Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen speaking at the Austin, Texas, Internal Revenue Service campus Friday, Sept. 6. The Secretary's remarks included news of progress collecting unpaid taxes from rich nonfilers. (Screen capture from Treasury YouTube video) The U.S. Treasury’s balance has grown recently, thanks to Internal Revenue Service’s success in collecting from high-wealth individuals who neglected to file tax returns. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel this morning announced that to date $1.3 billion has been recovered from wealthy nonfilers. The new collection effort, kicked off in 2023 and led by dozens of senior employees, focused... Read more →
Tax crimes
Photo by Alesia Kozik The 2024 election features a lot of firsts. We’ve seen the first sitting president to withdraw from the race after securing enough delegates to win his party’s nomination. The first woman of color seeking the presidency. The first person convicted of (and facing more) felony charges running against her. It’s also the first presidential race in which crypto currency could play a major role. Blockchain companies have supplied 48 percent of the $248 million of corporate money donated to influence federal elections this cycle, according to research by the nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen. To be... Read more →
Photo by Katt Yukawa on Unsplash Crowdfunding, a personal way of raising money that’s been supercharged by social media’s reach, has tax implications. Most of us are familiar with charitable crowdfunding. Expect to see a lot more of that in the wake of natural disasters, with solicitations by individuals and groups looking for help for themselves or others. In addition to charitable fundraising, there also are lots of online financial solicitations by and for businesses. Regardless of the crowdfunding reason, the Internal Revenue Service notes that distribution of the funds may be includible in the gross income of the person... Read more →
Yes, alligators, like this one enjoying an open water area of the everglades, are as much a cliché as Florida man escapades. But a gator seemed a good emblem for the IRS' persistence in going after a Florida man who evaded millions in taxes for around two decades. (Photo by Kay Bell) This Florida man story is much more serious that the Sunshine State memes you tend to see online. Aug. 13, Roger Whitman pleaded guilty to evading more than $2.4 million in taxes on income he earned from his business. The 76-year-old Ormond Beach, Florida, man’s business was manufacturing... Read more →
Both taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service depend on tax professionals doing their jobs in, well, a professional manner. A crucial part of the job is ensuring the security of clients’ tax information. Security measures are particularly important as everyone — tax pros, taxpayers, and the IRS — increasingly rely on electronic methods to complete tax tasks. In fact, tax professionals are legally required to secure their clients’ data. The Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, also known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act after the names of its primary Congressional sponsors, mandates that financial institution companies ensure the security and confidentiality... Read more →
Update, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024 — Hurricane Debby's effects continue to be felt, both physically and when it comes to taxes. The Internal Revenue Service today added Lycoming, Potter, Tioga, and Union counties in Pennsylvania to the storm's tax relief list. The Keystone State taxpayers join those in in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Vermont. Update, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024 — Hurricane Debby has finally moved out of the United States, but her trek from Florida’s Gulf Coast, back into the Atlantic, then up the Eastern Seaboard was incredibly destructive. Remnants of Debby were still causing problems when... Read more →
Americans Evan Gershkovich (at center of back group, the back of his head visible) and Alsu Kurmasheva (hugging one family member and reaching for another), after arriving at Joint Base Andrews late Aug. 1. They were among those who were wrongfully imprisoned in Russia, and finally released following an historic prisoner swap. (White House photo via Facebook) I cannot image what goes through the mind of a person wrongfully imprisoned in a foreign country. I do know what they aren’t thinking about. Taxes. But when these United States citizens finally do get home, they must consider their tax situation. The... Read more →
Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash The New York Times, like many newspapers, runs a weekly quiz in which readers can test their knowledge of newsworthy events that happened the previous week. In the newspaper’s July 19 quiz, question number 4 (below) about U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's recent federal trial conviction caught my eye. You’ll know why the minute you look at the multiple choice answers offered. The last multiple choice charge is the correct one. Menendez was not charged with nor convicted of tax evasion. He was convicted of participating in a vast international bribery scheme, steering aid and... Read more →
Photo by Alesia Kozik In the last 15 years, virtual currency has grown into a trillion-dollar industry. It’s exponential growth is reflected in the number of types of virtual currency. Since April 2020, the crypto options have jumped from 5,000 to more than 26,000 by July 2023. The Internal Revenue Service has faced digital currency tax compliance complications from the get-go. The challenges have increased as the sector and its advocates have grown. Evasive crypto transactions and how effectively the IRS deals with the taxpayers who employ them is the subject of a recent Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration... Read more →
Sometimes the only way to catch wrongdoers and end abuse is by getting inside information. But whistleblowers often are fearful of coming forward, despite myriad laws designed to protect those who come forward. These protections were enacted for the most part in the Whistleblower Protection Act, enacted in 1989. While it focused on federal employees, the Occupations Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) created the Whistleblower Protection Program to enforce existing statutes that prevent employers from retaliating or discriminating against a whistleblower. Now some U.S. Senators are looking to update the 35-year-old law, specifically with regard to federal employee whistleblowers who... Read more →
