Cheryl Barnes LLC

08/02/2016

Specifically, the IRS is reporting an increase in “robo-calls” where scammers leave urgent callback requests telling taxpayers to call back to settle their “tax bill.” These fake calls, which often sound threatening, claim to be the last warning before legal action is taken.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued another warning about scams targeting taxpayers.

04/22/2016

07/21/2015

The National Taxpayer Advocate recommended that the IRS issue refunds to the affected taxpayers without requiring them to file amended returns. Since the majority of taxpayers use paid tax preparers, most would probably spend more than the roughly $110 average overpayment amount in preparer fees if amended returns are required. At the time the report was finalized, the IRS had not made a decision.

More than 300,000 taxpayers overpaid the Individual Shared Responsibility Payment for health insurance on their tax returns processed through the end of April, according to a new report from the National Taxpayer Advocate.

07/10/2015

A scammer who organized a scheme in which taxpayers were threatened with calls purporting to come from the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI demanding payment has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.

A scammer who organized a scheme in which taxpayers were threatened with calls purporting to come from the Internal Revenue Service demanding payment for back taxes has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.

07/08/2015

Say you settle a suit for intentional infliction of emotional distress against your neighbor for $100,000, and your lawyer keeps $40,000. You might think you’d have $60,000 of income. Instead, you’ll have $100,000 of income, followed by a $40,000 miscellaneous itemized deduction. You’ll be subject to numerous limitations–and to the alternative minimum tax or AMT–that can whittle your deduction down to nothing.

Winning a lawsuit can be a big relief, but most recoveries are taxed. What's more, paying your attorney can mean double taxes. Do your tax homework before your case settles and you can save money and headaches at tax-time.

07/03/2015

Employers who give their workers additional pay to compensate for the purchase of health insurance or direct medical expenses can be fined $100 per day, per employee.

Obamacare is full of taxes and penalties, and many of them make no sense. In particular, penalizing small employers for helping their employees is positively Kafkaesque.

07/03/2015

Lopez is accused to have helped steal more than $1 million in federal tax refund checks on his route.

The check is in the mail - but it turns out, it's a bogus refund check. A U.S. postal worker has been accused of using his mail delivery route to steal more than $1 million in federal tax refund checks.

06/17/2015

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

06/17/2015

In a clear change in policy, IRS has agreed to provide victims of identity theft with copies of the fraudulent tax returns filed using their personal and financial information. Prior to this change, victims were notified that some or all of their information had been used to file fraudulent returns but no further information was made available. That left some taxpayers concerned about the amount of information that third parties had about their personal and financial details.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced a change in policy with respect to victims of identity theft. Thanks to an inquiry from Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), IRS will now provide victims of identity theft with copies of the fraudulent tax returns filed using their personal and financial informa…

06/17/2015

The Internal Revenue Service discovered last month that criminals accessed around 104,000 tax returns through its Get Transcript application and tried to get hold of approximately 100,000 more. This information was used to file approximately 13,000 fraudulent returns resulting in over $39 million dollars of erroneous refunds.

The Internal Revenue Service discovered last month that criminals accessed around 104,000 tax returns through its Get Transcript application and tried to get hold of approximately 100,000 more.

06/14/2015

If you felt like your tax bill was a little bit higher this year, it wasn’t your imagination.

According to the Treasury Monthly statement, federal tax collections are on pace to hit a record.

05/07/2015

Nearly a thousand Internal Revenue Service employees who willfully violated the tax laws received suspensions, reprimands or counseling over a 10-year period instead of being fired, according to a new report.