Tax practice

A roundup of some of our favorite recent tax fraud cases.

Highlights of some of our favorite tax-related blogs from the past week.

Check out the digital edition of the May 2015 issue of Accounting Today.

With Small Business Week approaching next week, the Internal Revenue Service reminded small businesses Friday that have failed to timely file certain required retirement plan returns that they have until Tuesday, June 2 to take advantage of a special penalty relief program.

An Internal Revenue Service revenue officer has been indicted for committing mail and wire fraud, filing false tax returns, identity theft and perjury.

The Internal Revenue Service has made big strides in processing applications from groups seeking tax-exempt status, according to a new report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, whose 2013 report precipitated the Tea Party targeting scandal that led to the ouster of several top IRS officials.

A convicted tax preparer who was sentenced to probation in 2012 has now received a prison sentence for continuing to prepare and file tax returns in violation of a court order.

Tim Loo learned early this year that his name and Social Security number had made their way onto a fraudulent tax return, and immediately wondered whether the identity thief might also have his bank-account details or his kids’ Social Security numbers.

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee are being inundated with suggestions for tax reform, despite the limited prospects for comprehensive reform ahead of next year’s elections.

The Internal Revenue Service needs to do better at ensuring that health insurance policy issuers and self-insured plan sponsors pay a fee required under the Affordable Care Act known as the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research fee, according to a new government report.

Ideas for tax reform abound, though the prospects are not as bright as they once were.

The Internal Revenue Service needs to make further improvements in how it audits partnership tax returns, including assessing how much additional tax the partners owe after a partnership return is audited, according to a new government report.

The National Football League’s central office will become a taxable entity, ending its tax-exempt status in a move with minimal financial effect and significant symbolic value.

Certain EAs who haven’t timely renewed their enrollment status need to do so as soon as possible:

Chicago plastics manufacturer Stefan Edlis faced more than $20 million in U.S. capital gains taxes by selling his Andy Warhol painting to billionaire Steven A. Cohen eight years ago.

A New Jersey CPA and lawyer has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for conspiring with a mortgage broker to extort and defraud police officers and other victims by falsely claiming they were the subjects of Internal Revenue Service criminal investigations that he could resolve if they paid up to $20,000.

A Miami resident has been charged with threatening to destroy the Internal Revenue Service building with either fire or a bomb.

H&R Block said Monday that two-thirds of tax filers among its client base who received health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act via the state or federal insurance marketplaces had to pay back an average of $729 of the Advance Premium Tax Credit, cutting their potential refund by nearly one-third.

An OECD initiative on tax evasion is causing ripples around the world

Some of our favorite recent tax fraud cases.