Couple Making $39K a Year Reels in Shock at Call from Preparer: They’re Getting a $54K Tax Refund

Even their tax preparer, the owner of H&R Block in North Carolina, couldn’t believe her eyes. But a couple making $39,000 annually who have adopted five children in recent years qualifies for a $54,000 tax refund. That’s because an adoption tax credit of $13,170 per child became refundable this year.…

Apr 1, 2011 8:45 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere

Brian Tannebaum shares a key tenet of his client intake philosophy at My Law License: Never be the second lawyer. “The majority of people who have a falling out with the first lawyer, will never be happy with any lawyer,” Tannebaum writes. “Many calls I receive from clients with Bar…

Apr 1, 2011 4:34 PM CDT

IRS Gets Class Conscious: Switching to Independent Contractors Draws Scrutiny

Apr 1, 2011 6:40 AM CDT

2 Informants Helped FBI Make Case in Alleged Plot to Kill Top Alaska Federal Judge, Court Docs Say

Two confidential informants helped the FBI bring a criminal case against defendants accused of plotting together to kill the top federal judge in Alaska. Both informants were paid for their help in pursuing the criminal case against those who allegedly planned to harm Chief U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline and…

Mar 29, 2011 5:59 PM CDT

IRS Seeks to Sell Home of Ex-Attorney Who Stole $500K From Deceased Lawyer’s Disabled Daughter

Seeking to satisfy a tax debt of over $300,000 owed by a former New Hampshire lawyer who stole over $1 million from clients, the Internal Revenue Service is planning to sell James Hobbs’ home. Authorities say Hobbs, 52, apparently spent most or all of the money on personal expenses, reports…

Mar 28, 2011 8:10 PM CDT

Lawyer Takes Plea in Cash Deposit Structuring Case

A California lawyer has pleaded guilty in a cash structuring case in which he, with the help of family, was accused of depositing some $300,000 into bank accounts in amounts of less than $10,000 and stashing cash in safe deposit boxes, in order to evade both financial institution reporting requirements…

Mar 28, 2011 3:24 PM CDT

Lawyer Expected to Take Plea in $760K Income-Tax Evasion Case

A Michigan lawyer is expected to take a plea in a federal income tax evasion case. David Black, who heads the Black, Black and Black law offices in Port Huron, is expected to plead guilty at his arraignment next month, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Detroit tells…

Mar 17, 2011 7:03 PM CDT

Tort Firm Owes $158K Employment Tax Bill; Associate Attorneys Were Not Independent Contractors

A Louisiana personal injury lawyer who operated an “attorney incubator” for fledgling practitioners has had his business model shot down by the Internal Revenue Service. The attorneys to whom he provided office space and referred cases that were handled under his law firm name were associates of Donald Cave’s law…

Mar 16, 2011 11:22 PM CDT

IRS Comes Calling After Astros Fan Wins Year’s Supply of Free Doughnuts

Weight gain isn’t the only hazard of winning a year’s supply of free doughnuts. Houston Astros fan Bob Choate was a winner during fan appreciation day last fall: The prize was a year’s supply of coupons for doughnuts and coffee, the Houston Chronicle reports. Now he’s hearing from the Internal…

Mar 16, 2011 4:05 PM CDT

Longtime Law School Registrar Keeps Quinnipiac Job Despite Criminal Conviction

Sentenced last week to home confinement, three years of probation and restitution for federal mortgage fraud and tax crimes, a longtime registrar at Quinnipiac University Law School avoided prison time with the help of faculty and student testimonials. Among those who spoke on behalf of Mary Ellen Durso, 54, at…

Mar 16, 2011 12:32 AM CDT

Feds Arrest 5 in Alleged Conspiracy to Kill Alaska’s Chief US District Court Judge and Family Member

Authorities have arrested an Alaska couple and claimed members of a group called the Sovereign Citizens Movement over an alleged plot to kill a federal judge and his family. Lonnie Vernon of Salcha is the only suspect facing federal charges. He is accused of threatening to kill Chief U.S. District…

Mar 11, 2011 10:20 PM CST

New Illinois Law Seeks to Require Web Merchants to Collect Sales Tax

Cash-strapped Illinois has jumped on the bandwagon with a handful of states that are trying to collect sales tax on Internet transactions. Effective immediately, any Internet merchant with a physical presence in Illinois must collect and remit sales tax, under a bill signed today by Gov. Pat Quinn, reports the…

Mar 11, 2011 12:06 AM CST

Ex McGuireWoods Partner Pleads Guilty re Fake IRS Doc Purporting to Lift Levy on Her Draw

Apparently seeking money to which she was not entitled, a former partner of McGuireWoods admittedly provided a phony Internal Revenue Service document to the firm’s general counsel in February 2010. It purported to release a levy under which the IRS was seeking to collect, from partnership payments to Michelle Renee…

Mar 10, 2011 10:25 PM CST

DOJ Targets ‘Visionary Tax Attorney,’ Says Calif. Lawyer Is Promoting Illegal Tax Shelters

Add another California lawyer to the list of tax practitioners being pursued by the feds for allegedly promoting illegal tax shelters. Self-proclaimed “visionary tax attorney” Scott Waage of San Diego is being sued by the Department of Justice, along with his firm, the Strategic Law Group, reports the National Law…

Mar 2, 2011 8:41 PM CST

4 Foreign Bankers Indicted in US, Accused of Conspiracy to Help Americans Hide Assets, Evade Taxes

Four former bankers at a major Swiss bank have been indicted in federal court in Alexandria, Va., for allegedly conspiring to help U.S. residents evade taxes by hiding assets in secret accounts at four foreign banks in Switzerland, Hong Kong and Israel. None of the defendants is in custody. Marco…

Feb 24, 2011 6:05 PM CST