Although there are many legal strategies that can be used to minimize tax obligations, every year many Washington, D.C., residents are accused of using unlawful methods to get out of paying taxes. Whether the Internal Revenue Service claims that a taxpayer made a mistake or took intentional actions to avoid taxes, the consequences can be […]

Not all criminal investigations by the Internal Revenue Service wind up in criminal prosecution. The processes that the IRS follows for pursuing the case can involve many twists and turns. All of that can take time and each step may provide opportunities for limiting exposure to prosecutorial action. An experienced tax attorney’s help can be […]

Officials tasked with implementation of the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act appear to be making solid headway in their efforts to get other nations aligned with the requirements. Treasury Department officials recently confirmed they have reached agreements with 12 governments. Bloomberg also reports they also have agreements in substance with 17 other foreign governments […]

As we have noted often, the Treasury Department has been expanding its efforts related to funds held by Americans in foreign bank accounts. The concern, of course, is that many taxpayers haven’t reported those funds as income, which means that there may be taxes owed. In these tight fiscal times, the government seeks to shore […]

The Affordable Care Act has been the target of a lot of negative press. Aside from the general political rhetoric from opponents of the measure, there have been the very obvious issues with the rollout of the online registration process. The latest red flag to be raised comes from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax […]

Black Friday has passed, as has the social outcry from many who accuse retailers of stripping Thanksgiving of its real meaning by starting the holiday shopping season early. Today, the limelight is on Cyber Monday. According to Forbes magazine, surveys of consumers indicate that some 86 percent of working folks are planning to spend some […]

Soul singer Tina Turner has voluntarily relinquished her U.S. citizenship. She reportedly signed the papers at the U.S Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, late last month. It probably didn’t come as a major surprise. She had announced her plans to do so back in January. Why did she do it? On the face of things it […]

We haven’t talked too much about the hot water the Internal Revenue Service found itself stewing in this year. Back in February, it was the Taxpayer Advocate Service who charged that the IRS adopted a snail’s-pace approach in fixing issues for taxpayers when it discovered hundreds of thousands of social security numbers had been stolen. […]

The Internal Revenue Service is the first to admit that it has a major problem on its hands when it comes to fighting tax fraud. This past summer, the acting head of the IRS said as much to members of Congress. As evidence, the agency touts that it more than tripled the number of criminal […]

It is not common for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear tax-related cases. Certainly, the nine-member panel doesn’t typically get involved in questions over most audits or tax appeals. But sometimes, when it’s clear that there is no other way to resolve conflicting decisions made at lower jurisdictional levels, the high court deigns to weigh […]