Many tax controversies ultimately come down to a very basic question: Does something need to be counted as income? This is not a question that can be answered in the abstract. It depends, rather, on the specific provisions of a very detailed and densely-packed federal tax code and its state […]
If you owe money to the IRS, you know you are up against a formidable adversary. IRS tax liens and other collection mechanisms can target your property and bank accounts, leaving you with fewer and fewer options. That is why, for taxpayers in Texas and across the country who are […]
Like anything else, filing tax returns does not occur in a perfect world. There are many reasons why people fail to file that have nothing to do with tax fraud. Sometimes, for example, people simply get overwhelmed by life events, such as a death in the family, a serious illness […]
Concerns about the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) have been deep-seated and widespread since Congress passed the law in 2010. On its face, FATCA is supposed to target tax evasion on offshore accounts. In practice, however, the new law has posed major implementation challenges. For taxpayers in Texas and […]
The IRS looks for revenue wherever it can find it. In recent years, for example, the agency has becoming especially aggressive at going after what it perceives to be unreported income from offshore accounts. Another example is worker classification audits. The IRS has done many of these in Texas, looking […]
Nirvana is a Buddhist term for the state of consciousness that transcends desire and suffering. More figuratively, it is a blissful state of freedom from cares and concerns – a state, however, that may always remain just out of reach. By the second definition, no American state is a tax […]
Is the IRS reading your e-mail? The IRS says it is not. Yesterday the acting commissioner of the IRS denied allegations that his agency gains access to taxpayers’ e-mail messages without obtaining search warrants. In Texas and throughout the nation, taxpayers are naturally concerned about the IRS gaining too much […]
In basketball, it’s difficult for virtually any player when the other team puts two defenders on them. Even stars like the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki find such match-ups challenging and need help from teammates. Now let’s apply this analogy to tax law. If the U.S. government suspects you of tax […]
In a nation based on the values of liberty and equality, someone’s income level shouldn’t really affect their chances of an IRS tax audit. After all, equality before the law is such a key value for us as Americans. You’d think, then, that it shouldn’t matter whether you are rich, […]
Precision is important in any complicated activity. But the transaction costs involved in spending the time to dot every i and cross every t can be significant too. When it comes to adding up expenses for itemized deductions on a federal tax return, is it really necessary to calculate every […]