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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Listen to my interview with Mind Your Bizness Show host Danielle Hampson. On “Talk to the Tax Expert,” we discuss what to do if you find yourself in financial difficulty and can’t afford to pay your tax bill this year.
In 2009, we can expect more tax audits and IRS actions against tax cheats. It’s a remarkable statistic, but 50% of the American tax paying public either haven’t filed appropriate
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According to National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson, the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) handled more than 274,000 taxpayer assistance orders in FY 2008.
The TAS was created by Congress to help taxpayers resolve their tax problems with the IRS and ensuring that taxpayer rights are protected in each case. Olson also recently addressed the authority of the National Taxpayer Advocate to help taxpayers navigate their issues through the IRS. Olson revealed
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Last week, Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, examined the recent deferred prosecution agreement between the Department of Justice and UBS AG Bank of Switzerland, as well as the DOJ’s ongoing attempts to force the bank to identify its U.S. customers with secret Swiss bank accounts.
Recently, a senior executive of a large Swiss bank was charged with conspiring with other
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The IRS is implementing tax-related provisions of this new program as quickly as possible. I recently blogged about how this new economic stimulus law could affect your tax bill, and how heightened tax compliance efforts could impact small businesses.
The IRS has outlined key highlights of the plan as follows:

COBRA: Health Insurance Continuation Subsidy. The IRS has extensive guidance for employers, including an updated Form 941, as well as information for qualifying
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I recently blogged about the new economic stimulus package and how it affects your IRS bill. In addition to funding deficit-reduction activities, the federal government is looking at ways to close the tax gap by taking a closer look at employment tax returns.
According to the most recent estimates, payroll tax mistakes cost the IRS $15 billion - and tax experts agree that today’s figure is much greater! For several years
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With tax season quickly approaching, the IRS has announced that it will be providing help to those Americans struggling to meet their tax obligations this year. This means that distressed taxpayers plagued by mounting medical bills, heavy reliance on Social Security assistance, or recent job losses may now be eligible for a tax break. Struggling taxpayers may be eligible for relief as IRS eases enforcement and collection efforts to help
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It is a known fact that 1 in 6 (or about 16%) of the taxpaying public have tax problems.  Given the current state of the economy, I expect that rate to increase significantly.  It’s not surprising that high profile people have tax problems too. As a matter of fact, it is not uncommon for high income earners to have issues with the IRS.
Unfortunately, the Obama Administration may be sending the
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NOTE: TELE-SEMINAR SCHEDULED FOR FEB. 18 HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED AND WILL NOW TAKE PLACE ON WED, MAY 13.

I’ve blogged about this before, but it’s important to mention it again: Small business owners are the largest source of uncollected taxes.
During this economic downturn, we are also seeing lots of people who are laid off or are no longer employed, going out on there own. They’re reinventing themselves, setting up home-based businesses,Â
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I was recently interviewed by Business Pundit blogger Lela Davidson. She asked me lots of great questions about small business taxes and how to avoid being an IRS target. I provided her with insight into important tax issues facing new businesses and how to avoid the big mistakes that many small business owners make.
There are many things small businesses can do to avoid getting audited. But if you still find
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Just wanted to let everyone know that we’ve recently expanded to help even more Americans seek tax relief!
It’s very exciting - we’ve just finalized lease negotiations for 11,000 square feet of commercial office space just north of Los Angeles, at our headquarters in Encino, California. Our company now boasts more than 50 legal and tax specialists, and our licensed professional staff consists of 6 Tax Attorneys, 4 CPAs and 2
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In 2008, the IRS collected $56.4 billion - $7.7 billion more than in 2006. This was only slightly down from 2007’s record year of $59.2 Billion.
The audit rate is 100% higher today than in 2000!  Nearly 1.4 million Americans were audited in 2008, just over 1% of all returns filed.  Correspondence/ mail audits, otherwise known as CP-2000 letter audits are up nearly 34% from 2000 levels.
The 2008 collection enforcement numbers
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In her recent report to Congress, National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson urged the Internal Revenue Service to take steps to ease the tax burden on Americans hit by the recession and consider the economic circumstances of a taxpayer before initiating “enforcement actions.”
As I’ve said before, the IRS will continue to aggressively pursue tax collection compliance, despite the prevailing harsh economy. The IRS is under increasing pressure to track down the
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