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The subject of tax shelters and financial transactions meant to reduce taxable income has been a perpetual source of contention between taxpayers and the IRS. A recent and prominent case, Superior Trading LLC et al. v Commissioner of Internal Revenue, No. 12-3367, tipped the issue in favor of the IRS. In a hit to taxpayers […]

The IRS plans to step up investigations into businesses that may wrongly classify employees as contractors. Employment tax law deals with employee-employer relationships in terms of tax obligations.  Employers can classify people they hire as “employees” or “independent contractors”. There are several cost benefits to labeling someone an independent contractor, leading to an incentive to do just that even when the relationship and dynamics of day-to-day work are similar to

If you receive your “Notice & Demand of Payment” and you don’t pay the tax debt, the IRS can then choose pursue the lien on your property. When they do, all of your creditors are notified that the government now has a claim against your property. Not only does it place a lien against property that

Did you know that you have the power as an individual taxpayer to appeal almost any decision made by the IRS? In fact, you can appeal audit findings, penalties and interest, rejected offers-in-compromise, liens, seizures, garnishments and other collection actions. However, according to the IRS, “Appeals is not for you if: – Your only concern

It’s ridiculous that a taxpayer might not be able to count on getting a right answer from the IRS regarding tax questions, especially considering that the IRS is the agency that is charged with the task of enforcing tax laws. However, you may find yourself in a position where you’re already past the point of

In the United States, you are to file and pay taxes. The only thing that’s voluntary about it is that you are the one that gets to do it, instead of the government doing it for you. Because of that, you can choose to use various legal tax exemptions to your advantage to pay lower taxes. If

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the IRS can read your electronic communications. In 1986, the Electronic Communication Privacy Act gave government agencies such as the IRS the authority to examine any electronic communications older than 180 days. Even if you erase all your messages and statuses, rest assured that social networks, phone

The IRS has entered social media in hopes of catching tax violations. Look over your statements and claims on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Make sure your posts, pictures and tweets don’t state or imply you tricked the tax man. There is nothing legally wrong with bragging about your good fortune or that live-saving huge deduction

A lien on your property can certainly make life hard on you by destroying your credit and making it virtually impossible to sell your house – but it doesn’t necessarily get the IRS what they want ¼ your money. A lien is a coercion tactic more so than a direct ploy to get what they’re