The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) recently announced that the public should be on the lookout for the latest scam. The scam is successful because it is deceptively realistic. It involves an email with a claim that one of these federal agencies is attempting to contact the recipient. The email provides the recipient with a questionnaire. When the recipient clicks the link to download the questionnaire, ransomware is installed onto the computer.
IRS announces tax relief options for victims of Hurricane Harvey
Estimates for damage caused by Hurricane Harvey are already close to $200 billion. These estimates are more than just numbers; they represent people’s homes and livelihood. A recent report by USA Today notes that individuals are scrambling to figure out where to live, what pieces of property are salvageable and whether or not their jobs will continue to exist after the storm clears out.
Alice, Texas, tax preparer pleads guilty to tax fraud
Here at Brown, PC, we regularly represent tax preparers facing IRS civil audits or criminal investigations for their tax return preparation work. The IRS actively reviews returns filed by preparers in an effort to uncover noncompliance with preparer due-diligence requirements or behavior that may amount to criminal violation of federal tax laws.
Surprise! 10 million taxpayers get an unexpected penalty.
10 million taxpayers recently received an unexpected penalty by the IRS. The problem? These taxpayers underpaid their estimated taxes.
Proposed tax changes finding resistance
Early proposed ideas to cut personal tax rates and simplify the income tax filing process have already garnered vocal resistance from several key interest groups. Supporters of the proposal to double the standard deduction - a move that is expected to make tax easier by limiting the number of individual filers who itemize - say that such sweeping change is necessary to make the cumbersome tax code more user-friendly.
Tax reform difficult but desperately needed
The tax code is, in a word, complex. It is thousands of pages long, with millions of different entries representing credits, deductions, exemptions, reporting mandates, caveats, loopholes and more. Legislators across the political aisle all agree that significant tax reform is desperately needed by Americans of all economic strata, but concede that it no prospects are currently forthcoming to make viable changes.
Avoid these three common errors when renewing your ITIN
Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) are numbers that are issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for those who are not able to get a social security number but still have tax obligations. Some of these numbers are up for renewal this year.
IRS Chief voices concerns about future of tax collection efforts
The Internal Revenue Services (IRS) commissioner recently testified at the Senate Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing on the potential for serious issues in future tax collection efforts.
Congress considers new way to tax the sharing economy
The sharing economy has proved a conundrum for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for years. How can the federal agency efficiently tax a market that operates almost solely online; an economy that involves an exchange generally just between two people?
IRS reboots outsourcing tax debt collection – will it fail again?
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is trying to reboot efforts to outsource tax debt collection efforts.
