Subpoenaed by the Government? Take These 4 Steps Immediately!

In general, a subpoena operates like a court order that either requires you to appear in court or a Grand Jury to testify or a directive ordering you to produce documents about a certain matter. Although receiving a subpoena from the government can be surprising, and sometimes worrisome, it’s important that you don’t panic or do something rash, such as deleting the documents inquired about in the subpoena, because Read More

Did You Know that the IRS Has Special Agents?

As with any other criminal activity, tax crimes are serious and require extensive investigations. And, just like the other federal law enforcement agencies, the IRS has special agents that investigate and help to prosecute people for committing such crimes. In fact, the IRS has its own Criminal Investigation Division and is the only federal agency with the authority to conduct investigations into potential Read More

What You Should Know About the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts or FBAR

Whenever you are dealing with taxes or the IRS, the list of unknowns and potential issues is neverending. This is especially true in today’s world, where everything is done on a global scale. If you are a taxpayer (as an individual or a business) living in the United States, then you should be used to filing your taxes every year. But what if you have foreign bank accounts or investments? Who tracks that money and Read More

How to Defend Against Wage Garnishments

Wage garnishment is a type of IRS tax levy and is a means of collection by the IRS against a taxpayer who owes taxes, penalties or interest to the IRS. A levy is the IRS’s right to seize your property. So when the IRS garnishes your wages, it means that they have the right to take a percentage of your income directly out of your paycheck. Unfortunately, the IRS’s right to impose a levy against your wages is Read More

A Guide to IRS Wage Garnishments and Levies

If you have outstanding tax debts, then the IRS can impose a number of different penalties on you until your debt is paid in full. Although the penalty should never come as a surprise, as the IRS typically sends lots of notices to warn you before taking action, it’s still a scary and stressful time all the same. So what are some of the things the IRS can do if you have unpaid taxes? One of the main things the IRS Read More

21st Century Taxation Problems: The IRS and Bitcoin Cryptocurrency

Like many things to do with technology, cryptocurrency has evolved much faster than the laws designed to regulate it. Since there is money involved, the level of governmental regulations attempting to define the laws around it is that much higher. One of the most pressing and most difficult areas of regulation involving cryptocurrency is that of taxation. First, what are cryptocurrencies? They are essentially Read More

The 5 Things That Are Going Away With the New Tax Reform

Itemized deductions have been a time-honored tradition for taxpayers for years and the creativity that they can inspire have been a marvel. However, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and under the new Tax Cuts and Job Act of 2017 (TCJA), numerous cherished itemized deductions have been eliminated in favor of a doubling of the standard deduction. Let us take a moment to remember the itemized Read More

Cryptocurrency: The New Frontier for Tax Evasion and Avoidance?

As long as there are taxes, there will be efforts to stash assets to avoid paying them. With the recent crackdown of the last 10 years of anonymous bank accounts that forced numerous offshore banks to cough up details about their account holders and their assets, the next “it” place to hide assets may be (or in many cases, already is) virtual currency. The draw is undeniable considering that cryptocurrencies are Read More

ATTENTION COINBASE CUSTOMERS: Contact Us if You’ve Received an IRS Summons

One of the attractive features of cryptocurrency has been its anonymity and privacy. While no doubt many owners of cryptocurrency have declared it as income on their income tax returns and paid the necessary capital gains or other taxes, the IRS is still very concerned that there are those who have not. Recently, however, the IRS was able to make a giant leap forward in its quest to uncover the people behind the Read More

The Good and the Bad News: How the Tax Reform is Going to Affect Pass-Through Taxation of Your Business’s Income

Pass-through taxation has been one of the stalwarts of tax policy that is used by just about anyone with self-employment income, either individually or through a limited legal entity such as a limited liability company or limited liability partnership. Pass-through taxation allows these individuals to “pass through” their business earnings and declare them on their personal income tax thus saving the time and expense Read More