As published in the Winter Park/Maitland Observer, Thursday Jan. 3, 2012 Edition Offers... Read More »
Articles in category 'IRS Procedure'
IRS Ignored Fraud
Would a private sector company ever do this? Richard Rubin of Bloomberg.com reports that the Internal Revenue Service’s approach to issuing tax identification numbers to non-U.S. residents let fraud go undetected, according to a report by the agency’s inspector general: The IRS emphasized getting applications processed while creating an environment that discouraged employees from stopping potentially…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS ProcedureThe IRS Violates Taxpayer Rights Again
If the IRS followed its own procedures and honored the three Taxpayer Bills of Rights, fewer taxpayers would need to hire a tax attorney, CPA or enrolled agent to represent them. But time and again IRS officials, often with the blessing of their supervisors, engage in actions that are illegal. For example, the Treasury Inspector…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Liens, IRS Procedure, Taxpayer RightsIRS Makes it Easier to Settle Tax Debts
Linda Beale reports that the IRS is making the Offer in Compromise process easier for taxpayers: The IRS has announced more flexible offer in compromise terms, in an effort to make it easier for financially distressed taxpayers to get a “fresh start” by erasing their tax liabilities, and may also result in less time taken…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Procedure, Offers in CompromiseDid IRS Illegally Disclose Romney’s Donation to Pro Traditional Marriage Group?
26 USC § 6103 – Confidentiality and disclosure of returns and return information – provides that a taxpayer’s tax return information shall be confidential: a) General rule Returns and return information shall be confidential, and except as authorized by this title — (1) no officer or employee of the United States, (2) no officer or…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Audits, IRS ProcedureIRS is Trying to Trick Delinquent Taxpayers into Not Hiring a Tax Professional
WARNING: The IRS has a vested interest in you not hiring a tax professional. That’s because when you are unrepresented it is easier for them to intimidate you and more likely that their procedural mistakes, over-assessments and violations of your rights will be undetected and unchallenged. I am a tax lawyer and a CPA. Based on my 25 years…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Back Taxes, IRS Procedure, Taxpayer RightsAdministrative Procedure Act and IRS Deficiency Notices
By way (once again) of Paul Caron (emphasis is mine): Smith: The APA’s Reasoned-Explanation Rule and IRS Deficiency Notices Patrick J. Smith (Ivins, Phillips & Barker, Washington, D.C.), The APA’s Reasoned-Explanation Rule and IRS Deficiency Notices, 134 Tax Notes 331 (Jan. 16, 2012): The D.C. Circuit’s confirmation in Cohen that the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) applies to…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Audits, IRS Procedure, Tax CourtIt’s Easy to Steal IRS Refunds
Two years ago we addressed the IRS’s flawed refund procedure in False Refund Schemes and Backwards IRS Return Processing Rules. Today, Jay Weaver of the Miami Herald gives a distressing update in Scammers Steal IRS Refunds with Ease: “We are seeing defendants once involved in other types of crimes [such as drug trafficking] getting involved in identity-theft schemes,…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Individual Taxation, IRS Procedure, News, Tax CrimesIRS Commish Wants Simpler Tax Code
IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman has come out for tax simplification: Most taxpayers want simplicity. They want to pay what they owe, understand what tax benefits they are entitled to, and not get tripped up by the system. However, today’s Tax Code is anything but simple. It is so complex that it makes it hard for…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Penalties, IRS Procedure, News, Regulation of Tax PreparersIRS to Seize Homes and Retirement Counts for Back Taxes
Again, from Paul Caron: IRS to Wage ‘Full Court Press’ Against Homes, Retirement Accounts for Back Taxes Washington Examiner, Obama’s IRS to Initiate Full Court Press, Warn Tax Law Experts: As 2012 approaches, tax attorneys are sounding the alarm: The IRS will squeeze every cent it can and “it will be nastier than ever.” The…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Installment Agreements, IRS Liens and Levies, IRS Procedure, Tax CollectionsIRS Continues to Battle Tax Refund Fraud
WebCPA reports that the IRS increased the number of fraudulent tax refund claims it detected and stopped during the 2011 tax-filing season by 171 percent over the previous year: As of April 30, 2011, the IRS had identified 775,723 tax returns with $4.6 billion claimed in fraudulent refunds and prevented the issuance of $4.4 billion,…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Audits, IRS Procedure, Regulation of Tax Preparers, Tax CrimesIRS Roguery is Not a New Development
Tax Attorney and tax blogger Kelly Phillips-Erb said that an IRS agent hung up on her the other day in IRS Gone Bad: Are Things About to Get Worse? Over the years, I’ve represented a lot of clients. I’ve listened to hours and hours of IRS hold music. And I’ve had a lot of conversations with…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Procedure, Taxpayer AdvocateIRS Lawyer Ethics
From Paul Caron: Kwon: Four Difficult Ethical Questions for IRS Lawyers Michelle Kwon (Texas Tech), The Tax Man’s Ethics: Four of the Hardest Ethical Questions for an IRS Lawyer, 9 Cardozo Pub. L. Pol’y & Ethics J. 371 (2011): The article explores the disagreement, particularly among academics, about whether government lawyers have greater obligations to…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Court Cases, IRS ProcedureAICPA Opposes IRS Fees, Fingerprinting of Tax Preparers
WebCPA reports that the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is asking the Internal Revenue Service to reconsider some of the fees it plans to charge for competency exams and fingerprinting as part of its tax preparer oversight program. The new fees would apply to individuals who are required to take the IRS competency examination in…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Announcements, IRS Procedure, News, Regulation of Tax PreparersConscripting Tax Preparers Part 2: EITC Due Diligence Requirements
Last year I wrote a post titled IRS Disbars CPA for Relying on Client’s Income and Expense Numbers about a disturbing trend by the IRS to draft private tax preparers and force them to work as IRS auditors without pay. Here’s what I said: Tax preparers are advocates for their taxpayer clients and do not work for the IRS. Even…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Audits, IRS Procedure, Regulation of Tax PreparersIRS Use of Tax Liens Often Violates its Stated Mission
Paul Caron discusses Danshera Cords’ Brandeis Law Review article Lien on Me: Virtual Debtors Prisons, The Practical Effects of Tax Liens and Proposals for Reform, 49 Brandeis L.J. 341 (2011): This Article discusses the harm that a notice of federal tax lien can cause an individual as a result of the effect of filing a notice of…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Liens and Levies, IRS Procedure, Taxpayer Rights