Words matter. In human terms, it’s as simple as that. There is a very real and clear difference between tax evasion, on the one hand, and perfectly legal tax avoidance on the other. The confusion between the terms can be cleared up with proper definitions. Tax evasion is an improper […]
The IRS does not operate in a vacuum. The agency is affected by political pressure to cut the federal budget, and for the second straight year has less money to do its work. IRS audits may be affected by the reduction in the agency’s budget of about 2 percent compared to […]
Most Americans are familiar with the U.S. Supreme Court, in at least a general way. That is not the case, however, with the U.S. Tax Court. If you haven’t been involved in tax litigation, you may scarcely be aware of the Tax Court. But if you do find yourself in […]
Can the government restrict your right to travel out of country, just because you have a dispute with the IRS about tax collection? IRS collection tactics are often aggressive. But a proposed bill in Congress would expand the agency’s authority even further. If the bill is passed and signed by the […]
Life, as the saying goes, is full of choices. For holders of foreign bank accounts, those choices continue to require up-to-date information and an awareness of effective tax strategy. Offshore account enforcement is a key area of emphasis for the IRS. The agency recently joined with European countries in an […]
The IRS is supposed to be accessible to taxpayers. That is why the agency’s Taxpayer Advocate service is starting to conduct a pilot project on the use of teleconferences between case workers and taxpayers who have questions. IRS audits are another possible forum for video conferences. Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer […]
It’s no secret that dealing with the IRS is best done with plenty of documentation. To protect yourself against an audit, or to handle one if it occurs, it’s helpful to have your tax records in good order. When you do, IRS audits are much more manageable. So you’d think […]
A basic principle of the tax collection system should be fairness. For the system to work, people of all income levels -rich, poor and middle class alike – should get equal treatment from the IRS. And yet IRS audits are very much skewed toward higher income taxpayers. That is what the evidence […]
A smart tax strategy means looking for all of the legitimate deductions that may benefit you. Even if some of them seem downright silly, it’s still important to know about the ones that may apply to you. After all, there is big difference between using deductions intelligently, on the one […]
An IRS audit isn’t a criminal proceeding in which the right to confront accusers literally applies. There is still a big difference, however, between face-to-face IRS audits on the one hand, and so-called “corr exams” (correspondence-based exams) on the other. This week, the National Taxpayer Advocate questioned the increasing use of correspondence […]