The stories that caught our attention this week ranged from tax evasion and fraud, to how the Offer in Compromise Program can help consumers, erasing tax debt in bankruptcy to the increase in IRS criminal investigations to the IRS under intense scrutiny.

The IRS Gets Scrutinized – By far the biggest IRS story this week revolved around the IRS itself! The agency is being closely examined for unfairly targeting conservative
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Question: I am filing bankruptcy to get out from underneath debt brought on by some bad financial decisions. Can I discharge in bankruptcy the IRS back taxes I owe for tax years 2008 and 2009 that amount to roughly $25,000? I am struggling financially to pay off all the debt I incurred in this mess but am particularly overwhelmed with the tax debt. Do I have any chance at tax
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Just last week, the IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) released its Annual Report for 2012 showing strong increases in enforcement actions and IRS penalties imposed on convicted tax criminals for the year ending Sept. 30, 2012. According to the IRS bulletin announcing the report’s release, the criminal investigation division investigates potential criminal violations of the Internal Revenue Code and related financial crimes in a manner to foster confidence in the
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If you have tax troubles that haven’t been addressed, it’s time for you to see a tax professional and get to know your options.
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I remember his face, clear as day.
Panicked — that’s the only word to describe it.
I shook his hand; it was a clammy. He was nervous.
For the sake of this column, I’ll call him Bill. At the time, he was my newest client.
Bill was holding a copy of
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Apparently, Lauryn Hill’s “Miseducation” may relate to how badly she handled her IRS tax problems. According to Accounting Today’s article titled: Fugees Singer Lauryn Hill Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion, Hill was sentenced Monday to three months in prison plus three months home confinement for failing to file tax returns for five years and not reporting more than $2.3 million in income. The article explains the terms of her
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Just because the April 15 tax deadline passed doesn’t mean people who owe back taxes should stand idly by. It’s time to “man up” to the challenge and resolve your IRS tax issues with the help of an expert tax resolution professional. But who do you choose? On a video episode from the Midday Sunday Fox 11 with host Tony Valdez program, I explain how the tax resolution industry has
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IRS audits process are often a random selection. However, there are some triggers that can set the audit wheels in motion and bring on further examination and the possibility of paying more to the tax man. An MSN article titled: “What triggers an IRS audit?“ shines some light on how the IRS selects returns for audit and the criteria that sets these returns apart from the rest.

Audits on the Rise
The
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Terrell Owens, a six-time NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver, has caught an enormous tax bill from the Internal Revenue Service.
According to celebrity news website TMZ, Owens — popularly known by his initials, T.O. — owes $430,000 in unpaid taxes for the years 2007 and 2009.
During the years Owens racked up the IRS debt, he had lucrative contracts to play football for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills.
Since not
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Just ten days until April 15! On the run up to tax day, we do our best to provide tax relief tips for last minute taxpayers. The tax news topics covered this week include: the annual IRS Data Book release, the official release of the 2013 IRS Dirty Dozen List, a little tax relief humor at Uncle Sam’s expense, tips on filing and tax payments.
Tax Help Tips on Filing and
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During my interview last tax season on the Midday Sunday Fox 11 with host Tony Valdez program, Mr. Valdez posed a scenario that many today may be facing: they have finished preparing their taxes, but don’t have the money to pay them. What should they do? This is a common question and the good news is that taxpayers with tax debt have options! Below the video, I offer some solutions.

If
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Some of you may still be deciding whether to hire a tax professional or purchase tax preparation software. In this informative video, (one part of a series that came from my appearance on the Midday Sunday Fox 11 with host Tony Valdez program), I offer the following tax help tips:

When tax preparation software works
Know when it’s time to hire a tax professional
When it’s time to hire a tax resolution specialist

(Below
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I wrote a Tax Matters post last week on the news that 311,566 federal workers (including retirees) owe over $3.5 billion in back taxes. Many of the details came from both Forbes and MSN who reported on this story. While this topic is quite galling in many respects, the simple fact remains; more government employees with presumably decent incomes are struggling to pay their tax debt and need tax relief.
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The IRS issued a press release late last week indicating an estimated 984,400 taxpayers who did not file a tax return in 2009, are entitled to a slice of $917 million in tax refunds! The IRS estimates that half the potential refunds for 2009 are more than $500.
There is a catch though. To collect the 2009 refund, a return must be filed, properly addressed, mailed and postmarked to the IRS
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Let’s recap the tax relief news we covered this week. Featured topics were: eliminating joint filing to help innocent spouses, Florida brothers sentenced for tax evasion, ways to pay your back taxes, IRS tax scams and schemes to avoid, and the Southland Better Business Bureau (BBB) LA Chapter gets expelled for “pay to play” practices.
Joint Tax Filing Thought to Help Innocent Spouses
I wrote a post titled Eliminating Joint Tax Filing
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Question: I need to do my taxes for 2012, and I just don’t know what to do! I owe back taxes already, and I don’t think I can pay them. Now, this year, I’m sure I’ll just add to that tax debt. I don’t see how I can get out from under it. What options do I have?

Answer: Your situation is a tough one, but you’re asking the
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