The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released its “tax gap” projections for the 2022 tax year on October 10, 2024. As the IRS explains in its News Release, the tax gap, which is an estimated $696 billion, “reflects the difference between projected ‘true’ tax liability and the amount of tax that […]
Category: Tax Evasion
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced a new enforcement initiative focused on high-income non-filers. According to a recent News Release, the IRS is specifically targeting high-income taxpayers who failed to file returns between 2017 and 2021. As the IRS calculates failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties based on the amount due, […]
For high-income and high-net-worth U.S. taxpayers who are at risk of facing criminal prosecution due to willful tax law violations, making a voluntary disclosure to IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) can facilitate a favorable resolution that avoids formal charges. But, making a voluntary disclosure presents its own risks—and it isn’t […]
Tax evasion is a serious federal crime. Individual taxpayers convicted of tax evasion can face up to a $100,000 fine and five years of federal imprisonment, while corporate entities can be fined up to $500,000. This raises an important question: What does it mean to “attempt to evade or defeat […]
The Voluntary Disclosure Practice (VDP) provides an avenue for high-income and high-net-worth taxpayers to resolve significant federal tax controversies without facing criminal prosecution. Administered by IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS CI), the VDP is a long-standing program that allows eligible taxpayers to mitigate their exposure and settle with the IRS—provided that […]
When seeking to close the tax gap through enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) doesn’t solely target taxpayers who have underreported and underpaid their federal tax liability. It also targets those who facilitate tax evasion and tax fraud. Accountants, advisors and promoters can all face heavy-handed enforcement; and, when targeted […]
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is continuing to prioritize cryptocurrency-related compliance in 2024. As we previously discussed, the IRS identified digital asset compliance as one of its three “priority areas” for enforcement in 2024, and it recently issued a News Release reminding U.S. taxpayers of the obligation to report cryptocurrency […]
Charitable donations offer the opportunity to achieve significant tax savings while helping to support valuable causes throughout the United States and around the world. Charitable giving is a key component of most high-income and high-net-worth tax planning strategies, and the Internal Revenue Code expressly allows taxpayers to deduct a percentage […]
Tax evasion and tax fraud are serious federal crimes. Companies convicted of these crimes can face substantial fines, while individuals convicted of tax evasion and tax fraud can face both fines and prison time. When facing scrutiny from IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS CI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or […]
Combating tax evasion among high-net-worth and high-income taxpayers is among the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) top law enforcement priorities. The IRS uses a variety of investigative tools and methods to uncover tax evasion, and, in doing so, it often focuses on a number of specific “red flags.” But, while these […]