Author: Frank Carnahan

2023-08-25 IR-2023-152 August 24, 2023 Traditionally, educational assistance programs have been used to pay for books, equipment, supplies, fees, tuition and other education expenses for the employee. These programs can now also be used to pay principal and interest on an employee’s qualified education loans. Payments made directly to the lender, as well as those made to the employee, qualify. Tax-free educational assistance program benefits are limited to $5,250 per…

2023-07-25 The IRS announced a major policy change that will end most unannounced visits to taxpayers by agency revenue officers to reduce public confusion and enhance overall safety measures for taxpayers and employees. Effective immediately, unannounced visits will end except in a few unique circumstances and will be replaced with mailed letters to schedule meetings. The change reverses a decades-long practice by IRS revenue officers, the unarmed agency employees whose…

2023-07-24 The IRS warned businesses and tax-exempt organizations to watch out for telltale signs of misleading claims involving the Employee Retention Credit. Scammers and unscrupulous promoters continue to run aggressive broadcast advertising, direct mail solicitations and online promotions for the credit. Many of these ads wildly misrepresent and exaggerate who can qualify for the ERC, which is sometimes also called ERTC or the Employee Retention Tax Credit. Employers should carefully…

2023-07-21 Tenant background checks, sometimes known as consumer reports, can include a variety of information, including rental and eviction history, credit, or criminal records. When you use consumer reports to screen tenants and make tenant decisions, you must comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Background screening reports are covered by the FCRA if they are used to help decide eligibility for…

2023-07-12 The IRS issued a final reminder to taxpayers across the country who may have overlooked filing their tax returns during the pandemic to act quickly and claim their refunds for the tax year 2019 before the July 17, 2023 deadline. The actual refund amount will vary based on a household’s tax situation. The refund will be applied to any amount owed to the IRS or the state tax agency,…

2023-07-12 IR- 2023-123 The IRS warned taxpayers to lookout for a new scam mailing that tries to mislead people into believing they are owed a refund. The new scheme involves a mailing coming in a cardboard envelope from a delivery service. The enclosed letter includes the IRS masthead and wording that the notice is “in relation to your unclaimed refund.” Like many scams, the letter includes contact information and a…

2023-07-07 The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court in US v. Kevin L. Crandell, 2023-2 U.S.T.C. ¶50,199, (5th Cir., Jun. 29, 2023) Taxpayer submitted a Form 433-A that downplayed Taxpayer's income and omitted key assets. Different documents stated or implied a large range of incomes, and the income figure on the Fork 433-A was well below all other contemporaneous evidence of his income. Moreover, Taxpayer wrote himself two checks from…

2023-07-05 The IRS has warned taxpayers against a new mailing scam trying to mislead them into believing they are owed a tax refund. The new scam can come in through email, text or mailing coming in a cardboard envelope from a delivery service including a letter with the IRS masthead and wording claiming that the notice is in relation to the taxpayer’s unclaimed refund. Taxpayers have been warned to look…

2023-06-29 The Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision, and held a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee may avoid corporate Debtor’s transfers to the IRS made while insolvent for personal tax debts of two of its principals three years before it filed for bankruptcy. Miller v. United States, No. 21-4135, 2023 BL 218070 (10th Cir. June 27, 2023), appealing In re All Resorts Group, Inc., 617…

2023-06-22 A bankruptcy discharge relieves a debtor of personal liability for a debt, but a creditor with a lien can collect in rem against the debtor's property. If the Debtors successfully complete their Chapter 13 plan by making five years of payments, the taxes are arguably dischargeable. If the taxes are discharged, the IRS would be prevented from taking any action to collect the tax debt owed by the Debtors…