Swiss banks have long held a reputation for being the place to go for secrecy. The mystique may, however be crumbling. Last month a District Court judge in Miami, Florida granted an Internal Revenue Service John Doe summons request. The court ordered UBS to turn over records with the names…
Michael Fuller, an accountant from Florida, and Carl Perry, a food broker from Greenville, South Carolina, were sentenced on May 5, 2008 in federal court for tax evasion. Fuller was found guilty by a jury in July of 2007 and Perry pleaded guilty in May 2007 for conspiracy to defraud…
Apparently there must be a lot of money in tacos. Karl James, a former owner and operator of more than 50 Taco Bell franchises in Southern California and Arizona, was sentenced to serve 36 months in jail and three years of supervised release months for bankruptcy fraud and tax evasion.…
The United States Tax Court (Tax Court) granted innocent spouse relief to Chrystina Nihser, overturning a decision by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) . Nihser v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2008-135. Ms. Nihser had applied for innocent spouse relief under Internal Revenue Code § 6015(f), so called “equitable relief.” This is,…
The United States Tax Court (Tax Court) has held that in innocent spouse cases under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) § 6015 it will consider evidence at trial that was not part of the administrative record. Porter v. Commissioner, 130 T.C. No. 10 (2008). The innocent spouse ruling in Porter was…
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) is alleging a massive tax fraud scheme by two European bankers. They have been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to defraud the IRS pursuant to 18 U.S.C 371. According to the indictment among other things Bradley Birkenfeld, a former USB banker and…
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to dismiss tax fraud charges leveled by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at the owner of a small business. United States v. Greve, 490 F.3d 566 (7th Cir. 2007). The case illustrates the perils of representing yourself in a civil tax audit involving…
A Southern California tax return preparer, Matthew Carl Berry, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS pursuant to 18 U.S.C 371, and three counts of filing false federal income tax returns. According to the indictment among other things Berry prepared false documents to be used in…
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California upheld a decision of the United States Tax Court (Tax Court) denying innocent spouse relief pursuant to Internal Revenue Code § 6015. Generally spouses filing joint income tax returns are both liable for any taxes due. In certain circumstances, however, one spouse…
David Szen, the former traveling secretary for the New York Yankees, was sentenced on April 4, 2008 to 2 years probation for tax crimes. Szen was also ordered to pay a tax debt of approximately $10,285 in taxes, plus tax penalties and interest, as well as a fine in the…