The current administration has pushed for tax reform, touting the need to reduce taxes and remove barriers to economic growth. In theory, this sounds great. In reality, it could cause problems for small businesses. The many problems are outlined in various news sources. A piece out of the USA Today Network focused […]
Author: Lawrence Brown
Actor and director Forest Whitaker recently made the news not for a new movie or television project, but instead for the resolution of a years-long tax collection case brought against him by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Procedural history, complete with taxpayer missteps The saga began in 2014, as Whitaker […]
Fraudulent business tax returns can come with prison time. That is the message the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is trying to send with two recent cases. The federal agency recently sentenced three different individuals to imprisonment for errors on their corporate tax returns. How did corporate tax errors lead to […]
The employer is generally liable for the unpaid employment taxes. As the use of professional employer organizations increases, a recent case provides a warning. How does federal law define employer? This was at the crux of a case from earlier this year. Under the Internal Revenue Code, an employer has […]
Reducing employment tax fraud by third-party payers, professional employer organizations (PEOs), has been a federal initiative since 2014. A certification program was designed to require a PEO to notify the IRS of employers using their services. Yet as of March 31, 2017, only 123 PEOs had applied for certification. Our most […]
Disasters – including massive storms (like the hurricanes that recently struck the Southeast and Puerto Rico), fires, earthquakes, mudslides and floods – can result in the complete loss of a person’s belongings. In a catastrophic event, everything can be gone in an instant, including: Furniture Housewares Clothing Mementos/photos/heirlooms Electronics Financial […]
It seems like a plot from a blockbuster action movie. A man takes on a position as a deep undercover agent, a spy for Germany. He blends into the criminal underworld, gathering evidence to support the arrest and conviction of drug dealers, diamond smugglers and terrorists all over the world. […]
Credit giant Equifax, one of the three main credit reporting agencies, recently revealed a massive data breach that occurred earlier in the year. Hackers got through the company’s electronic security protocols and into databases full of confidential information. Conservative estimates put the number of affected Americans at a staggering 143 […]
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act became law in 2010. It requires that foreign financial entities report certain accounts that are owned by citizens of the United States. A failure to comply with this law can result in stiff penalties, including a 30 percent withholding tax on income from the […]
Four tax preparers are facing prison time for tax crimes connected to their tax preparation services. The accusations included putting together faulty tax returns and cashing in on fraudulent refunds. The Department of Justice (DOJ) discussed the case in a recent press release, noting that the government is coming down […]