Historically, privacy was always a basic feature of Swiss bank accounts. The premise was that no government had the right to know the contents of accounts or other information about their holders. Today, however, the privacy protections that formerly came with Swiss and other foreign accounts are changing profoundly. The […]
When the IRS says you have unpaid income taxes, several different scenarios can ensue. It may be that the agency is in error, and that aggressive tax litigation can resolve the dispute in your favor. In other cases, the result can be tax debt and possibly civil penalties. Some cases […]
In the traditional children’s story of the “boy who cried wolf,” an attention-seeking adolescent raised too many false alarms about dangers from a threatening beast. Because he had been wrong so many times before, the boy ended up not getting the response he needed when he truly was in danger. […]
On a national scale, the numbers on suspected tax fraud get a bit mind-boggling. Last year, the IRS said it identified about two million such cases. Is criminal tax fraud really that common? Or does the IRS use fraud detection systems that are overly sensitive? The high number of cases […]
Tax evasion charges can take many forms. Sometimes they involve reporting requirements on offshore accounts. In other cases, there may be questions about whether a taxpayer properly reported income. It can be easy to underreport, especially if you are self-employed. The same challenge is present for those who take side […]
On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate portion of the federal healthcare law. When the law takes full effect, filing a tax return will include providing proof of health insurance. Those without insurance will be subject to penalties that must be paid to the IRS. What […]
If you own a small business, you know you have to be careful about payroll taxes and other tax-related aspects of your company. Even if someone else handles the payroll taxes, it is possible for the business owner to be held personally liable if those taxes are not paid to […]
The U.S. Treasury Department continues to move forward on trying to get foreign governments to provide more information about Americans with foreign accounts. Treasury says it is merely implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which Congress passed in 2010. To many commentators, however, these efforts often seem like […]
“God does not play dice,” Albert Einstein famously said. The great physicist was speaking about the degree of order in a universe that can seem random – not, of course, about tax law. But Einstein’s rhetorical statement raises a relevant question: How does the IRS decide when to subject someone […]
The reasons why paying taxes can get difficult vary with each person. Such struggles can happen to anyone, and being rich or famous is no guard against them. A recent case in point is the tax troubles of the Grammy-award-winning singer Lauryn Hill. Last week, federal prosecutors charged her with […]