Did you attend the Accounting & Finance Show earlier this month? Many of our friends and colleagues gave great presentations on a wide range of topics. Our attorneys were honored to present on IRS Appeals and Collections, New York State Tax Collections, and Residency Audits. If you couldn’t attend, here are a few topics
According to a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article, over 362,000 people currently hold a tax debt that would make them ineligible for renewal or issuance of passports. Under a law passed in 2015, the IRS can refuse to issue or renew passports or can revoke passports of seriously delinquent taxpayers. An IRS spokesperson
A Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing is an important option for taxpayers giving them the right to appeal IRS lien and levy actions. The CDP hearing was introduced 20 years ago to protect taxpayers from overreaching by the IRS. It is now used routinely. However, whether or not to request a CDP hearing depends
The IRS provides a way for taxpayers to amicably resolve disputes over back taxes through mediation. Mediation is an informal process in which an impartial third party, known as a mediator, tries to help disputing parties reach an agreement. The process is entirely voluntary and nonbinding, meaning that no one, including the mediator, can
Taxpayers who file joint tax returns are jointly and severally liable for any liability arising from that tax year. This means each spouse is 100% personally liable for any tax, interest, and penalties owed so one spouse may be held responsible for all the tax due. This is true even if they later divorce
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced that it plans to close the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) on Sept. 28, 2018. In general, U.S. taxpayers have an obligation to disclose offshore accounts or assets. The OVDP allows taxpayers to voluntarily resolve their past noncompliance. Over $11.1 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties have
Did you know that in certain cases the IRS can hold an individual personally responsible for a business’s outstanding IRS liabilities? The IRS can assess a “Trust Fund Recovery Penalty” (TFRP) against individuals associated with the business who meet specific criteria. When a business or employer fails to remit to the IRS the income
Getting a notice that you are being audited by the IRS or New York State Tax Department is scary. The worst thing to do is ignore it. Not responding to a notice will only magnify tax problems. It is far better to seek assistance from a professional and face the issues as you work
Last year, the IRS announced that it was testing expanded criteria for streamlined processing of taxpayer requests for installment agreements. When taxpayers owe money to the IRS and it is not possible or feasible to pay the balance due all at once, they may qualify for an Installment Agreement (IA), which permits payment over
Many taxpayers are unaware of enforcement procedures that can be used against them to collect back taxes. The difference between how New York and the IRS collect on that money may not seem crucial. However, it is important to understand how New York State tax warrants and federal tax liens work in order to
A recent court decision by the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit found a shareholder and employee of a defunct company was liable for his share of the company’s tax debt problems. The case was particularly hard on the taxpayer since he was a victim of the majority shareholders’ fraud, but was still found to
Now that tax season is over, it is an important time to re-visit the difference between the IRS rules and the Medicaid eligibility rules – in order to avoid potential costly mistakes. For example, you may want to give a gift of $14,000 to your children and benefit from the IRS annual gift tax exemption.
If you owe more in back taxes than you have in assets and income, the IRS may provide a remedy. An IRS Offer in Compromise (OIC) is an agreement between the taxpayer and the IRS to settle the taxpayer’s liabilities for less than the full amount owed. However, there are strict requirements for an OIC and
The IRS and New York State have been progressively expanding their arsenal of tools to collect back taxes from delinquent taxpayers. At the recent BOOM B2B Expo and Executive Speaker Conference, we spoke to business owners about some of the most powerful enforcement techniques used by the federal and state government. IRS collection methods: Passport revocation.
Modern technology has made information sharing agreements by tax agencies easy and cost-effective. Both federal and state governments can seek data from other agencies and no longer have to rely solely on their own resources to uncover information about individuals and businesses. For example, when a taxpayer is audited by the IRS, the IRS
