The Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has released a report showing how the Internal Revenue Service has been dramatically impacted by government-wide efforts to reduce the size of the...more
5/7/2025
/ Audits ,
Employees ,
Employment Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Government Agencies ,
Government Efficiency ,
Hiring & Firing ,
IRS ,
Reduction of Force ,
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury
Turmoil continues to roil the highest ranks of the Internal Revenue Service, as the President has replaced the acting IRS Commissioner that he appointed just last week. As we previously wrote, on Tax Day, the President named...more
Tuesday, while millions of Americans were busy finalizing their tax returns, the President named a former IRS criminal investigator as the tax agency’s new leader. Gary Shapley, a former IRS special agent who gained...more
The ERC is a legitimate, refundable tax credit designed to help businesses that continued to pay employees while they were shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic or that experienced a significant decline in gross receipts...more
8/21/2024
/ Audits ,
CARES Act ,
Cooperation ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Deadlines ,
Employee Retention ,
Fraud ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investigations ,
IRS ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Relief ,
Voluntary Disclosure
The Internal Revenue Service has adjusted its moratorium on processing Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC) claims, announcing last week it will begin processing claims filed between September 14, 2023 and January 31, 2024. In...more
8/13/2024
/ Audits ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Employee Retention ,
Fraud ,
Investigations ,
IRS ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Relief ,
Voluntary Disclosure
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued a news release identifying five new signs that a business’s Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC) may be incorrect. It has also begun issuing a third round of letters denying...more
8/9/2024
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Retention ,
Enforcement ,
Fraud ,
IRS ,
IRS Independent Office of Appeals ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Tax Credits ,
Wage and Hour
With the IRS showing no sign of lifting its moratorium on processing Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC) claims filed after September 14, 2023, businesses whose unpaid, legitimate ERC claims are older than six months should...more
The March 22 deadline for applying to the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP) to repay improperly claimed Employee Retention Credits (ERC) at a discount is just around the corner. The VDP requires businesses to repay only...more
Thanks to a dramatic increase in funding courtesy of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the Internal Revenue Service recently announced several new, high-profile enforcement initiatives designed to generate significantly...more
3/7/2024
/ Aircraft ,
Business Expenses ,
Business Taxes ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement ,
Income Taxes ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
IRS ,
Tax Debt ,
Tax Fraud ,
Tax Revenues
The IRS recently issued a news release identifying seven signs that a business’s Employee Retention Tax Credit (the ERC) may be incorrect. The IRS identified these warning signs based on feedback from tax professionals and...more
There are several new developments in the Internal Revenue Service’s ongoing campaign to combat false and fraudulent Employee Retention Credit (ERC) claims, including an indefinite extension of the agency’s moratorium on...more
The Internal Revenue Service has announced a new Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP) that offers businesses a limited-time opportunity to repay improperly claimed Employee Retention Credits (ERC) at a discount while avoiding...more
In its most recent effort to fight fraudulent and improper Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERC) claims, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is notifying an initial 20,000 taxpayers that it is rejecting their claims. The IRS,...more
Amid an ongoing federal crackdown on fraud in COVID-19 relief programs, the IRS announced that it will offer certain employers an opportunity to withdraw Employee Retention Credit (ERC) claims if they are concerned about...more
Responding to concerns about extensive fraud and scams involving the Employee Retention Credit (ERC), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has stopped processing new ERC claims, published updated frequently asked questions...more
“If it is a conservation easement and the people who are receiving the deduction are outside of family...the IRS assumption is that it's a tax shelter.”
A backlog of conservation easement Tax Court cases and IRS audits are...more
Employers should be careful before claiming the Employee Retention Credit (ERC).
Over the past several months, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has warned taxpayers twice about third parties who advise employers to claim...more
Continued Internal Revenue Service processing delays are preventing businesses from receiving pandemic relief benefits, according to the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). And at the same time,...more
The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has applauded the Internal Revenue Service for granting automatic penalty relief related to select 2019 and 2020 returns, but asked for two tweaks to the process:
The group wants...more
The Internal Revenue Service plans to provide widespread penalty relief for the late filing of certain tax and information returns for the 2019 and 2020 tax years.
According to Notice 2022-36, this latest penalty relief...more
The Internal Revenue Service has announced the first installment of its annual “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams. Published every year, the “Dirty Dozen” comprises the twelve most prevalent tax scams that taxpayers may...more
With tax season upon us, taxpayers and tax professionals need to know how to avoid falling prey to fraudulent scams. In this episode of The Presumption of Innocence, Matthew Adams and Matthew Lee, Co-Chairs of Fox’s...more
In recognition of the continuing economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internal Revenue Service is easing its collection activities to avoid the seizure of bank accounts containing either Economic Impact...more
On October 14, 2020, FinCEN posted an incorrect message on its Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) E-Filing website. The message incorrectly stated there was a new filing extension until December 31, 2020, for all filers of Reports of...more
On March 25, 2020, following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRS unveiled its People First Initiative to provide wide-ranging compliance relief to taxpayers experiencing hardships relating to the health crisis. This...more