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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Even though the latest voluntary disclosure program has officially past, it is still better to come clean with unreported offshore bank accounts than to wait for the IRS to contact you. The IRS is placing more severe penalties on non-compliant offshore account holders than ever before. A recent Forbes article titled “Florida Widow Guilty + $21M Penalty for Inherited Swiss + Liechtenstein Accounts,” explains just how tough it has become.
The article’s
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If you think the saga between the U.S. government and Swiss banks was over, think again. An article titled Feds Charges Swiss Bankers with Tax Conspiracy from Accounting Today reports on the U.S. government’s continued offensive on worldwide offshore account disclosure. The most recent target: Swiss bank, Zuercher Kantonalbank (ZKB) who the U.S. Government claims attempted to hide the accounts of American clients from the IRS.
According to the article, the
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Douglas Schulman, the 47th IRS Commissioner spoke on November 7th before the professional association of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in Washington, DC.  In his speech, he talked about his last five years and where he sees the IRS focusing its attention in the future. The IRS posted former Commissioner Schulman’s prepared remarks that outlined major IRS strategic priorities. On the top of the list is a
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Happy Friday! Here’s a recap of the tax relief news that made headlines this week.
Celebrity Tax Issues, IRS Audits and Enforcement
It seems like there is always a celebrity in the news currently facing down the IRS or other tax authorities.  This is not by accident. Since the Great Recession tax revenues have been down so to increase collections, the IRS has been going after celebrities and wealthy Americans to help
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The IRS just awarded the largest amount ever paid out, $104 million dollars, to whistleblower and former UBS banker, Bradley C. Birkenfeld, for disclosing UBS banking secrets to the US government that revealed how UBS helped wealthy Americans avoid paying taxes to the IRS. A New York Times article, Whistle-Blower Awarded $104 Million by I.R.S. reports that Birkenfeld’s huge reward is considered a milestone for the IRS’  whistle-blower program that
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A recent chapter of the Swiss Banks vs. the IRS saga features a plot twist; large Swiss bank UBS sues a wealthy American client.
UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank filed a lawsuit last week suing their former client, billionaire real estate developer, Igor Olenicoff for damages from a 2008 federal lawsuit he filed against the them. Janet Novack of Forbes’ article UBS Sues Billionaire Olenicoff in Offshore Tax Cheating Case explains this
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Happy Friday! It’s time to review tax relief topics covering an array of IRS tax issues in recent news.

S-Corp Businesses-Target of IRS audits: Reuters reported in their article Small business audits often find no more taxes due-IRS watchdog about an increase in S-Corporation audits. IRS treasury inspector general for tax administration, Russell George went on record to denounce the increase after discovering the increase in “S-corporation” audits did not
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Anyone who believes the IRS takes a “kinder, gentler” approach to taxpayers who don’t report their offshore bank accounts had their hopes dashed this week. In the news were two cases that involved secret Swiss bank accounts, millions of dollars unreported in those accounts and willful attempts at keeping those accounts hidden.

A Virginia court ruled in favor of the IRS against an ex-Mobil executive who they said intentionally failed to
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