For self-employed taxpayers whose taxes are not automatically deducted by their employer, it is especially important that they stay on top of their tax returns to avoid IRS penalties. Income from interest and proceeds due to real estate and stock sales are considered taxable income. If you receive money from your real estate or stock sales and do not report these revenues as taxable income, you are inviting yourself
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It’s official–UBS, the Swiss Banking Giant has reached a deal with the US Government and the Swiss Government to release around 4,450 names of American account holders suspected of tax evasion.
The US Government estimates there to be $18 billion hidden in these offshore accounts–giving the IRS plenty reason to scrutinize and audit both the innocent and guilty in the upcoming months.
If you have a UBS account and have not paid
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Hope everyone had a great weekend! CNBC.com reporter Mark Koba quoted me in a recent article about last week’s agreement by Swiss bank UBS to name US account holders. This is being seen as a watershed, leaving many wealthy Americans with foreign accounts scrambling to figure out what to do
Anyone who has not checked the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) box on Schedule B of form
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Architect Thomas Allan Bouffard, 48, of Vacaville, Calif., was audited by the IRS and pleaded guilty to attempted tax evasion. Bouffard admitted that for tax year 2002 he understated his income by $121,693, resulting in an underpayment $38,388. In 2005, during an IRS tax audit, discrepancies were found in Bouffard’s return for tax year 2002. The IRS then expanded the audit to include his 2003 tax return, and Bouffard admitted
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With today’s tax scam horror stories and so many choices for tax lawyers, choosing the right tax attorney may seem a daunting task. When you’re faced with IRS tax problems such as back taxes and delinquent tax returns, there are many different tax attorneys in the yellow book who will “deal” with these issues. How do you know that you’ve chosen the correct representation for your unique situation? You must
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As Swiss bank UBS and the Swiss government consider reneging on a deal to turn over 52,000 names of U.S. clients, Justice Department warns criminal prosecution may be next step
By Michael Rozbruch
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For those who follow tax compliance news, February was a big month.
That’s when the U.S. Department of Justice announced a deal with Swiss bank UBS.
The U.S. government agreed to waive criminal prosecution — federal prosecutors suspected the Swiss bank
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When you’re battling with the IRS, you need to make sure that you have chosen a qualified tax attorney who specializes in your type of  tax problem to represent you. There are many types of IRS issues out there–a corporation’s tax problem will differ substantially from a personal one. Therefore, it is the most prudent to first understand your personal tax situation before seeking a the appropriate tax attorney’s help.
Here
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There are a number of important questions to ask your prospective tax resolution firm before hiring them on as your IRS battle-mates. In order to ensure that your tax attorney will be working in your best interest instead of simply charging you enormous service fees, you will need to treat your research process as you would a job interview.
Before you hire your tax representation, ask the tax resolution firm the
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Javid David Azari, 60, of Portland, Ore., pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. As part of the plea agreement, Azari agreed to cooperate with the United States regarding the whereabouts of all assets related to income tax evasion.
According to the plea, Azari knew he had unpaid federal income taxes for the years 1997 to 1999, and he attempted to evade payment of those taxes by transferring money out
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As the economy grows gloomier, identity thieves are getting more desperate and creative to trick people into paying up. The latest IRS warning urges  people to be cautious of identity theft scams that involve using the IRS name, logo, and web address to fool people into believing the IRS is contacting them to request personal information.
Protect your finances and personal information from identity thieves by staying alert and cautious around
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Congratulations and good luck to TaxMasters! Earlier this week, TaxMasters, Inc. received its stock trading symbol and is now officially a publicly traded company.
As the CEO of the only certified national firm of tax problem resolution specialists, I would like to extend my congratulations to them. This event is indeed a milestone for the tax relief industry as a whole and is a sign of the times that more
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With the recent surge in IRS enforcement, small businesses have become a major target for the government. The staggering annual $345 billion tax gap can be largely attributed to small business tax evasion; much of this has been because small businesses are difficult to enforce and many can manage to slip through the tax cracks by underreporting actual income.
Therefore, the IRS has shifted into high gears to catch and penalize
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If you are currently dealing with tax problems, now is a good time to get tax help before the new tax hikes kick in. The Obama Administration is continuing with its steadfast endeavor to collect back taxes as well as to collect more taxes from the wealthy and powerful.
Currently planned for 2011, Obama’s biggest tax hike will affect married filers making over $250,000 and singles making more than $200,000. In
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For small business owners, it can get tricky in gloomy economic times to keep up with making payroll tax deposits to the IRS.  Oftentimes, the challenges could be simply about how to keep the lights on while still paying employees every month.
In recent months, the IRS has been pressured to close down on the $345 billion a year tax gap by going after the largest contributor of this tremendous sum
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Robert Henry Anderson, 59, of Bloomington, Ill., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and to commit mail fraud.
According to the plea agreement, Anderson conspired with others to defraud the IRS through a fraudulent tax-credit scheme. The Internal Revenue Code permits producers of certain fuels from non-conventional sources to claim a tax credit if the fuels are sold to unrelated third parties. From 2003 through 2006, Anderson and
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