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…

Recovering Taxes Paid for Another Party

If you pay tax for another party, can you recover the payment if the tax is not owed? The answer is generally “no,” as you cannot sue the Federal government unless it consents and it only consents in limited circumstances. One such consent is the ability to sue for a refund. The rules that allow…

Can a Tax Attorney Sign a Form 843?

Taxpayers may find it challenging to obtain a refund from the government, as the courts and Congress have imposed stringent requirements on the refund claims filed by taxpayers. Even minor procedural errors can be detrimental to the claim, resulting in the government gaining an unwarranted windfall. The recent case of Vensure HR, Inc. v. United…

Late-Filed Tax Returns & Excess Collections

Life happens. We all experience it. There are times when life events can result in tax returns being filed late. Our tax laws offer little in way of leniency when this happens. The IRS will assess late filing penalties. Worse yet, amounts that were already timely paid to the IRS may not be refunded to…

Adjustments Stemming from IRS Settlements

Generally, when it comes to civil matters, state and Federal law includes various “statutes of limitations” and “discovery rules.” The statute of limitations rules say that a claim has to be filed within a certain time period. The discovery rules say that the time period for the statute starts to run when the claim is…

Fixing Tax Returns: The Qualified Amended Return

There has been quite a bit of talk about the IRS budget increase and its plans to hire an army of IRS agents. Given this news, those who have filed incorrect tax returns may be wondering if they should go back and file amended tax returns. This often depends on whether the time period for…

Tax Return “Filed” When Provided to IRS Employee

Since tax returns are a central part of our system of tax administration, one would think that the IRS is an expert at handling tax returns. It isn’t. The IRS often loses tax returns. It often checks returns into its systems and then fails to process the tax returns and cannot locate the actual tax…

Common Law Mailbox Rule Fails (Again)

In legal disputes, there are times when parties make representations that are not true. That includes the IRS and its auditors and attorneys. If the taxpayer is lucky, they will have direct evidence that shows that the representation is false. There are situations where the law does not allow that evidence to be considered. There…