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 […]
The registration deadline for interests in foreign bank accounts is June 30. This means it is now less than a month away. For holders of foreign accounts, this date is akin to the filing deadline in April for individual tax returns. You’ve got to get FBAR on your radar or […]
Even in a digital age, paperwork is important. To be sure, more and more records are electronic now. But when it comes to preventing or preparing for an audit by the IRS, it’s important to get good documentation of your financial transactions and keep it for a reasonable period of […]
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 […]