IRS

Some people enjoy the flexibility of freelance work. Others take it on because well-paying traditional jobs can be hard to find. Either way, taking care of taxes can be complicated and stressful for independent workers. In this two-part post, we will use a Q & A format to explain why this is and how to […]

Christmas is still a couple of weeks away, with plenty of presents not yet purchased, much less placed under the tree or chimney with care. But if Christmas is coming, it also means a new year and a new tax-filing season are approaching fast. This week, the IRS announced details about the opening of the […]

A tax audit is hardly a deal breaker for moving forward with life. After all, an audit doesn’t necessarily mean you owe more tax or did anything wrong. And of course a celebrity businessman who has famously been under near-constant audit for the last two decades has just been elected president of the United States. […]

A few weeks ago, we concluded a two-part post on collection due process rights. At that time, we promised you an update on the upcoming IRS program to use private debt collectors to go after tax debt under certain circumstances. In this post, we will deliver that update, in the form of a Q & […]

In the first part of this post, we began discussing collection due process (CDP) rights. Those rights and required procedures are important in establishing the rules that the IRS has to play by when seeking to collect back taxes. In this part of the post, let’s look at some of the reasons why people can […]

You may have heard that Congress has directed the IRS to create a program to use private debt collectors for tax debt in certain cases. That program is not yet, in place, however, and for now collections for federal tax debt are still being done solely by the IRS. We will update you in an […]

The IRS’s stepped-up enforcement campaign on offshore account disclosure has been going on for years now. Combined with the rollout of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, it has put great pressure on taxpayers with offshore holding as well as foreign financial institutions. Faced with possible criminal penalties, many taxpayers have chosen to participate in […]

Let’s continue the discussion we started last week of IRS whistleblower awards. Last week, we noted that a recent Tax Court ruling has broadened to scope of awards to be based not only a percentage of unpaid taxes, but also on criminal fines and civil forfeiture. In this part of the post, we will explain […]

The IRS operates a whistleblower program by which individuals who tip off the government about tax evasion can potentially receive monetary awards. Critics sometimes contend that whistleblowers have to wait too long for the IRS to act on applications for awards. But when large amounts of unpaid taxes are involved, the awards to whistleblowers can […]

Let’s continue the discussion we began last week about the creation of a common reporting standard (CRS) for revenue agencies around the world to exchange information about tax compliance. The CRS won’t take formal effect until September 2017. But more than 100 counties have already agreed to participate. In this part of the post, we […]