The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and its Criminal Investigation Division (IRS CI) are continuing to prioritize the investigation of COVID-19 relief fraud. This includes fraud under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, as well as fraudulent use of the limited-time Employee Retention Credit (ERC). […]
Category: Tax Fraud
Audits conducted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can have a variety of outcomes. In some cases, they can simply confirm taxpayers’ compliance with the Internal Revenue Code. In others, they can lead to liability for back taxes, interest and penalties; and, in others still, they can trigger criminal tax […]
Business tax fraud costs the federal government hundreds of billions of dollars per year. As a result, combating business tax fraud is a top priority for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). To help ensure that businesses pay what they owe, the IRS not only conducts audits and investigations but also […]
Through its rulemaking authority, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has identified several types of transactions as “listed transactions.” As the IRS explains, a listed transaction is any transaction that is, “the same as, or substantially similar to, one that the IRS has determined to be a tax avoidance transaction and […]
The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division (IRS CI) recently published a report on its COVID-19 fraud enforcement efforts in connection with the third anniversary of the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Passed on March 27, 2020, the CARES Act established several COVID-19 relief […]
If you have been contacted by Special Agents from the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division (IRS CI), one of the first questions you need to answer is, “Why?” IRS CI investigates a broad range of both tax-related and non-tax-related offenses, and determining the specific accusations underlying an IRS CI […]
When companies collect payroll taxes from their employees, they hold their employees’ funds “in trust” pending remittance to the IRS. When companies fail to timely remit their employees’ funds held in trust, they can face substantial liability—including liability for the IRS’ trust fund recovery penalty (TFRP). While the IRS often […]
In 2022, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) identified $5.7 billion in tax fraud and $26.9 billion in other financial crimes. It executed 1,210 warrants and referred 1,837 cases to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for prosecution. These referrals resulted in a conviction rate of 90.6 percent. These statistics are […]
According to data cited in a recent NPR article, as much as $64 billion of the $800 billion in forgivable loans issued under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) may have gone to applicants that didn’t deserve it. As the article also notes, the federal government has up to 10 years […]
Facing scrutiny from IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) is a serious matter. As its name suggests, IRS CI is tasked with uncovering—and assisting in the prosecution of—criminal violations of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). But, IRS CI’s investigative authority also extends far beyond the IRC, and it routinely announces investigations […]