A recent spate of mail thefts has left the IRS holding the bag when taxpayer refunds have failed to reach those taxpayers. Congress has begun looking into these thefts. Some have occurred from USPS employee theft, but others...more
Despite bank policies, training, computer warning banners, governing laws and banking regulations, bank employees still take bank or customer data as their employment ends. They take potential or current customer lists,...more
Back in 2005 when I was a trial attorney at the United States Department of Justice, I worked to enforce the John Doe summons on PayPal, Inc. in the federal district court in the Northern District of California, which summons...more
The National Taxpayer Advocate recently issued her Fiscal Year 2020 Objectives Report to Congress, reviewing the successes and challenges of the 2021 federal tax filing year and highlighting a series of objectives and...more
”Not if, but when" is a phrase commonly used to describe data breach risk. Holding just under $11 trillion in assets, employer-sponsored retirement plans are a particularly enticing target for cybercriminals. Through audits...more
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, was enacted in March 2020 and created a refundable tax credit for individuals. The advance payments authorized by the CARES Act are referred...more
In a Joint Cybersecurity Advisory issued Wednesday, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Health and Human Services warned of an imminent ransomware...more
In a News Release yesterday afternoon, the IRS confirmed that the tax filing and payment deadline of July 15 will not be further extended. (In a March News Release, the IRS had previously extended the April 15 filing deadline...more
In News Release 2020-130 issued yesterday, the IRS Office of Chief Counsel announced a time-limited settlement offer for certain taxpayers with pending docketed Tax Court cases involving syndicated conservation easement...more
The Internal Revenue Regulations provide for a defense from the 20% negligence penalty imposed under Section 6662(a) of the Internal Revenue Code only where the taxpayer’s “return position is reasonably based on one or more...more
For the time being, many Americans are at home due to the COVID-19 virus, but they are continuing to work, learning to homeschool and socializing with friends thanks to virtual platforms. Although there are a variety of...more
In Executive Order 20-09 issued Monday, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson continued his strong leadership in this troubling time by extending the 2019 individual income tax filing date and the individual income tax payment...more
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Chuck Rettig has announced the People First Initiative to provide immediate relief to taxpayers, noting that "We are temporarily adjusting our processes to help people and...more
In an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) interim guidance memorandum authored by Sunita Lough, Deputy Commissioner, Services and Enforcement, the IRS has temporarily approved the acceptance of “signature images” and “digital...more
4/1/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Electronic Filing ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Federal Taxes ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Filing Requirements ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Relief Measures ,
Required Forms ,
Tax Returns ,
U.S. Treasury
In an internal agency-wide email from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Human Capital Officer Robin Bailey, Jr., beginning March 30th all employees—but for those in “mission-critical duties”—were instructed to evacuate the work...more
On July 1, 2019, President Trump signed the Taxpayer First Act (“Act”), which includes a host of important expanded taxpayer protections ranging from adjustments to criminal tax seizures, to John Doe summonses, to the...more
As attorneys, our livelihood is often heavily dependent upon the keeping of secrets. But in this complex electronic-data driven environment we work in, where physical security via locked doors and piercing alarms may no...more
3/20/2019
/ Advisory Opinions ,
American Bar Association (ABA) ,
Client Data ,
Confidential Information ,
Data Breach ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Law Practice Management ,
Legal Ethics ,
Model Rules ,
Notice Requirements ,
PIPA ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Management ,
Wall Street
The Internal Revenue Service has had a long-standing practice of providing taxpayers with potential criminal exposure a means to come into compliance with the law and potentially avoid criminal prosecution through the making...more
In our last article, we showed you how to evaluate where your organization sits on the landscape of readiness and preparedness. In this concluding article, we identify concrete steps you can immediately employ to move your...more
11/5/2018
/ Breach Notification Rule ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Employee Training ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Hospitals ,
PHI ,
Popular ,
Risk Management ,
Vendors
From the recent headline-grabbing attacks on hospitals and municipalities, the specter of cybersecurity threats looms large. As a result, spending on cybersecurity initiatives is expected to reach $96 billion this year....more
11/5/2018
/ Breach Notification Rule ,
Covered Entities ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Hospitals ,
NIST ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI ,
Risk Management
According to a confidential FBI alert reported upon by Krebs on Security last Friday, the FBI issued an alert to banks concerning what is called an Unlimited ATM Cashout, attacks of which are expected in the near future....more
8/17/2018
/ ATMs ,
Banks ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Debit Cards ,
FBI ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Hackers ,
Popular ,
Risk Management
Accounting firms have specific rights and duties that come into play when they market to their clients using data gleaned from the return preparation process. The general rule is that returns and return information cannot be...more
In a battle of competing statutes, the First Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the IRS’s good faith belief that it had a right to collect debts discharged in bankruptcy because the debtor had filed a fraudulent return or...more
6/19/2018
/ Adversary Proceedings ,
Automatic Stay ,
Bankruptcy Court ,
Creditors ,
Debt Collection ,
Debtors ,
Dischargeable Debts ,
IRS ,
Settlement Violations ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Fraud
In Notice 2018-54, the IRS has notified taxpayers that proposed regulations are forthcoming which will deny state attempts to convert a taxpayer’s state and local tax obligations to a charitable deduction in order to avoid...more
5/25/2018
/ Charitable Deductions ,
IRS ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government ,
State Taxes ,
Substance Over Form Rule ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
We learned some important lessons this week about the dangers inherent to losing control of your customer or client data, either through hacking, internal theft, or poorly designed controls over what your business associates...more
3/22/2018
/ Cambridge Analytica ,
Client Data ,
Consent ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
Data Mining ,
Data Protection ,
Election Results ,
Hackers ,
Personal Data ,
Popular ,
Social Media