Tax Law

Tax Attorney Likely to Lose Law License After Guilty Plea in Strip Club Case

A 53-year-old tax attorney has pleaded guilty to a felony concerning the unlicensed New York City strip club he allegedly operated in Manhattan. Although Louis Posner will serve no jail time, the Associated Press says he will be sentenced to 60 days of community service. His guilty plea to promoting…

Mar 24, 2010 7:07 PM CDT

Greenberg Traurig Partner Charged With Overbilling Client By $1M to Gain Prestige in Firm

A now-former partner of Greenberg Traurig has been criminally charged with theft for allegedly overbilling a government client in the Chicago suburbs by more than $1 million. Mark McCombs, 50, is accused of taking advantage of longstanding professional and personal relationships with officials in Village of Calumet Park and charging…

Mar 6, 2010 2:23 AM CST

IRS Suspends Ex-Foley Hoag Tax Partner for Failing to File Tax Return

A former Foley Hoag tax partner who failed to file a tax return and missed the deadline to file five other returns has been suspended from practice before the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS announced a 48-month suspension of Kevin Kilduff in a press release Thursday. TaxProf Blog identified Kilduff…

Mar 5, 2010 5:00 PM CST

The Taxman Cometh: Do Ex-Lawyer Rothstein & Spouse Owe $10M?

Although ex-attorney Scott Rothstein reportedly made some $36 million in 2008 while both serving as managing partner of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler and operating a Ponzi scheme, he apparently may not have paid all of his income tax. The Internal Revenue Service has slapped him and his wife with a $10…

Mar 3, 2010 8:23 PM CST

Suicide Pilot Was Angry About Tax Law Affecting IT Professionals

The pilot who flew his plane into an Austin building yesterday was angry about a section of the 1986 Tax Reform Act that made it more difficult for computer professionals to pay taxes as self-employed independent contractors. In an online rant, Andrew Joseph Stack, a contract software engineer, blasted the…

Feb 19, 2010 12:48 PM CST

Apparently Angry at IRS, Pilot May Have Intentionally Crashed Small Plane Into Office Building

A man identified as the pilot of a small plane that crashed into an office building in Austin, Texas, this morning apparently did so intentionally to get back at the Internal Revenue Service. The building houses nearly 200 IRS employees, and Joseph Andrew Stack, 53, who piloted the Piper Cherokee,…

Feb 18, 2010 7:41 PM CST

Attorney Helped Me Mail Home $211K in Secret Swiss Account Cash, Va. Surgeon Says in Plea

In a plea bargain today that may signal a more sweeping prosecutorial approach to tax issues related to secret Swiss bank accounts, a Virginia surgeon admits that he conspired with a banker and an attorney to conceal from United States authorities the $250,000 he inherited from his mother, plus $18,000…

Feb 16, 2010 10:51 PM CST

Prosecutors Target Madoff Sons, Brother in Tax-Fraud Probe

Prosecutors in Manhattan are pursuing federal tax-fraud charges against Bernard Madoff’s brother and sons, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Madoff’s brother, Peter Madoff, and two sons have denied any knowledge of the fraud. And Madoff’s sons—Mark and Andrew Madoff—maintain as soon as their father told them about the…

Feb 12, 2010 11:44 AM CST

Woman Who Won Deduction for Sex Change Says Ruling Speaks to Her Community

A woman who won a ruling allowing a deduction for her sex-change operation says the U.S. Tax Court “has spoken for my community.” Rhiannon O’Donnabhain spoke to the Associated Press about her reaction to the ruling by the court on Tuesday. The fractured court held that gender identity disorder is…

Feb 5, 2010 11:30 AM CST

PI Lawyer Is Charged with Evading Taxes

Already in hot water for allegedly stealing $2.2 million from client settlements, a New York personal injury lawyer now faces a tax evasion case, too. Marc Bernstein, 55, is accused by the Manhattan district attorney’s office of failing to file returns between 2003 and 2007 and understating his income in…

Jan 29, 2010 2:43 AM CST

ABA and Reed Smith File Briefs Urging Supreme Court to Hear Privilege Case

The American Bar Association and the law firm Reed Smith are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant cert in a case involving the scope of work product protections for lawyer materials. Reed Smith wrote a brief on its own behalf and for two of its clients—a sign of the…

Jan 28, 2010 4:13 PM CST

Davis Polk Lawyers Were to Be Gatekeeper for AIG PR in Secrecy Effort

When American International Group used bailout money to pay $62 billion to its bank trading partners to retire bad bets on credit default swaps, lawyers scrambled to keep the arrangement under wraps. Their solution: Send all securities filings, press releases and significant communications to the Fed’s outside counsel, Davis Polk…

Jan 26, 2010 4:16 PM CST

Supreme Court Rules for Online Tobacco Seller in NYC’s RICO Suit

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that New York City may not sue an online tobacco seller for RICO violations in an effort to collect tax revenue. The Associated Press and Bloomberg covered today’s 5-3 decision. New York had claimed that the tobacco seller, a New Mexico company called the…

Jan 25, 2010 5:20 PM CST

Judge Orders Convicted Tax Lawyers to Warn About Misleading the IRS

A judge has ordered two Ernst & Young tax lawyers convicted of selling illegal tax shelters to spread the word about the consequences of their wrongdoing. The lawyers, Robert Coplan and Martin Nissenbaum, were sentenced Thursday, the New York Law Journal reports. Coplan was sentenced to three years in prison…

Jan 22, 2010 3:29 PM CST

Prominent Lawyers Charged with Failing to File Personal Income Tax Returns

Two New York attorneys who reportedly have been practicing as partners of well-known law firms and a Long Island personal injury lawyer have been charged in state court with failing to file personal income tax returns. The cases were brought, officials say, as part of a stepped-up effort to enforce…

Jan 20, 2010 7:56 PM CST