Category: Tax: Audits, Litigation & Collection

The federal Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI) ended on September 9, 2011.  This means that taxpayers with unreported foreign bank accounts have to make some tough choices about how to proceed if they intend to voluntarily disclose those accounts to the IRS.  2011 OVDI Recap OVDI offered immunity from criminal...

This next post in the "anatomy of an audit" multi-post series outlines why a person or a business should strongly consider appealing an unfavorable tax audit decision and how they can go about seeking such an appeal. Why Appeal an Adverse Audit Decision Most taxpayers do not challenge an unfavorable...

Proceeds from a settlement involving an employment-related discrimination case may be taxable to the employee under some circumstances and not taxable in others.  Non-taxable settlement amounts: Medical expenses associated with medical distress; Emotional distress, pain or suffering resulting from a physical injury; Personal injury or sickness; and Legal costs associated...

Some recent court decisions and legislation give the IRS more flexibility to apply a six-year audit statute of limitations in more of its cases.  The IRS even argues for no statute of limitation for audits in cases involving fraud or deceit.  This article discusses the various audit periods enforced by...

Many people believe in the myth of the "audit lottery." The audit lottery myth encourages the perception that the IRS chooses returns to audit at total random. Under a completely random system, taxpayers who have accurate and correct information on their tax returns would have the same chance of being...

Filling taxes with a spouse as "married filing jointly" may cause problems if one spouse contributes incorrect, false, or fraudulent information, or doesn't pay their share. One spouse may be on-the-hook for tax or penalty payments even though the other spouse was the wrongdoer. Moreover, one spouse may become liable...

San Francisco's Real Estate Watchdog Program In an effort to recover some of the millions of dollars lost to San Francisco from tax evasion, City Supervisors passed an ordinance in 2006 to award those who report others who are cheating on their property taxes. While the historic Proposition 13 protects...