Reminder: 18 days left until Tax Day!
Here’s a review of the tax relief news covered this week. Featured topics include: IRS releases 2013 Dirty Dozen Tax Scam/Scheme List, businessmen guilty of tax evasion and filing false returns, IRS apologies for expensive Star Trek training video and hiring a tax professional versus tax preparation software.
IRS Releases 2013 Dirty Dozen Tax Scam-Scheme List – as well as a video to remind taxpayers
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Payroll tax issues are some of the most complicated and serious IRS tax issues business owners face. Payroll taxes are considered a trust tax meaning employers hold them in trust until they are collected from employees and sent to the IRS. Therefore, non-payment of the trust tax is considered a federal crime resulting in some of the toughest IRS penalties including prison; a fact that one North Carolina is now
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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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Like clockwork, about a week or two after the April 17 tax deadline, I begin fielding taxpayer questions regarding what tax documents to keep and for how long.  A recent article in Forbes by Tax Girl Kelly Phillips Erb entitled How Long Should You Keep Records after Tax Day? provided good guidelines on the subject.
Here are seven basic recommendations for keeping tax documents both individuals and small businesses can follow:
In
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Happy Friday!
I am relieved that tax day is now just memory for most taxpayers. Those who did not file or request a filing extension here are some tough facts to consider – consumers are legally obligated to file their tax returns; not filing means facing significant IRS tax issues. Failure to file is considered a misdemeanor that can be punishable up to $10,000 per year and one year in
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As a member of the American Society of Tax Problem Solvers (ASTPS) Returning Combat Veterans Program, Tax Resolution Services is honored to offer free tax services for to military personnel returning from combat duty facing IRS problems and in need expert tax relief.
According to a USA Today article released yesterday entitled Troops owe IRS $390 million, some military men and women are finding themselves exiting a war zone to come
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If another tax day has passed you by without resolving your IRS tax issues, take note. There is current legislation making its way through the Senate that aims to revoke your passport privileges if you have significant tax debt. I wrote a previous blog post on the bills introduction but a recent article in msn.com entitled “In the hole to Uncle Sam? Bill aims to strip your passport” reports on
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In the homestretch – 4 days until Tax Day!
Happy Friday! Here’s the tax help news round up heading into Tax Day Tuesday April, 17.
Tax relief tips were the dominant theme and meant to provide tax help for last minute taxpayers who are filing or possibly avoiding their tax obligation. Here are the highlights of the week’s news:

The IRS Newsroom released a bulletin with payment options designed for struggling taxpayers having trouble
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Countdown to tax day: 13 days
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of sharing tax relief tips on Midday Sunday Fox 11 with host Tony Valdez. A topic we covered was unfiled or delinquent tax returns. We deal with a lot of non-filers at our firm; the average client has between four to eleven years of unfiled tax returns and while almost all are good people, they usually have
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Once again, we have celebrities in the news facing tough IRS problems.  The most recent failure to file tax case involves the sons of the late Sylvia and Joe Robinson who in the late 70’s formed the Sugar Hill Records label and created hip-hop’s first commercial hit, the Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.” According to an NJ.com article entitled From ‘Rapper’s Delight’ to tariff-collector fight: sons of hip-hop pioneers face
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The latest chapter of the IRS versus the Swiss bank saga shows just how far some Swiss bankers are willing to go to protect assets of their wealthy American clients from IRS detection. A Bloomberg article Swiss “Tax Evasion Advisers” Hid Assets, Used Kids reports on two recently indicted Swiss tax evasion advisors and their role in helping U.S. clients hide hundreds of millions of dollars from tax authorities using
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During a recent episode of the Big Biz Show, I mentioned the subject of taxable income. I thought it an important blog topic as there may be some readers who are unsure what constitutes “income” particularly those who still may have unreported offshore accounts and assets.
The Wikipedia definition of taxable income refers to the base upon which an income tax system imposes tax. Generally, it includes some or all items
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With so many people on the financial edge needing tax relief, it’s hard to imagine anyone not already claiming a previous tax refund. Yet every year, millions of dollars in refunds remain accounted for even after many attempts to track down the taxpayers are unsuccessful.  A recent IRS bulletin gives information on how entitled taxpayers can file to collect their slice of $1 billion dollars in unclaimed 2008 refunds. But
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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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The Chicago politician currently on the hot seat is Cook County Commissioner and former South Side alderman William Beavers. Beavers is facing indictment on tax fraud charges for keeping campaign funds and a county stipend without paying federal taxes on them. A Chicago Tribune article entitled William Beavers Indicted on Tax Fraud Charges reported on just how far Beavers is willing to go to protect his name and perceived political
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