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Yearly Archives: 2018

This is No Way to Practice Accounting

April 14, 2018

 
According to the DoJ a federal grand jury sitting in Miami, Florida, returned an indictment on Tuesday, April 10 charging a Miami, Florida, certified public accountant with tax evasion, failing to file tax returns and failing to pay over payroll taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
According to the indictment, Darryl Sharpton owned The Sharpton Group, a Miami-based public accounting firm that specialized in financial and management consulting, audit and attestation, and tax and wealth planning.  Sharpton allegedly filed personal income tax returns for the years 2004 through 2008 and 2010, but failed to pay the reported taxes.  Sharpton is further alleged to have failed to file personal income tax returns for years 2011 through 2016 despite his obligation to do so.
The indictment charges that after Sharpton failed to pay his taxes, the IRS audited and assessed additional taxes against him and issued levies and liens in further effort to collect the unpaid taxes.  Sharpton allegedly responded by removing himself from his company’s payroll, paying his personal expenses through the corporate bank accounts, and lying to an IRS collections official.
In addition, the indictment alleges that Sharpton failed to timely pay over to the IRS payroll taxes that
he withheld from the paychecks of The Sharpton Group’s employees.
If convicted, Sharpton faces a statutory maximum sentence of 5 years in prison for the tax evasion charge, five years in prison for each count of failing to pay over payroll taxes, and one year in prison for each count of failing to file tax returns.  He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.  An indictment merely alleges that a crime has been committed.  A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
 Have a Criminal Tax Problem?
 
 
Contact the Tax Lawyers at
Marini & Associates, P.A. 
 
 for a FREE Tax Consultation Contact US at 
www.TaxAid.com or www.OVDPLaw.com
or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243). 


Read more at: Tax Times blog

The ABA Asks Congress To Adequately Fund the IRS

April 12, 2018

According to Law360  the chairwoman of the American Bar Association’s tax section on January 16, 2018 urged Congress to provide adequate funding for the IRS, cautioning that in light of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, P.L. 115-97, the agency will face difficulties effectively administering and collecting tax revenues without additional funds.
In a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the Senate and House subcommittees on financial services and general government, Karen Hawkins reiterated concerns that chronic Internal Revenue Service underfunding has caused taxpayers to lose trust in the nation’s tax authorities, reduced service quality, hampered recruitment and retention of experienced personnel, and stymied investment in modernizing taxpayer services.
“This erosion in confidence is reaching a point where it could become irreversible,” Hawkins warned. “In light of the daunting tasks of providing sufficient guidance and ensuring compliance with the new and complex tax legislation, we believe that the case for providing increased and adequate funding to enable the service to meet these challenges is compelling.”

While it is unclear whether Congress will act to increase IRS funding, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin assured attendees at an Economic Club of Washington, D.C., event on Jan. 12 that more IRS personnel would be hired to deal with implementation of tax reform.

“This touches every single aspect of the IRS,”

Mnuchin said of the bill's implementation.
“We are speaking with Congress about getting Additional Funding for the implementation so we would expect that we would Hire a Significant Number of People
to Help With the Implementation.”
 
The personnel issue is further exacerbated by the positions of commissioner and chief counsel being filled by acting personnel, Hawkins noted, asking Congress to work with the Trump administration to nominate and confirm individuals to those positions.

According to a National Taxpayer Advocate report published Jan. 10, the IRS has estimated it will need $495 million over the next two years to implement the new legislation, but it has lost more than $1 billion to budget cuts since 2010. A Republican-controlled Congress fuming over controversies surrounding the agency's treatment of conservative social-welfare groups has been unwilling to give the IRS the funding it says it needs to adequately serve taxpayers and guard the nation’s coffers.

The tide may be changing, however, in light of the advocate’s report. The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, told reporters last week that while the IRS still has to prove why it needs more money, lawmakers should be open now to the idea of granting the agency’s requests for additional funding to implement the new law.

Hawkins made clear she was aware of the “budgetary challenges facing Congress,” and that “increased spending on the service may not be popular.” Nevertheless, she pointedly explained that without appropriate funding for the IRS, the government’s ability to function effectively is diminished.

“The Service has been required to operate for Too Long without adequate funding; its mission will be
Irreparably Compromised if this is Allowed to Continue,”
the letter concluded.
The letter was addressed to Sen. Shelley Capito, R-W.Va., chairwoman of the Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, and ranking member Christopher Coons, D-Del., as well as Chairman Tom Graves, R-Ga., and ranking member Mike Quigley, D-Ill., of the House Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government.
 
Have a Tax Problem?
 


Contact the Tax Lawyers at
Marini & Associates, P.A. 
 
 for a FREE Tax Consultation Contact US at 
www.TaxAid.com or www.OVDPLaw.com
or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243). 


 
 
 

Read more at: Tax Times blog

Pennsylvania Nurse Anesthetist Indicted for Tax Evasion

April 12, 2018

A federal grand jury sitting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, returned an indictment yesterday charging a Pittsburgh-area certified registered nurse anesthetist with 5 counts of tax evasion and 4 counts of failure to file federal income tax returns and pay federal income tax.

According to the indictment, Loren Pulliam earned over $500,000 in income between 2002 and 2005, and over $1.2 million in additional income between 2008 and 2016, working as a nurse anesthetist at medical facilities in the Pittsburgh area. 

Pulliam allegedly evaded her tax obligations for the years 2002 through 2005 and 2011 through 2014 by establishing a nominee entity and directing her employers to pay compensation to that entity and then using a bank account opened in the nominee’s name to pay personal expenses.

The indictment further alleges that Pulliam failed to timely file federal income tax returns and pay the taxes due for the years 2011 through 2014, despite having an obligation to do so.

If convicted, Pulliam faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for each count of tax evasion and one year in prison for each failure to file count.  Pulliam also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.  An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed.  A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Have a Criminal Tax Problem?
 
 
Contact the Tax Lawyers at
Marini & Associates, P.A. 
 
 for a FREE Tax Consultation Contact US at 
www.TaxAid.com or www.OVDPLaw.com
or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243). 






 

Read more at: Tax Times blog

Return Preparer Sentenced to Over 10 Years in Jail for Filing Fraudulent Returns

April 12, 2018

According to the DoJ, a Durham, North Carolina, tax return preparer was sentenced today to 121 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States and preparing fraudulent tax returns for herself and her clients.
         
According to documents and information presented to the court, Keesha Frye, owned and operated KEF Professional Tax Services, a Durham tax preparation business. 

From 2012 through 2014, Frye and other KEF employees falsified their clients’ tax returns by including fake and inflated sources of income to qualify for and maximize the earned income tax credit and increase the refunds claimed on the returns. 

Frye also filed false personal income tax returns that claimed bogus childcare expenses and business losses.  In total, Frye’s scheme caused a tax loss of more than $1.7 million.

In addition to the prison term imposed, Frye was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and to pay $1,742,823 in restitution to the IRS.

Have a Criminal Tax Problem?
 
 
Contact the Tax Lawyers at
Marini & Associates, P.A. 
 
 for a FREE Tax Consultation Contact US at 
www.TaxAid.com or www.OVDPLaw.com
or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243). 



 

Read more at: Tax Times blog

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