Most people don’t know that the IRS is broken into two, almost separate halves: the Assessment Division and the Collections Division. So what? Who cares about the IRS’s Org Chart? You should care. Because that division has a lot of implications for taxpayers. Read more>>
Rising real estate prices create tax problems for owners selling property. While it’s great to sell at high prices, it’s also discouraging to pay big capital gains taxes on the proceeds. That “gain” – the difference between sales proceeds and the adjusted basis in the property (the amount paid for it originally) can be deferred with Section 1031 exchanges. But the rules are complex. Read more>>
You just received a notice from the IRS that you’re being audited. I’m sorry: it’s a stressful experience. But, now that you’re in it, here are the most important things to keep in mind. Read more>>
There’s no shortage of bureaucratic bungling and ineptitude by the IRS. My problem isn’t coming up with stupidities from the IRS, it’s choosing which one to feature because the Tax Trolls are so busy coming up with hijinks and shenanigans. Read more>>
The IRS’s enforcement priorities often appear – well – insane. Consider the cases of two current clients: one client owes the IRS $900,000, and the IRS thinks the other client owes $6,000 from a IRA distribution he took the year of the Woolsey Fire. We’re disputing the $6,000: Congress relaxed the rules for people in the disaster zone. Who’s the IRS going after? My client who had to evacuate from his house with the $9,000 tax bill. Huh? Seriously? Read more>>
I was a tax attorney at the IRS for a decade. So you know I’ve been all over the fascinating story that the IRS recently subjected former FBI Directors James Comey and Andrew McCabe to its most invasive NRP audit. Comey and McCabe were famously fired and publicly abused by former President Trump. Suspicious minds now wonder whether IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, a Trump appointee, ordered the audits on these two men as a form of political retribution. Very unlikely. Here’s why.Read more>>
A newly divorced woman comes to me in shock: in the divorce settlement, her husband accepted all responsibility for the $400,000 in taxes they owed, but the IRS is now threatening to levy on her meager bank accounts. What’s up? Read more>>
Regular readers know I occasionally post stories about the IRS and California Tax Agency’s more absurd shenanigans. Unfortunately, I see a LOT of shenanigans. Here are two recent Tales from the Tax Troll Trenches Read more »
There are many obligations taxpayers have which, if not done or not done on time, are subject to penalties and fines from the IRS. These obligations range from the obvious, Read more »
Debtor’s often have Notice of Federal Tax Lien outstanding at the time they file bankruptcy. How are these handled? Broadly, a properly-noticed lien survives bankruptcy. It continues to attach to any property Read more »
