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…

IRS Not Limited in Collecting Restitution Assessments

Tax Litigation When The Administrative Process Failed

The IRS is authorized to assess criminal restitution for certain tax crimes. This process allows the IRS to collect the criminal restitution as if it was a tax. The law authorizing these collections is relatively new and evolving. The recent Carpenter v. United States, 152 T.C. 12, case highlights why it is important for those…

IRS Can Collect Father’s Tax Restitution from Son

Court Clarifies Inventory Capitalization Rules For Producers

The rules that allow the IRS to assess and collect criminal restitution as if it is a tax due present some unique questions.  In Bontrager v. Commissioner, 151 T.C. 12, the court considered whether the IRS can assess and collect a father’s tax restitution payment as tax restitution against the son.   Facts & Procedural History…

No Interest & Penalties on Restitution Assessments

No Interest & Penalties On Restitution Assessments

The IRS can assess criminal restitution as if it is a tax tax. But can it assess interest and penalties on the restitution as it would a tax? The IRS policy is to do just that. The court addressed this in Klein v. Commissioner, 149 T.C. 341 (2017), concluding that the IRS policy violates the…

Court Preempts IRS by Taking Taxpayer Property

In some cases, courts may take shortcuts to ensure that justice is served. While these shortcuts can be effective in obtaining the desired outcome, they can also raise concerns about fairness and due process. One such case is United States v. Spangler, 224 F. App’x 890 (11th Cir. 2007), where a trial court ordered the…

Can the IRS Collect Additional Taxes After Tax Restitution Is Paid?

In the case of Creel v. Commissioner, 419 F.3d 1135 (11th Cir. 2005), the IRS attempted to collect additional taxes, penalties, and interest from a taxpayer even after his criminal restitution obligation for the very same tax had been paid and satisfied. The district court had ordered the taxpayer to make restitution to the IRS…