This past fall, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen admitted to the Finance Committee of the United States Senate that the IRS is tracking cell-phones. Apparently the IRS is using “stingrays”, also known as IMSI catchers or cell-site simulators, to sweep up the cell-phone signals of unsuspecting taxpayers. Recently, the IRS spent $71,000 to upgrade their cell-phone tracking equipment. Senators Charles Grassley of Iowa and Patrick Leahy of Connecticut demanded an explanation for the use of such equipment expressing their privacy concerns with such surveillance in a letter to Treasury Secretary, Jacob Lew. “The devices indiscriminately gather information about the cell phones of innocent people who are simply in the vicinity of the device,” the letter stated.
I HAVENT FILED A RETURN IN LAST 6 YEARS. HOW CAN I CATCH UP?
It is estimated that 7 million taxpayers fail to file their tax returns each year, which is approximately 5% of all filers. The Internal Revenue Service released results of a study that indicated that the federal government loses $28 billion annually. Unfortunately (for the IRS, perhaps not for the non-filers), the IRS has never had the resources to adequately track and keep record of these non-filings.
NEW AND OLD TAX SCAMS AND TRICKS
Taxpayers must always be vigilant regarding the legality of an action related to the filing of their taxes. This includes whether they are filing an IRS form, calculating income, claiming a deduction, characterizing assets, preparing a tax return, or communicating with a third party claiming to be a tax advisor or employee or agent of the IRS. Taxpayers must not knowingly or unknowingly participate in any scams that involve the calculation, filing, and payment of their taxes or the results may be devastating. Here are some new and old tax scams of which all taxpayers must be aware:
- Phishing
DEDUCTING TRAVEL EXPENSES RELATED TO YOUR JOB
Everyone at one time or another has wondered about deducting their work-related expenses from their income in order to pay lower taxes. Especially those expenses related to travel, whether these trips and excursions are to and from work or out-of-town. Federal law, specifically the Internal Revenue Code (“Tax Code”), allows individuals to deduct qualifying business expenses. What, if any, of a working taxpayer’s expenses related to travel are deductible as a business expense under the Tax Code?
YOU HAVE A FOREIGN ACCOUNT? MEET THE FBAR
If you have a financial interest in or signature authority over a foreign financial account, the Bank Secrecy Act may require you to report the account yearly. The Act requires that each qualifying taxpayer file a FBAR or Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. The types of foreign financial accounts to which the Bank Secrecy Act applies this requirement includes a bank account, brokerage account, mutual fund, trust, or other type of foreign financial account, exceeding certain thresholds.
SOCIAL SECURITY TAXES DEDUCTIONS
As long as they are taxes, there will be taxpayers that consider any and all arguments, schemes, and angles to avoid paying them. The 21st century has seen a rise in situations where some taxpayers are filing claims for refund of their Social Security taxes using meritless arguments which have consistently failed in the past and which will consistently fail in the future.
SURGEON WHO HID MONEY FROM WIFE AND IRS IN DIVORCE ACTION MAY GET PRISON TIME OF UP TO 95 YEARS FOR TAX FRAUD AND EVASION
Tax evasion is a serious crime. It is an enormous task and undertaking that rarely succeeds unless exorbitant monetary penalties and prison time are the ultimate goal. Taxpayers risk everything when they attempt to conceal any part of their financial portfolio, including any amount of their assets, from the IRS.
OWE THE IRS? YOU MAY LOSE YOUR PASSPORT
The Internal Revenue Service, probably the most-hated government agency in America, just became more powerful, and probably more ominous. As everyone knows, IRS is the only agency that can, without going to Court, seize your asses and empty your bank accounts – one of the reasons they earned the title of being the most feared agency. Now, the IRS has been empowered to seize American passports of delinquent taxpayers, maybe even preventing those taxpayers from domestic flights.
FEDERAL TAX IMPLICATIONS FOR SAME-SEX COUPLES MARRIED UNDER STATE LAWS
In June of 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court held in U.S. v. Windsor that provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) were unconstitutional. Prior to this ruling, Section 3 of DOMA required that, for purposes of federal enactments, marriage be defined as the union of one man and one woman and the word spouse be defined as someone of the opposite-sex who is a husband or wife.
WHAT? I HAVE TO PAY TAXES ON MY LAWSUIT AWARD?
You’ve just received an award as the prevailing party in a lawsuit and it’s just a few weeks before the April 15th tax deadline. As you organize your documentation for the preparation of your taxes, you suddenly wonder if you have to pay taxes on the legal proceeds that you received a few weeks earlier. Are they indeed taxable? Whether you must include the amount of the proceeds in your income depends on all the facts and circumstances of each individual case. It also depends upon the type of injury incurred.