The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and its Security Summit partners have released a warning about a new variation on phone scams by which criminals prey on taxpayers. Scammers are now using telephone numbers that mimic IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers to try to trick...
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Month: April 2018
Top FTB Tax Delinquents Owe California Over $505 Million
The Franchise Tax Board (FTB) recently published its updated list of California's top 500 tax debtors, comprising both individuals and businesses that now collectively owe the state more than $505 million in income tax. Since October 2007, this list is updated twice...
California Resident May Face Ten Years in Prison for Conspiring to File Fraudulent Tax Returns
On April 18, 2018, Ana Bajo, a California resident, pleaded guilty in the Northern District of California to conspiring to file fraudulent claims for more than $9.7 million in refunds by obtaining the personal information of others and filing more than 2,300...
Former IRS Employee Sentenced to Prison Time and Restitution for Filing False Tax Returns
On March 5, 2018, a former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee, Pamela Pringle, was sentenced in the Eastern District of California for "making opportunities for persons to defraud the United States and for making and subscribing false returns." While employed by...
Pilot Program to Fix Wage and Hour Problems
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently launched the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program, which is designed to quickly resolve unintentional minimum wage violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) without penalty to qualified...
DOJ Shuts Down Southern California Tax Return Preparer
The Department of Justice has permanently barred a Southern California tax preparer from preparing federal returns for others, following a complaint filed by the government that the tax professional had been filing returns claiming a total of more than $9 million in...
Employment Tax Crimes Can Lead to Significant Prison Time
The Department of Justice recently reminded taxpayers that evading personal or business-related tax obligations can lead to "substantial fines and penalties, and even long prison sentences." Last month, the husband-and-wife owners of a Tennessee staffing company were...
TIGTA Releases Interim Results for 2018 Filing Season
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released a report providing interim results for the 2018 federal tax filing season. As of March 2, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had received approximately 61 million tax returns and issued over...
OTA Releases Inaugural Opinions on California Tax Matters
The new California Office of Tax Appeals (OTA) just released its first seven opinions. All seven opinions were decided in the favor of the Franchise Tax Board (FTB); none of the taxpayer-appellants opted for representation by an attorney, although three...