A tax assessment by the IRS is generally presumed to be correct, but a taxpayer can overcome the presumption with proof. However, that situation is reversed when the IRS asserts fraud. In those instances, the IRS must prove, by clear and convincing evidence that fraud exists. Badges of Fraud There is a potential for criminal as well  Continue Reading »

The deadline for Maine individuals and C corporations to file their federal income tax returns for 2016 (or to file for an extension) was April 18. After all that digging and filling, you may be feeling the urge to purge. It’s important to make sure you won’t be caught empty-handed if an IRS auditor contacts  Continue Reading »

If you have an authority over or interest in a foreign financial account, then the IRS wants you to provide information about the account by filing a form called the “Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts” (FBAR). The annual deadline for filing FBARs has been changed and now coincides with the tax filing deadlines  Continue Reading »

Before meeting with taxpayers and their professional representatives, IRS examiners usually do their homework. This includes reviewing any relevant Audit Techniques Guides (ATGs) that typically focus on a specific industry or audit-prone business transaction. ATGs are available to the public even though they are designed to help IRS examiners prepare for audits. So, small business  Continue Reading »

Your personal losses resulting from casualties and thefts are allowed to be deducted by the tax law, within certain limits. And a “theft” for tax purposes isn’t strictly limited to house burglaries or stolen cars. However, as you will see from several U.S. Tax Court cases, the deduction can hinge on the application of state  Continue Reading »

MSKP Oak Grove, LLC v. Venuto, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 84950 (June 29, 2016) A recent fraud case illustrates how a thorough expert report can help an embattled valuator stay the course even in the tumult of litigation. The key is to document everything. Need for reverse engineering Four defendants sold their tanning salon franchise  Continue Reading »

According to the 2016 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse published by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the average organization loses 5% of its annual revenues to fraud. Bear in mind, that’s the top line of your income statement, not the bottom. So, your company is expected to lose an average of $50,000 to  Continue Reading »

The IRS recently released a warning for taxpayers to be on guard against bogus emails telling recipients that they owe money for taxes related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The IRS has received numerous reports from around the country about scammers sending a fraudulent version of CP2000 notices for tax year 2015. These scam  Continue Reading »

Cash is the most difficult item to trace when a bankruptcy or divorce case involves embezzlement, fraud, defalcation, or hidden assets. It’s interchangeable and leaves no record of ownership or transfer if kept outside of the banking system. It’s very rare that we keep track of the serial numbers on our currency. Converting Stolen Cash into  Continue Reading »

It’s often necessary to uncover money during legal proceedings like divorce or bankruptcy, by conducting a financial investigation to expose hidden assets, fraud or embezzlement. Unfortunately, the paper trail of hidden assets isn’t always clear and it takes a specialist to track it down. For example, a typical ploy is to pay personal bills using  Continue Reading »