I hope you’re having a great long July 4th holiday break. I’m catching up on some podcasts, and one is a good fit for this week's Tax Felon Friday feature. Guy Ficco, who took over as head of the IRS Criminal Investigation division in April, spoke with Bloomberg Tax reporter Erin Slowey in the latest edition of Talking Tax podcast. Ficco has spent his 29-year IRS career as part of CI, so he’s seen firsthand how the tax investigative component has changed over the years. Changing times: Some things have evolved for everyone in every job. Many can relate to... Read more →
Photo by cottonbro studio The Internal Revenue Service's whistleblower program helped the agency collect $338 million in fiscal year 2023. The IRS Whistleblower Office also noted in its 2023 report, issued on June 24, that it paid whistleblowers 121 awards, totaling $88.8 million, for the revenue-increasing information. That awards total was more than double the $37.8 million the office paid in fiscal 2022. But the total number of whistleblower awards for FY23 dropped, going from 132 in 2022 to 121 the following fiscal year. And to keep the Whistleblower Office on pace to help with tax compliance, the latest report... Read more →
Photo by Nick Night on Unsplash All taxpayers are supposed to be guaranteed privacy when it comes to their tax information filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Unfortunately, the IRS’ system is not immune to security breaches. Most of the time, it’s regular taxpayers like you and me whose personal data is of interest to crooks who want it to file fraudulent tax returns. But from 2018 to 2020, an IRS contractor stole years of tax returns and filing information related to thousands of the United States' wealthiest people. The contractor, Charles Littlejohn, then disclosed that tax info to the... Read more →
A good working relationship can make a boss and employee a great team. But sometimes, greed gets the better of one of them. (Photo by SEO Galaxy on Unsplash) One of my previous jobs was assistant to an executive in a multinational corporation. Among my duties was helping my boss draft our department’s annual budget. I also was her surrogate in reviewing and processing expenses for our area’s employees, as well as making payments for other expenditures. My boss and I worked closely on these and other projects, and over the years we also became good friends. We shared years... Read more →
Paul Baxendale-Walker, a former tax advisor and attorney, or solicitor as the profession is known in the United Kingdom, has had his share of run-ins with British officials. Most recently, Baxendale-Walker was facing a £14 million penalty ($17.7 million U.S.) sought by His Majesty's Revenue & Customs, or HMRC, the British version of our Internal Revenue Service. HMRC filings against the Baxendale-Walker estimate his schemes have cost the exchequer some £1 billion ($1.27 billion U.S.) in lost taxes. Now, however, Baxendale-Walker is off the hook for the fine. But what's probably more frustrating for U.K. tax officials that losing out... Read more →
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash Remember the Paradise Papers? They are part of the alliterative financial revelations by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Per the ICIJ’s blurb, the Paradise Papers reveal in 2017 exposed the “secrets of the global elite” hidden in the files of “prestigious offshore law firms, a specialized trust company and 19 company registries in secrecy jurisdictions.” That ICIJ financial scoop was preceded in 2013 by the Panama Papers, and followed in 2021 by the Pandora Papers. Now, best-selling Swedish author Håkan Nesser, whose name appeared in the Paradise Papers, has been sentenced to... Read more →
Scenic Georgetown is one of the most popular neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. It’s where the D.C. Office of the Attorney General (OAG) alleged a bitcoin billionaire lived for years, but did not pay District income taxes. (Photo courtesy GeorgetownDC.com) Where you live affects your taxes, says the woman who’s spent most of her life in two states, Texas and Florida, without a personal income tax. For a while, though, I did live in two tax collecting jurisdictions, Washington, D.C., and Maryland. Fortunately for the hubby and me, when we resided in the national capital, we weren’t on the District of... Read more →
No, not that guy. However, this month's federal tax trial in a North Texas courtroom does have a connection to Donald J. Trump and some interesting similarities to his falsification of business records trial just concluded in New York City state court. In the Texas trial, John Anthony Castro, who briefly sought nomination as the GOP’s 2024 presidential candidate and pestered the Party's presumptive nominee with lawsuits, was convicted on May 24 on 33 counts of federal tax fraud. Federal prosecutors said Castro’s scheme resulted in more than $15.5 million in tax losses to Uncle Sam. Global marketer of tax... Read more →
Alcatraz Island's federal penitentiary once housed the most infamous tax evader, Al Capone. This particular Big House is no longer used to house felons, but the U.S. legal system has plenty more facilities where it can send those convicted of tax crimes. (Photo by Chris6d - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0) Being a Big Law attorney has its benefits. Working for one of the most prestigious law firms in the United States, usually in one of the country’s major metropolises, means prestige and money. But one such attorney apparently didn’t properly report his income to the Internal Revenue Service. And... Read more →
Shortly after MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani joined the Los Angeles Dodgers, a federal sports gambling scandal involving his now-former translator Ippei Mizuhara broke. This week, Mizuhara (below left), agreed to a plea deal. (Mizuhara photo by Moto "Club4AG" Miwa from USA - Angels vs Mariners 2019-6-8 Anaheim Stadium, CC BY 2.0. Ohtani photo by All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA - Dodgers at Nationals, CC BY-SA 2.0.) Sports and courts too often coincide outside the usual tennis venues. Leagues are sued by competitors. Broadcasting rights battles are litigated. Players’ union grievances are heard by various judges. Individual players sometimes... Read more →