Tax Controversies

The IRS is much more apt to use sticks than carrots to encourage tax compliance. And one of the most frequently used sticks is to hit you with tax penalties. Fortunately, you don’t have to just roll over and accept the hit. Taxpayers have every right to contest tax penalties – and often succeed in […]

In the first part of this post, we began discussing some important things to know about taxes when you’re opening a small business. We touched on factors involved in entity selection and the fact that employers face often tough choices on how to classify workers for tax purposes. In this part of the post, let’s […]

As someone who would like to open a small business, you have probably gotten used to politicians’ praising your job-creating virtues and promising to lighten your regulatory load. Such statements are not always very substantive or specific. But they serve as an indirect reminder that smart handling of tax issues can play a key role […]

As a business owner, you’ve got a lot to keep track off. The issues may include competitive challenges, employee matters and many more. And of course tax compliance issues. It’s important to be aware of what the trends are there – and here’s one: a decline in business tax audits. In simple terms, business tax […]

The filing deadline for federal taxes this year is April 18. That’s exactly one month from now. If you don’t think you’ll be able to file your return by then, it may have crossed your mind to seek an extension. In this post, we will address some frequently asked questions about getting an extension of […]

There are many tax regulations businesses are subject to. These regulations touch on all sorts of things, such as reporting requirements, executive compensation, employee classification and employee wages, just to name a few. Given this, there are a considerable number of areas in which tax troubles could potentially arise for a business owner and their […]

A tax dispute with the Internal Revenue Service does not necessarily implicate a future appearance in U.S. Tax Court. In fact, even the IRS’s website claims that over 100,000 taxpayers are able to resolve their tax controversies outside of that forum, using an administrative route called the Office of Appeals. The Office of Appeals is […]

As tax season marches towards April 15, the stress of digging through records, preparing and finally filing returns begins to increase with each passing day. Another layer of anxiety is added in for those who find themselves caught in one of the many tax scams that have been targeting taxpayers across the country. To help […]

Readers may be familiar with or even use tax preparation software. Such programs may guide users through the process of filing various federal and state income tax returns. Many of those programs advertise both business and personal tax return assistance. However, is this advisable? For starters, it is important to remember the role that intention […]

Is the process by which the Internal Revenue Service verifies its tax refunds in need of an overhaul? A recent story raises concerns. Specifically, a report authored by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration identified a programming error that resulted in the IRS issuing over $46 million in erroneous refunds. The error was identified […]