Tax Relief Weekly News Round Up

Happy Friday everyone! It’s time for another weekly tax relief roundup covering a myriad of IRS tax debt issues currently talked about in the news.

It seems there are always headlines about people trying to scam the tax system. This week was no exception:

Jerold Fisher from Arma, Kansas was charged with filing false claims that he over paid more than $3.9 million in taxes, and that his mother (whose returns Fisher prepared) overpaid paid more than $442,000. The IRS found no overpayment. If convicted, Fisher faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Oregon tax protestor, Randall Blair Johnson, 53 was found guilty of income tax evasion, willful failure to file tax returns and witness tampering. In spite of doing well financially from 2002-2005, Johnson paid no income tax, claiming that “the tax laws did not apply to him.” Johnson faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the three tax evasion counts.
A new tax scam is making its rounds through the state of Georgia. An AccessNorthGA.com article reports that the IRS is warning residents to be wary of an official looking document sent through the mail that claims to be an IRS Notice of Tax Lien. Individuals who receive IRS correspondence they are not expecting are strongly encouraged to verify it by contacting the IRS hotline.

Also in this week’s news: Offshore Tax Havens, Bank Accounts and Voluntary Disclosure.

Forbes’ Robert W. Wood article Must You Enter IRS Offshore Disclosure with Your Spouse? reports that new IRS rules allow joint filing couples with unreported offshore bank accounts to participate in the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program either jointly or separately. Also, one spouse can amend joint returns without the other ones signature.

From the Twitter feed, an article by BusinessWeek entitled IRS Ends Deals That Let Companies Avoid Repatriation Tax shows the government beginning to prevent companies from entering into transactions that “allow them to tap their offshore cash stockpiles without paying taxes.” Large corporations and some politicians lobbied the government in 2011 for a “tax holiday” that would have allowed large companies to bring their profits into this country without facing the residual U.S. tax. The government has rejected this effort.

IRS Tax Relief for Duped Investors

Victims of investment fraud such as Ponzi Schemes could recoup up to 40% of those losses using IRS Section 165 Representation. Taxpayers are allowed to take a deduction of losses (in that tax year) by converting their capital stock losses into “ordinary” losses and offset them against prior, current and future ordinary taxable income.

Finally, in the latest Tax Man video, I introduce the Tax Resolution Services Client Care Team. Check out the video and see how their contributions help bring success to the company.

Have a great weekend!

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Tags: IRS tax deb issues, offshore bank accounts, Offshore Voluntary Account Disclosure, Repatriation Tax, tax evasion, tax lien, tax relief, tax resolution services