Blogs

Tax evasion attracts stiff punishment that may include imprisonment. Penalties for tax evasion are harsh, but the IRS offers the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) to encourage taxpayers to get back into compliance. The OVDP allows taxpayers to get current with their tax filings without attracting heavy penalty and the risk of imprisonment. The penalties... Continue reading →

The U.S. has been targeting tax evasion through Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Combating tax evasion is a long, hard battle, but the IRS is making rapid improvements. In November, the U.S. made FATCA agreements with the Caymans and Costa Rica. Many more agreements are expected to be made in the coming year.The U.S.... Continue reading →

Tax debt especially if it is old and requires negotiation with the IRS, needs to be resolved with proper planning, analysis and expertise. It is essential for taxpayers to get professional help if they are seeking tax debt reduction, postponement of payment or payment through installments. There are many factors that affect tax debt resolution,... Continue reading →

Curbing tax evasion is difficult because taxes can be evaded both legally and illegally. Taxes are evaded legally using loopholes in the tax code. The recent case of Apple Inc. involved evasion of taxes using legal means such as creating a subsidiary of the company in a country, in this case, Ireland, with a much... Continue reading →

The aim of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is to bring down tax evasion by introducing transparency in the financial activities of U.S. taxpayers and U.S. financial institutions. FATCA makes it mandatory for U.S. individual taxpayers to report information about certain foreign financial accounts and offshore assets if they exceed a certain threshold.... Continue reading →

Tax fraudsters often use methods such as threatening, tempting and/or misinforming a taxpayer to obtain either confidential information or cash. They commonly use fake identities. Their usual methods of communicating with taxpayers is to send unsolicited emails pretending to be the IRS or a reputable financial institution.If taxpayers receive communication from any source that requires... Continue reading →

There are individual voices and there is the country’s law. Collective voices can re-write laws, but an individual cannot break laws. Tax laws must be complied with because, unless they are enforced, it will lead to anarchy.Many taxpayers try to avoid paying taxes because they do not believe in taxes. Their opinion might be based... Continue reading →

It is important for taxpayers to know that the IRS charges penalties and interest on any amount of tax debt that remains to be paid. That holds true for taxpayers that have qualified for tax debt payment plans. The reason the IRS charges penalties on tax debt is simple: the IRS wants taxpayers to pay... Continue reading →

There are various penalties that the IRS charges for the different kinds of tax non-compliance. The amount of penalties charged largely depends on the severity of the non-compliance. But taxpayers can avoid paying penalties in certain cases. To induce the IRS to forgive a penalty or reduce its amount, taxpayers need to convince the IRS... Continue reading →

The IRS charges penalty for non-compliance to encourage taxpayers to comply with the tax laws. The penalty for non-compliance varies depending on the gravity of the non-compliance. In some cases, it can be as high as 75 percent. Late filing of taxes, non-payment of taxes, tax fraud cases and tax evasion are some of the... Continue reading →