Tax Lawyer's Blog

“Nothing concentrates a man’s mind like the prospect of being hanged in the morning.”
- Samuel Johnson -
The New York Daily News reports that day-trader Marcos Esparza Bofill has been hit with a $172,000,000 IRS tax bill:
He failed as a day-trader and barely survived in New York on a beer budget, but Marcos Esparza Bofill has been hit [...]

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“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
- Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution -
CPA Kip Dillinger writing for Tax Notes says that a war is brewing between tax preparers [...]

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Alan Berube writing for Brookings thinks its a good thing that poor people can no longer get refund anticipation loans (RALs) (emphasis is mine):
Last week’s… positive EITC development was IRS’ decision to suspend availability of the “debt indicator” next tax filing season.
This indicator, provided to tax professionals, enables preparers to identify whether or not the taxpayer’s [...]

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Not only is Big Brother watching you, your blackjack dealer is, too.
Liz Benston of The Las Vegas Sun reports that the IRS is urging Casinos to have its employees report customers who are carrying around large sums of cash:
Several months ago, the Internal Revenue Serviceagents who investigate financial crimes in Las Vegas began calling big casinos [...]

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The Treausry Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has today issued the following press report (emphasis added):
IRS DOES NOT ALWAYS PROTECT TAXPAYERS’ RIGHTS WHEN FILING LIENS, TIGTA FINDS:
WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is not always following statutory requirements regarding the timely notification of taxpayers when liens are filed and does not always follow its own [...]

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Now that the IRS gets to decide which of us taxpayers are authorized to prepare tax returns and which of us aren’t, it can make us do just about whatever it wants by merely threatening exclusion.
It can even force us to pay it money for the “privilege” of pursuing our chosen livelihoods.
Recently the IRS issued regulations prohibiting tax preparers [...]

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If a you handled your business this inefficiently, the IRS would assess a hefty penalty against you for negligence.�
WebCPA reports:
The Internal Revenue Service’s current method of sending notices and letters is costing taxpayers millions of dollars because it results in a large amount of undeliverable mail, according to a new government report.
The report, from the [...]

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Inc. reports that four Democratic senators - Ben Nelson, D-Neb.; Mark Begich, D-Alaska; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; and Evan Bayh, D-Ind – sent a letter Monday to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman expressing their concerns about the new 1099 reporting rules:
“The new requirements may place a hardship on small businesses by creating an extra paperwork burden,” the senators wrote. [...]

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It’s not only Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson who thinks the new expanded 1099 reporting requirement is a bad idea.
Eric Blackledge and Thala Taperman Rolnick, CPA, tax issue chairs of the National Small Business Network, sent a letter last month to the leaders of the Senate Finance Committee requesting changes in the expanded 1099 reporting requirements contained [...]

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My favorite IRS person, Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson has issued her annual report to Congress.
In Fiscal Year 2011 Objectives, Olson euphemistically echoes what I and other tax bloggers have been saying more bluntly for months: The new 1099 reporting requirement is crazier than Sandra Bullock’s taste in men.
Here’s the story from WebCPA (emphasis added):
The report… expressed concern that a new [...]

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