convicted, Lowenstein faces up to five years in prison and fines up to $250,000.
Tax scams are nothing new to the IRS and if caught, you will face a severe prison punishment and a hefty fine. If you find yourself inadvertently involved in a tax scam, you may need to seek professional tax advice. Tax Resolution Services offers tax advice from our staff of tax attorneys and IRS specialists. Contact us at 1-866-IRS-PROBLEMS (1-866-477-7762).
Tags: CPA specialist, IRS specialists, professional tax advice, tax advice, tax attorneys, tax evasion, tax fraud, tax refund, tax scam
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