Business Better Podcast Episode: Tax Audits, Investigations, and Global Enforcement - A Conversation with IRS Special Agent Jonathan Schnatz
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 28 - Under the Microscope: Examining the Future of the ERC
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 4 - Understanding the Employee Retention Credit
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 2 - Avoid Falling Prey: The Dirty Dozen and Other Trending Tax Scams
Argentina: A Look at the Case of Lázaro Báez - Laundering the Proceeds of Corruption and Tax Fraud
Podcast: Cum-Ex Dividend Trade Investigations
Two recent tax court cases paint an ominous picture for professionals and investors who participated in listed syndicated conservation easement transactions. Coming on the heels of the Fisher conviction and his lengthy...more
In this episode, we are joined by Special Agent Jonathan Schnatz, Senior Analyst with IRS Criminal Investigation. Special Agent Schnatz will discuss his work with an international law enforcement and tax compliance group, and...more
The House Ways and Means Committee recently advanced a bill that gives businesses a proposed deadline of January 31, 2024 to file Employee Retention Credit (ERC) claims. This comes on the heels of recent announcements by the...more
The fight against tax fraud occupies a central place in the French Finance Act for 2024. Among the various proposals is the new Article 1744 of the French tax code, which creates the offense of making instruments...more
While not as well-known as the Paycheck Protection Program, the Employee Retention Credit (“ERC”) program was another form of Covid relief provided by the federal government to businesses in 2020 and 2021. The ERC program...more
For some time, the IRS has cautioned taxpayers about filing false or fraudulent ERC claims. More recently, on September 14, 2023, the IRS issued a News Release, IR-2023-169, indicating that it would no longer process ERC...more
New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed into law new legislation expanding the reach of the New York False Claims Act (NYFCA) to entities that fail to file tax returns in New York. Unlike the federal False Claims Act...more
Taxpayers routinely ask me if they can go to jail for not paying their federal income taxes. Admittedly, the bar is not that high for felony tax evasion—the government must only prove three elements: (i) willfulness; (ii)...more
Tax Litigation: The Week of April 25th, 2022, through April 29th, 2022 Sestak v. Comm’r, TC Memo. 2022-41| April 25, 2022 | Weiler, J. | Dkt. No. 17285-18...more
Many (if not most) people and organizations approach a new year by setting new goals or implementing changes. This exercise, however, requires a reflection on the previous year’s events, successes, and failures. And...more
In Chico v. Commissioner, the taxpayers challenged the Tax Court’s assessment of a fraud penalty. The Tax Court had imposed civil fraud penalties against the married taxpayers, finding clear-and-convincing evidence of fraud...more
Freeman Law’s “The Tax Court in Brief” covers every substantive Tax Court opinion, providing a weekly brief of its decisions in clear, concise prose. The Week of August 16 – August 20, 2021 - Catlett v. Comm’r, No....more
It is tax season once again. While the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has extended this year’s filing deadline to May 17, 2021 for individuals, businesses must still file by April 15, and all U.S. taxpayers must ensure that...more
How many times can we say that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will NOT email or telephone you? We will say it again. If you receive a telephone call, email or text from someone saying they are from the IRS, it is A SCAM....more
Male Escort Gets 21 Months In Prison For Tax Case - He lied on his tax returns, resulting in a tax loss to the IRS of $278,325. A male escort who lied to the IRS about his income was sentenced to 21 months in prison and...more
Federal tax penalties have always been an IRS priority. But, perhaps more so today than three decades ago. For example, in 1987, the IRS reported that it had assessed penalties of approximately $14 billion. Compare that...more
The Internal Revenue Service has revived Form 1099-NEC to eliminate confusion about complying with new filing deadlines aimed at combatting fraud. ...more
Tax identity theft continues to be a significant problem for taxpayers. Tax identity theft occurs when criminals use the personal information of individuals and file fraudulent tax returns before the taxpayer does, requesting...more
IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is a federal agency department specifically authorized to investigate and prosecute federal income tax crimes. IRS-CI uses data analytics such as models, algorithms, and the millions of...more
In another round of warnings from the federal government on protecting yourself from tax return fraud and identity theft, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued its 2019 “Dirty Dozen” Campaign, designed to warn...more
Last week was National Consumer Protection Week. In celebration of that, this post is devoted to protection from tax identity theft. ...more
As tax season winds on, the W-2 form scam has emerged as one of the most dangerous and common phishing email schemes during this time of year....more
South Carolina imposes a number of civil tax penalties that are similar to those imposed under the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”). South Carolina’s civil tax penalties, while similar in some respects, are not the same as...more
In a recent Public Service Announcement dated February 21, 2018 entitled “Increase in W-2 Phishing Campaigns,” the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) issued another alert about an increase in phishing campaigns since the...more
Who knew—but yes, next week is Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week. How sad is it that we have to have a week devoted to education and awareness on this topic? ...more