The Obama Administration has given the IRS more financial and human resources to restrict tax evasion for the next couple of years–making it more difficult for tax cheats to escape unscathed. In an effort to bridge the enormous tax gap (most of which can be attributed to underreported income–$285 billion), the U.S. Treasury is working with the IRS to accomplish a number of stricter regulatory goals that would result in
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Check out our latest TRS IRS tax help newsletter for tax tips, IRS insider news, and income tax relief advice.
Many of our clients who retain our tax help services are interested in knowing how their life will change and when they can expect these changes to happen. In our Roadmap to Tax Resolution, we help you undertsand the process leading up to your IRS resolution - from the Free Consultation
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In economic times when people are strapped for cash, it is tempting to cut corners when filing taxes in order to save some of your disposable income. After all, small tax savings from many different areas can add up to a substantial amount of money. However, no matter how tempting tax evasion may seem - whether it is small or large in sum - it is a terrible financial strategy
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While Geithner has told Congress that there will be no income tax increases until 2011, his recent proposal to Congress requested additional funding for improved IRS collection operations and increased scrutiny of tax returns.
We’re already seeing the IRS cracking down on both small businessess and individuals with increased tax audits and aggressive collection tactics including bank levies.
Anyone who owes back taxes in this down economy will need to know how
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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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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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I recently blogged about how frivolous arguments topped the IRS Dirty Dozen list of most common tax schemes. And in this bad economy, there will be more individuals maintaining frivolous arguments for not paying their taxes.
While many Americans were paying their taxes on April 15, there’s a group of citizens known as tax defiers, deniers or protesters who cite many different reasons refusing to pay their income taxes.
Their frivolous arguments
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According to the IRS annual Dirty Dozen list of most common tax schemes, phishing “expeditions”  are on the rise this year along with frivolous tax arguments.  I even got a phishy email the other day.  These scam email look real too.. on IRS simulated letterhead complete with the logo and all.
It’s no surprise that these tax scams are being peddled to Americans in full force -  as IRS enforcement is
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The Los Angeles Times released a list of California taxpayers with the largest delinquent income tax bills who together owe $143 million in back taxes.
While O.J. Simpson and his $1.5 million bill have been taken off the list (after being sentence to 9 years in prison), Dionne Warwick (who owes $2.18 million) and Burt Reynolds (who owes $225,000) are among the notable names on the list of 250 people with
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In attempts to close the tax gap, the IRS is increasing tax compliance and aggressively taking action against tax cheats and tax promoters. As the tax gap grows, more Americans than ever will be facing audits and the IRS will be re-asserting it’s position on individuals who maintain frivolous arguments for not paying their taxes.
CCH (http://tax.cchgroup.com/) reports:
Sanctions were properly imposed on an individual who advanced a frivolous argument that he was not
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I recently blogged about the federal budget forecast for a $1.8 trillion deficit. There is close to a $400 billion tax gap each year.  This means that taxpayers paid $400 billion less than they should have.  Collecting  these funds through more aggressive collection tactics by the IRS will be politically more appealing than raising taxes - so taxpayers beware!
Closing the tax gap will require greater IRS enforcement for individuals as
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CCH (http://tax.cchgroup.com/) reports:
The IRS is preparing to process an expected surge in refund requests resulting from the enhanced net operating loss (NOL) carryback in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5) (2009 Recovery Act), Linda E. Stiff, deputy commissioner (Services and Enforcement) said on March 30. Stiff also reported that the White House and the Treasury Department are strongly supporting the Service’s international tax enforcement activities. Stiff
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Bloomberg News columnist John M. Berry makes some interesting points regarding President Obama’s new task force created to close the tax gap by focusing on closing loopholes, streamlining tax code and generating revenue.
“It may not accomplish much,” he says.
Highlights from the article include:
With April 15 fast approaching, stronger enforcement and a lot more resources for the Internal Revenue Service should head the administration’s to-do list.
The tax code could be undoubtedly
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According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, a push by the IRS to be more aggressive with wealthy taxpayers means that it’s critical to know the common tax audit red flags.
The IRS has been strongly disputing a report this week from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse that says audits of the wealthy Americans have significantly dropped off.
nificant drop in audits of richer Americans
Taxpayers who make more than
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I’ve blogged before about how closing the tax gap could help fund deficit reduction activities. And the White House is definitely searching for new tax revenues. Plans are underway to create a task force that will be looking to end corporate loopholes and bolster IRS enforcement.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Mr. Obama’s budget proposal began the process of addressing problems such as the tax gap, the difference between taxes owed and
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