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
In civil and in criminal cases, the Government must generally act within a certain prescribed time to take action against taxpayers. In legal parlance, this period of time is known as the “statute of limitations.” The...more
2/8/2022
/ Criminal Liability ,
Foreign Bank Accounts ,
Government Investigations ,
Income Taxes ,
Indictments ,
IRS ,
Jury Instructions ,
OVDP ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning
Also Referred to as Internal Revenue Code Section 6672; I.R.C. § 6672; Section 6672; Trust Fund Recovery Penalty -
Background. In certain instances, the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) requires persons to withhold...more
Taxpayers have long utilized trust arrangements for the transfer of wealth to beneficiaries or for the protection of assets from creditors. Generally, there is nothing nefarious about these types of arrangements. Rather,...more
1/14/2022
/ Estate Planning ,
Foreign Trusts ,
Grantor Trusts ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
International Tax Issues ,
IRS ,
Tax Amnesty ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Returns ,
Voluntary Disclosure
United States citizens and residents[i] are subject to federal income tax on their worldwide income. For example, even if a United States citizen permanently relocates to a foreign country, he or she will generally continue...more
1/6/2022
/ FBAR ,
FOIA ,
GAO ,
Income Taxes ,
International Tax Issues ,
IRS ,
Offshore Funds ,
OVDP ,
Retirement Plan ,
Revenue Procedures ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Planning ,
Voluntary Disclosure
When a taxpayer makes a voluntary payment to the IRS, the taxpayer has the option to designate the application of the payment to certain periods and/or taxes. For example, if a corporation owes federal employment taxes and...more
8/18/2021
/ Employment Tax ,
IRS ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Personal Liability ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Penalties ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Returns ,
Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP) ,
Trust Funds
In many cases, taxpayers attempt to transfer assets or property to third persons to shield those assets and property from the federal tax lien or federal tax levy. Predictably, the IRS has various tools at their disposal to...more
8/17/2021
/ Criminal Liability ,
FDCPA ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Levy ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Liens ,
Tax Planning ,
Transfer of Assets
On July 29, 2021, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice Tax Division, and the IRS Commissioner all announced that a federal court in New...more
8/9/2021
/ Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
FBAR ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Financial Accounts ,
IRS ,
Offshore Banks ,
Offshore Funds ,
OVDP ,
Panama Papers ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Tax Avoidance ,
Tax Evasion
Section 7202 of the Code makes it a felony for any person to willfully fail to collect and pay over payroll taxes to the IRS. Put simply, a taxpayer may be subject to jail time if the government merely proves that the...more
Virtual currency, such as Bitcoin, continues to be a topic of interest for the IRS. Indeed, for the 2019 tax year, the IRS added for the first time a unique question to Schedule 1, Additional Income and Adjustments to...more
11/18/2020
/ Bitcoin ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Failure To Disclose ,
False Statements ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Returns ,
Virtual Currency