Paul Caron reports that more than a quarter of a million current and former federal workers are behind in their taxes: Over 279,000 federal workers and retirees owed more than $3.4 billion in back income taxes in 2010 (up from $3.3 billion in 2009, $3.0 billion in 2008, and $2.7 billion in 2007). The cabinet departments with [...]

J.K. Harris is the second player in the tax resolution business to have been forced to shut down operations ss a result of thousands of consumer complaints and dozens of government investigations. Paul Caron of TaxProf Blog reports: JK Harris Tax Resolution Firm Closes its Doors Consumer Affairs, JK Harris Suspends Operations, Prepares to Liquidate: Tax-Preparation Firm Swamped by Consumer [...]

The IRS is apparently so happy with the results of it’s offshore voluntary disclosure program that it has established a similar program in the area of worker classification. Michael Cohn of AccountingToday writes that the IRS has introduced a new voluntary compliance program Wednesday to convince employers to resolve their past issues with classifying employees [...]

It’s no secret that the IRS has greatly intensified the criminal prosecution of taxpayers who have filed false tax returns. The reason for this is evident: The federal government needs money but doesn’t want to raise taxes on law-abiding citizens in a weak ec0nomy. From day one, the Obama administration made it a priority to close the tax [...]

Many taxpayers wrongly believe that IRAs and other retirement accounts are protected from IRS seizure because the laws of their state exempt those assets from the reach of creditors. But since Federal law supersedes state law, the IRS is not bound by state exemptions as are other creditors. In short, the IRS can seize any property you own regardless of whether [...]

One of the questions taxpayers with delinquent tax debts ask us most frequently is “can the IRS take my house?” The bad news is that the IRS can indeed take your house. The good news is that it’s not easy for the government to take your house and, therefore, it does so only as a last resort. The IRS will [...]

During an IRS audit the burden is placed on the taxpayer to prove that he made a deductible tax expenditure. Many taxpayers have been audited and because they were unable to provide receipts and records proving their deductions had taxes, penalties and interest assessed against them. But what happens if after the audit is over and the IRS has made its [...]

When Carol Ross Joynt’s husband died she was consumed by grief. Then she learned that her husband owed $3,000,000 to the IRS and was now pursuing her for it. The experience was so traumatic she wrote a book about it and titled it Innocent Spouse: A Memoir. Here’s a short synopsis: Carol Ross Joynt was a successful television [...]

I hadn’t filed a tax return in eight years and the IRS filed them for me and said I owed more than $200,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest. The Pappas Group prepared and filed my returns and was able to reduce my liability to $30,000.00. Terry W. – Orlando, FL I was charged with [...]

Some old, but great, advice from Joe Kristan about how to document the filing of an IRS tax return or extension: If you paper file at the post office, use Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested. Get the postmarked paper receipt, because the postal service purges its computer records after two years. Certified mail adds $2.70 [...]