by Brian Mahany Many small businesses hire payroll processing companies to avoid the volumes of paperwork associated with weekly payrolls. Cutting checks; deducting state, unemployment, social security and federal taxes; keeping track of year-to-date deductions; filing various tax returns and remitting the taxes on a timely basis takes quite a bit of time. It’s almost […]
America's Tax Gap – Who Is At Fault And What Should We Do About It
by Brian Mahany America’s tax gap – the difference between what the IRS collects and what it should collect. Estimates differ widely but everyone agrees that it is measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually. In the last comprehensive study, the IRS estimated it collects 84% of what is due each year. President […]
Tax Avoidance Schemes and Whistleblower Rewards
Hiding Money from Uncle Sam? Don’t! Every failed tax scheme started with folks who didn’t think they would get caught. And many of the people who end up in prison are pretty smart people. Doctors, lawyers, business executives and even billionaires. Each thought they had a foolproof idea. Many of those ideas involve tax avoidance […]
Feds Target CPA’s, Lawyers – IRS Whistleblower Post
[Post updated March 2021] When this post was written ten years earlier, the Justice Department had just convicted the former chairman of prominent CPA firm BDO Seidman as well as two attorneys from Jenkens and Gilchrist. The three were convicted for for their role in a massive scheme to promote abusive tax shelters. The government […]
U.S. Tax Court Disallows 419A Plan, Upholds Penalties
In a recent U.S. Tax Court case, taxpayers suffered a double loss. The taxpayers, consisting of four couples, had purchased welfare benefit plans marketed by Benistar 419 Plan Services. Under the plan, Benistar provided preretirement life insurance to select employees of companies enrolled in the plan. Small employers like the plans because they allow pretax […]
Three Types of Welfare Benefit Plan Frauds
[Post updated May 2021] When this post was first written in 2011, welfare benefit plans were a hot topic with the IRS. Huge penalties – up to $200,000 per year, criminal investigations, civil suits and many, many scams. If getting huge fines from the IRS wasn’t enough, several promoters of these plans managed to get […]
Tax Preparer Fraud and IRS Whistleblower Rewards
Tax Preparer Fraud Is Rampant In February 2020, Myles Hannigan was sentenced to 52 months in prison. When he gets out, he must pay the IRS $3,270,566.89. His crime? Filing false tax returns on behalf of his customers. Hannigan ran a payroll business. Or should we say, “was.” When he isn’t allowed to handle other […]
Operation Brass Tax – IRS Charges 26 Tax Preparers
It’s January and tax season is in full swing. The IRS says that because of recent law changes, it can’t start processing certain returns until well into February. That fact has further elevated the stress levels of CPA’s and preparers. With any luck, however, by mid April all can head to Cancun, soak up the […]
New Felony Charges Against UBS Banker – Business as Usual?
Just when all the UBS litigation began to die down, the U.S. Attorneys Office in Miami Florida filed charges against Renzo Gadola, a former UBS banker. Gadola is charged with the felony crime of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Treasury. The criminal complaint provides startling evidence as to the conduct of UBS and their efforts […]
Now Coming to a Church Near you… the IRS?
by Brian Mahany According to an Internal Revenue Service report released last month, there are 1.8 million tax exempt organizations in the United States that collectively control well over $3 trillion in assets. In recent years, the IRS has increased its scrutiny of the non-profit center. The Criminal Investigation Division (IRS CID) is now jumping […]