This was a busy week in tax relief and IRS news. The stories that caught our attention ranged from how long to keep IRS tax records, to celebrity tax woes and finding tax debt solutions to the pro’s and cons of IRS prepared returns.
This week started with a helpful post titled: Tax Relief Tips for How Long to Keep IRS Records. A general rule of thumb guideline suggests that
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Many of us who have worked tirelessly to restore the credibility of the tax resolution industry were pleased to hear our efforts commended by the IRS’ Office of Professional Responsibility (“OPR”). Yesterday’s press release mentioned news of the OPR’s review of the National Association of Tax Resolution Companies (NATRC) code of conduct, and how it was commending the organization in a follow up letter for establishing meaningful standards for its
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Happy Friday! Countdown to tax day: 4 days
Last minute tax filers take note: the most common reasons for refund delays are because of preventable mistakes on the tax return. I thought information from this previous post and interview archive from the Midday Sunday Fox 11 with host Tony Valdez program could provide some help for those still scrambling to finish their tax returns. The trick to avoiding errors on your
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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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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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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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Are you in need of a jump start to get your tax motivation started? Get grooving and moving on tax season prep with a tax themed tune by man from Margaritaville – Mr. Jimmy Buffett. Forget that Cheeseburger in Paradise this week and listen along with the Tax Resolution University blog.
“But talk is cheap, it takes money to buy your freedom, and the taxman’s knocking at your door.” ~Jimmy Buffett

Band:
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The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning taxpayers who filed electronically to keep an eye out for a tax scam that looks like an IRS e-mail but in reality it contains fake links that if clicked on can cause a virus. Here’s the BBB’s report of what this e-mail contains:

An official looking email that appears to come from the IRS with the subject line: your federal tax bank transfer failed.
The
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It’s a great day at Tax Resolution Services. I am honored to announce that both Brian Compton and I have been selected as 2012 finalists for the 10th Annual American Business Awards, otherwise known as the Stevies.  I was a nominee in 2009 and 2011 -while it’s great to be recognized again by the ABA, I’m especially happy to Brian receiving recognition for his outstanding leadership.
Brian was selected as a
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A recent blog post mentioned an article I wrote entitled “The E-Commerce Conundrum: Taxing Virtual Businesses and Their Investors and the Law”. In that article, I discuss at length the tax issues e-commerce and virtual business face, specifically tax pressures from state governments interested in capturing sales taxes from them. Well, this week the Houston Business Journal featured an article Amazon, Texas comptroller negotiating sales tax deal that demonstrates how
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News agencies were abuzz about Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision stating the IRS could not use the extended, six-year statute of limitations to collect unpaid taxes from a business, Home Concrete & Supply, LLC in a tax shelter case. Robert Wood of Forbes in his article HUGE Taxpayer Win: Supreme Court Tells IRS 3 Years to Audit Is PLENTY! believes the historic decision regarding this tax shelter case will have a
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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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Tax preparers and non-profit group The Institute for Justice have banded together over their dislike of recent tax preparer regulations to sue the IRS sighting its powers as overreaching and unlawful. An Accounting Today article entitled Tax Preparers Sue IRS over New Requirements sheds some light on this issue by highlighting the plaintiff’s objectives not to seek damages, but rather an injunction against enforcement of new regulations.
The plaintiff’s in this
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Over the last month, we have posted information regarding the IRS “Dirty Dozen” Tax Scams to help taxpayers stay alert and avoid many of these schemes “that sound too good to be true.” A recent article by Accounting Today entitled IRS Warns of New Emerging Tax Scam however, shows just how tricky these tax scams are for many to detect and how, in spite of all the warnings, Tax Scam
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Some taxpayers have a tendency to overstate their income or expenses. The IRS “Dirty Dozen” Tax Scam # 6 – False and Inflated Income and Expenses makes this list annually simply because taxpayers still believe they can get away with it. What many don’t anticipate is that stepped-up IRS scrutiny of their flawed returns will yield not only IRS problems for them but also less money in their pockets as
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