The IRS tends to keep an eye on unreasonable compensation in three distinct situations. The first involves a C-corporation that overpays their shareholder-employees in order to increase its deduction for business expenses. The second involves S-corporations who underpay shareholder-employees to reduce payroll tax obligations, and shareholder FICA taxes. The third…
If you fail to file your tax return when you have a legal obligation to do so, the IRS can use the Substitute for Return (SFR) procedure to file it for you. There are several disadvantages to this scenario from a taxpayer’s perspective, and you should take action immediately upon…
A Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing may be your last chance to prevent an IRS collection action, such as bank account levy. It is also an opportunity request that the IRS withdraw or release its tax lien. At a CDP hearing, you may request an installment agreement, offer in compromise,…
Most audits can be appealed internally within the IRS, without requiring litigation in Tax Court. The IRS Appeals Office is independent from the IRS auditing division, and would prefer to settle cases quickly rather to take them to Tax Court. There are several reasons taxpayers should consider appealing the results…
Your unresolved tax debt could prevent you from taking your next trip overseas. The IRS has the right to certify to the State Department that an individual has seriously delinquent tax debt. Upon receiving this certification, the State Department will generally not issue you a new passport, and will revoke…
The IRS Offer in Compromise (OIC) program is commonly associated with taxpayers who owe tax debt, but have insufficient assets or resources to pay it off. The IRS will agree to settle the tax debt for less—sometimes significantly less—than the amount owed if the taxpayer agrees to pay as much…
Civil tax fraud penalties are 75% of the underpayment of tax attributable to tax fraud. Whenever the IRS believes that a taxpayer has intentionally violated a known legal duty, these penalties can be assessed, in addition to possible criminal prosecution. The IRS or the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) need…
The IRS may be able to collect delinquent tax debt from a non-liable spouse in some cases. This means that tax debt that was accrued by one spouse on a return filed separately, may still result in collection action being taken on the other spouse. However, the IRS cannot pursue…
What seemed like a minor transgression when filing your tax return could end up being a tax crime punishable by years in prison. The IRS Criminal Investigation Division (CI) pursues about 3,000 criminal prosecutions per year to provide a deterrent effect to all taxpayers. If you have been chosen as…
Some taxpayers are not aware of the requirement that they file a Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) if the value of their foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the year. Even taxpayers who are aware of their obligation to disclose offshore bank accounts may not understand every…