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What Is an IRS “Offer in Compromise?” Tax issues are never easy to understand.  That is why when you receive information from the IRS about money owed and threats of taking assets and property, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and hopeless about the situation. Many people have employment problems, health issue, and other financial …

What is a “Notice of Deficiency” from the IRS? Tax season has come and gone, but that does not mean that everyone can ignore tax issues for the next ten months.  That is because some residents may be receiving letters from the IRS informing them of various issues, irregularities, or problems with their tax return.  …

April 15th is right around the corner and for those who haven’t gotten their taxes done the clock is ticking.  For those who have gotten their taxes filed you’d like to think you can relax at least for another year. So what happens when you receive a formal letter from the IRS called an IRS …

Charitable Conservation Easements Charitable conservation easement contribution deduction cannot be based on consideration.  A charitable contributions deduction is allowed for contributions of certain partial interests in real property for conservation purposes.  Specifically, a deduction is allowed with respect to any “qualified conservation contribution.”    Qualified Conservation Contribution Only three types of real property interests are …

IRS to Start Processing Tax Returns With Education Credit, Depreciation For those of you are eager to get your tax returns filed so that you can get your tax refund as soon as possible, the recent delay in processing caused by the issues in Washington may have been an inconvenience or frustration.  The good news …

Canceled Debt Can Create Taxable Income It’s not well known, but typically, if you are contractually bound to pay a debt, and that debt is cancelled, forgiven, or discharged or otherwise goes away you just received “income.”   The issue you need to understand is that this so-called dischargeof debt “income” taxable or not?   Under …

  Not a lot of people realize that the IRS offers fast track mediation services to assist taxpayers in resolving tax issues. A version of the IRS’ Appeals mediation program was first authorized in 1998 and it has been expanded several times since. The role of IRS Appeals is to resolve tax controversies without litigation. …

IRS Will Not Waive Penalties When Taxpayer Did Not Realize Law Was Uncertain Taxpayer claimed a deduction for a charitable contribution for contributing property, and made no effort to verify the validity of their sizable deduction.   However, the state of the law on the issue was uncertain. The IRS disallowed the deduction and then assessed …

In January, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reopened the offshore voluntary disclosure program to help people with unreported offshore accounts get current with their taxes and reporting obligations.  The IRS cited continued strong interest from taxpayers and tax practitioners after the closure of the 2011 and 2009 programs. This third offshore program will be open …

A local stockbroker, insurance agent and financial advisor, Kevin P. Mahoney, was convicted Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boston on charges of more than $50 million in tax fraud, including making more than $2.2 million in fake payments to the Internal Revenue Service. According to the Justice Department Mr. Mahoney was convicted of attempting to …