Online Filers Should be Wary of Identity Theft A surge in fraudulent state tax filings in 19 states appears to involve personal information stolen from TurboTax. The FBI is working to determine who used stolen data to obtain bogus refunds from various state agencies and whether federal returns are also […]
Tax-filing season for this year still has a couple of months ago. But what if you still have not filed taxes for previous years? In this post, we will explain how important it is to put a plan in place to address past-due federal taxes. One possible consequence of not […]
UBS has confirmed that it is again being investigated by U.S. regulators for helping wealthy Americans evade taxes, this time involving the sale of “bearer bonds” that allow investors to transfer ownership anonymously. Bearer bonds, which are generally illegal in the United States, are still common in Europe and have […]
U.S. authorities may revisit a 2012 deferred prosecution agreement with HSBC due to new allegations that the bank helped wealthy individuals hide money and evade taxes. Over the weekend, an international group of media outlets reported on a massive cache of files showing how HSBC’s Swiss arm helped wealthy clients […]
A former Swiss banker who was indicted in the United States three years ago has been arrested in Germany and is expected to be extradited to the United States. Roger Keller, a former client advisor at Wegelin & Co, was indicted in 2012 for helping Americans hide more than $1.2 […]
The IRS announced that its popular Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) will remain open on an indefinite basis, while warning taxpayers that identifying individuals with undeclared offshore accounts remains one of the agency’s top priorities. In 2009, the IRS announced its first Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI), which gave taxpayers […]
The IRS has announced its annual “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams, which are areas of enforcement that the agency will focus on in 2015. Once again, the list includes undisclosed offshore accounts, which has been a top priority since 2009. Since 2009, the Department of Justice has indicted more […]
In part one of this post, we discussed the important distinction between tax avoidance and tax evasion. Tax avoidance, we explained, involves using legal means to get around or minimize tax liability. Tax evasion, by contrast, involves actions such as not reporting income that, when done willfully, can lead to […]
In her annual report to Congress, National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson sharply criticized the IRS for its unfair application of FBAR penalties, as well as its treatment of innocent taxpayers who were unaware of the FBAR filing requirements. The report also recommends that the threshold for filing an FBAR, which […]
When a business owner is trying to keep their business financially strong and in a position to have a bright future, every little bit counts. Thus, it can be extremely frustrating for a business owner when it appears that the federal government is keeping more of the money that came […]