(Reuters) - The U.S. Internal Revenue Service's practice of slapping steep, 40-percent penalties on participants in certain alleged tax shelters will soon come to trial before the Supreme Court. Continue Reading
 | | Texas billionaire Billy Joe "Red" McCombs, a former owner of professional sports teams. |
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What are the chances of being audited? Of the 143,399,737 individual tax returns filed in calendar year 2011, 1,481,966 were audited. This works out to roughly 1.0%, down slightly from 1.1% the previous year. Of the total number of individual income tax returns audited in FY 2012, 487,408 (32.9%) were for returns with an earned income tax credit (EITC) claim, a slight increase from the 483,574 (30.9%) of all audited returns for FY 2011. Continue Reading
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(Thomson Reuters Checkpoint) On March 26, President Obama signed into law H.R.933, the Department of Defense, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013.
The bill had been approved by the House in a 318 to 109 vote on March 21, and by the Senate on March 20 by a vote of 73 to 26.
Among other things, the bill will fund the Treasury and IRS through Sept. 30, 2013.
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Protect Yourself from the Dirty Dozen Tax Scams
IRS Special Edition Tax Tip 2013-08, March 27, 2013
The IRS's annual 'Dirty Dozen' list includes common tax scams that often peak during the tax filing season. The IRS recommends that taxpayers be aware so they can protect themselves against claims that sound too good to be true. Taxpayers who buy into illegal tax scams can end up facing significant penalties and interest and even criminal prosecution.
The tax scams that made the Dirty Dozen list this filing season are:
Identity Theft.
Tax fraud through the use of identity theft tops this year's Dirty Dozen list. Combating identity theft and refund fraud is a top priority for the IRS. The IRS's ID theft strategy focuses on prevention, detection and victim assistance. During 2012, the IRS protected $20 billion of fraudulent refunds, including those related to identity theft. This compares to $14 billion in 2011. Taxpayers who believe they are at risk of identity theft due to lost or stolen personal information should immediately contact the IRS so the agency can take action to secure their tax account. If you have received a notice from the IRS, call the phone number on the notice. You may also call the IRS's Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 800-908-4490. Find more information on the identity protection page on IRS.gov. Continue Reading
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