“Will I get caught?” is one of the most common questions asked by potential tax cheats. The temptation to cheat the IRS is overwhelming for thousands of Americans. While no one knows whether and when they will be caught, the IRS has become much better at finding those who evade taxes. One of the best […]
Lawyers As Whistleblowers – An Ethical Conundrum
[Updated June 2020] Lawyers have a duty to protect their clients. Under our legal system, even the worst and most depraved criminals are entitled to legal representation. Our Founding Fathers wisely decided that the right to counsel was so important, that it needed to be part of the constitution and protected for all time’s sake. […]
C Corp, S Corp, LLC… REIT?
[Update: Did you lose money in a non-traded REIT investment? Visit our REIT fraud page to learn how to recover your losses.] Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT for short) are the newest way some companies are seeking to avoid corporate income tax. According to a story published on June 8th in the Wall Street Journal, […]
When Public Officials Don’t Pay Taxes – IRS Whistleblower Post
by Brian Mahany Remember the Nannygate scandal? The scandal originated in 1993 when President Bill Clinton nominated Zoe Baird to be the United States Attorney General. That nomination didn’t last long; reporters quickly learned that Baird and her husband had hired two illegal immigrants from Peru to care for their child. They also didn’t withhold […]
Charges Against US Lawyer Proceeding – Red Flag For CPAs and Lawyers That Have Clients With Offshore Accounts
[Updated 2021] Previously we reported on California attorney Christopher Rusch after he was indicted and arrested for helping two clients establish unreported foreign accounts. Rusch initially denied the charges but court documents released this month suggest he may have cut a plea deal with prosecutors. The case is being closely watched by those with unreported […]
Think No One Will Discover Your Offshore Account? Read This!
by Brian Mahany We are never surprised anymore when the feds announce a new wave of indictments against taxpayers with unreported accounts. Until 2008, the IRS didn’t look very hard and prosecutions were few. As the economy has soured, tax authorities around the world have become quite creative in finding new revenue streams. To enforce […]
Treasury Hunting Nominee Accounts – IRS Whistleblower Post
[Updated 2021] The U.S. government is getting quite sophisticated in its hunt for unreported foreign accounts and those they believe are laundering money. While most people who haven’t reported their offshore bank and brokerage accounts don’t have a clue about the disclosure rules, some do. The people who have decided not to cooperate with the […]
Lawyer Indicted For Helping Clients Set Up Offshore Swiss Bank Accounts
by Brian Mahany The IRS and U.S. Department of Justice show no sign of letting up in their quest to ferret out U.S. taxpayers with unreported offshore accounts. Earlier this week Justice officials unsealed an indictment against a former San Diego tax attorney and two of his clients for alleging hiding millions in unreported Swiss […]
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 […]
IRS Makes Enron Whistleblower a Millionaire – Are You Next?
Long before Enron became a household world, an anonymous whistleblower came forward and tipped off authoritiesThe Internal Revenue Service paid an anonymous whistleblower a $1.1 million dollar reward for information about tax fraud at Enron. The award was paid out under the old IRS whistleblower program and represents the then maximum reward. For the same […]