As published in the Winter Park/Maitland Observer, Thursday Jan. 3, 2012 Edition Offers... Read More »
Articles from February 2011
Geithner Wants to Punish the Job Creators by Getting Rid of Pass-Through Entities?
Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner recently told the Senate Finance Comittee that removing small business owners’ option to be taxed as a corporation or an individual is an essential part of tax reform: Congress has to revisit this basic question about whether it makes sense for us as a country to allow certain businesses…
Read Full Article Categorized in: S Corporations, Tax Policy, The EconomyFLORIDA MAN WITH EXTRAORDINARY FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES AVOIDS PRISON IN FALSE TAX RETURN CASE
Press Release: The Pappas Group February 24, 2011 On Wednesday Judge Kendall Sharp of the Middle District of Florida agreed with Central Florida tax attorney Peter C. Pappas of The Pappas Group that his client, James Lloyd Martin, III, should not receive a prison sentence for filing a false tax return even though the federal sentencing guidelines called for…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Blog Posts, Press ReleaseIRS Says Breast Pumps are Tax Deductible
Bloomberg.com reports that the IRS will announce that breast pumps and other medical equipment that help women lactate are deductible See advance copy of IRS Announcement 2011-14, 2011-9 I.R.B. ___ (Feb. 28, 2011): Breast pumps and associated supplies will be considered medical equipment eligible for the same tax breaks as contact-lens solution, bandages and prescription…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Deductible ExpensesIRS Offers New Voluntary Disclosure for Offshore Tax Violaters
Jack Townsend reports that the IRS has announced a new special voluntary disclosure program: For now, I will just link to the announcement here and provide only the bullet points I see with no (or very limited) editorial comment: 1. The deal is available through 8/31/11. (Note, however, taxpayers must “file” the required amended income tax…
Read Full Article Categorized in: International Taxation, Voluntary disclosureAvoid Penalties & Criminal Charges Via New IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program
Contact us for a free and confidential consultation about the new Voluntary Disclosure Program and whether it is right for you. The Internal Revenue Service announced today a special voluntary disclosure initiative designed to bring offshore money back into the U.S. tax system and help people with undisclosed income from hidden offshore accounts get current with their…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Voluntary disclosureCriminal Tax Charges Usually Not Dropped Even if Taxpayer Pays Taxes
One of my favorite tax bloggers is Jack Townsend of Federal Tax Crimes. Today he has an excellent post titled Can I Just Pay and Make the Investigation / Prosecution Go Away? (emphasis is mine): Criminal tax practitioners often are asked early in the representation (and often more than once) whether, if the client under…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Tax CrimesBasis Overstatements and the Statute of Limitations on Assessment
Paul Caron reports that the Fifth Circuit has now joined the Fourth and the Ninth in holding that the an overstatement of basis is not the same as an omission of income and, therefore, the extended statute of limitations on assessments (6 years instead of 3 years) that applies to income understatements does not apply to…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Court Cases, Statutes of LimitationMore Silly Taxes
William Baldwin of Forbes gives us some new ridiculous taxes: Herewith, to give you a break from your Form 1040, is a catalog of the country’s looniest taxes. Hat tips to William Barrett, Norml, Ray Squitieri, Stephen Von Worley, Thomson Reuters One Source Tax & Accounting and TurboTax. Arkansas: Body Piercing Tax The state spells…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Tax HumorNewsflash: IRS Preparer Regulation Won’t Eliminate All Preparer Fraud
Joe Kristan, a very vocal opponent of IRS regulation of tax preparers, wrote this today on his blog: From the Memphis Commercial Appeal: A Memphis woman who admitted to preparing bogus income tax returns has been sentenced to 22 months in federal prison. Cassandra Jordan, 46, also must make $75,000 in restitution to the Internal…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Regulation of Tax PreparersIRS Collection Agents Use Illegal Tactics
Far too often when an unrepresented taxpayer speaks to an IRS collection agent the agent lies to him by making one or more of the following statements: You must pay the debt or you will be criminally prosecuted If you don’t pay the debt in full within so many days, your assets will be seized It’s a…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Back Taxes, Blog Posts, IRS Collections, IRS Procedure, Tax Debts2010 Tax Changes
Laura Sanders of the Wall Street Journal gives a rundown of some of the important tax changes for 2010 in Taxes – April 18 (Yes, that’s right) Is Coming Up: Here are [some major] changes affecting 2010 returns. First-time homebuyer tax credit: There have been several versions of this credit, but most taxpayers who claimed it for…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Individual Taxation, Tax TipsAre Tax Revenues too Low or is Spending too High?
Stephen Ohlemacher of the Associated Press says that today’s taxes are lower than yesterday’s taxes and it’s a problem: Taxes too high? Actually, as a share of the nation’s economy, Uncle Sam’s take this year will be the lowest since 1950, when the Korean War was just getting under way. And for the third straight year, American…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Legislative Watch, Tax Policy, The EconomyHow to Avoid Criminal Prosecution in Failure to Remit Cases
If your business collects sales taxes from your customers and does not remit it to the Florida Department of Revenue, the State will bring criminal charges against you personally under Florida Statute 206.56 for Theft of State Funds. Theft of State Funds is a third degree felony carrying a maximum prison sentence of up to…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Blog Posts, Criminal Tax, Tax TutorialsTax Resolution Scam Warning
There are many so-called tax resolution firms out there that will promise anything to get you to part with your money. The Black List – Don’t Hire These Outfits The three most-often investigated and reprimanded companies are: J.K. Harris – J.K. Harris Settles Fraud Charges with 18 States Roni Deutch – California Sues Roni Deutch for “Heartless”…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Blog PostsSenate Repeals Oppressive 1099 Law, Linda Beale Calls it a Conspiracy
Joe Kristan reports that the United State’s Senate voted to repeal the new 1099 law yesterday: The Senate yesterday voted to repeal the expansion of information reportingcontained in last year’s Obamacare legislation. It’s looking more and more likely that this widely-hated expansion of information reporting will never happen. Kay Bell and TaxGrrrl have more. More…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Employer Issues, Legislative Watch, News, Tax Policy