Tax Procedure Archives

Who Gets Paid First: the Family Member or the IRS?

When someone owes the IRS money, chances are good that they have other creditors who are also owed money. This raises questions as to who gets paid first–the third parties or the IRS. The answer is usually the IRS–if the IRS even bothers to attempt to collect. In many cases, the IRS does not ever…

IRS Can Force Business to Use Payroll Service, Court Rules

When a business fails to pay its payroll taxes, the consequences can be severe. The IRS has several collection tools at its disposal to collect unpaid payroll taxes. This includes liens, levies, and even criminal charges against the business owners. The IRS recently attempted to expand its collection powers to prevent future non-compliance. In United…

Tee Time on Taxpayers’ Dime: IRS Employee Golfing on the Job

The IRS cannot simply terminate employees as private-sector employers can. IRS employees are often shielded by complex bureaucratic processes that makes it difficult to remove them from their positions. The recent case of Sheiman v. Department of the Treasury, No. 2022-2045 (Fed. Cir. 2024), provides an opportunity to consider the IRS’s challenges in terminating an…

About “Sandbagging” in Tax Litigation

The litigation process requires parties to adhere to various procedural rules. These rules are intended to ensure fairness and efficiency in the court process. One of the most critical aspects of this process is the discovery phase, where parties exchange information and evidence relevant to the case. Some litigants may attempt to gain an unfair…

IRS Can Sidestep Taxpayers’ CDP Rights by Applying Overpayments

Imagine that Congress sets out a remedy to curb IRS abuses. And further consider that after the taxpayer pursues the remedy, the rules allow the IRS to simply sidestep the remedy. So the remedy is no remedy at all. That is what we have in the Zuck v. Commissioner, No. 25125-14L (U.S.T.C. Apr. 6, 2022)…

Tax Form Mixup Can Extend the IRS’s Statute of Limitations

Suppose you file a tax return and, months or years later, you get a letter from the IRS saying that it will not accept the tax return. The IRS letter says that you used the wrong tax form. And maybe even change the facts so that the IRS mailed this letter to you, but you…

When the IRS Comes Knocking: Addressing Tax Fraud

Tax fraud typically involves neglecting tax responsibilities, such as by not filing returns or evading tax payments, or engaging in deliberate actions to obstruct the IRS’s assessment or collection of taxes. The compliance problems that are later found to be tax fraud usually involve actions that pyramid over time. This timing issue arises as repeated…

Resolving IRS Taxes: What is “Future Income”?

When it comes to tax rules and government administrative guidance, one may expect that the provisions are clear and can be easily applied. However, this is often not the case. Even detailed regulations with explanations may fail to provide readily discernible answers. Applying such rules to common situations can still lead to questionable or incorrect…

Transferring Property to a Spouse to Avoid IRS Collections

Imagine you live in a community property state, like Texas, and jointly own a home with your spouse. You owe back taxes to the IRS and want to protect your share of the home if the IRS tries to seize your assets. You divorce your spouse and transfer your interest in your home to your…

When Can Your Tax Preparer’s Fraud Leave You on the Hook?

Say you hire a tax return preparer and get your tax returns filed, and think that everything is fine. Then years later, say more than a decade later, the IRS shows up and asserts that your tax returns were fraudulent. You did not commit fraud and this is news to you, but the IRS asserts…