Congress has required the IRS to come up with a program to deny or revoke passports for individuals with certain types of tax debt. As we noted in yesterday’s post, the program will take effect next month. This is not, however, the only story in play regarding taxes and passports. […]
Category: Tax Evasion
The monetary penalty for failure to file an income tax return is a maximum of 25 percent of the unpaid taxes. Criminal prosecution is also possible, however, if tax authorities believe the failure to file was a willful attempt to evade taxes or commit tax fraud. In this post, we […]
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” goes Shakespeare’s famous line from Romeo and Juliet. The idea is the essence of thing is what matters, apart from the name it is given. Still, names for things do contain important distinctions. In this post, let’s consider the distinction […]
A conviction for criminal tax evasion carries serious penalties, including a stint in federal prison, hefty fines and the costs of government prosecution. Then there is the negative impact on business or individual reputation and the limitations that a criminal record can impose on future opportunity. The role of banks […]
College athletes still aren’t paid (other than receiving scholarships). But the role of agents and advisers is very important in helping players procure pro contracts and managing their money if and when they do. Like other financial advisers, those who represent athletes can run afoul of tax authorities. In this […]
According to some sources, Google searches for “emigrating to Canada,” “moving abroad” and “leaving the U.S.” (among others) spiked the night of the first election debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Say what you will about either candidate, the truth remains that this election cycle has been a tumultuous […]
Contentious tax litigation can take a very long time to resolve. For over two years, we’ve been following a complicated fraud and tax evasion case involving two Texas brothers, Charles and Sam Wyly, who set up a series of offshore tax shelters that ran afoul of federal regulators. The twists […]
The wheels of government don’t always grind quickly. But when there is enough momentum and legal direction behind an initiative, they do grind. To be sure, it has taken most of this year for the IRS to organize a program to implement a directive from Congress that private contractors be […]
Avoiding paying taxes that the IRS requires is one of the most common tax crimes in the United States. It’s called tax evasion, and it’s a type of tax fraud that the IRS prosecutes seriously. Of course, there are ways people legally do not pay taxes on certain money, like […]
No one wants to pay taxes. But some people seek creative approaches to lower the amount that they owe. The problem is that many cross the fine line that separates tax avoidance and tax fraud. When does nonpayment or underpayment of a tax bill become criminal? To start this discussion, […]