Internet Tax Lawyers

Interesting. I read it as a slam on multiple things, one being LTCG & dividends being taxed at 15%. Did you miss the bar chart comparing Mitt’s tax rate to his father’s? Or the pie chart showing his income and the amount of taxes he pays? Or was all this being under the “Taxes & Tricks” title meant to be ignored? Please forgive, all this threw me a curve ball and I didn’t realize we were suppose to ignore everything that didn’t have to deal with “Tax Havens.”

The US government has a large deficit on their hands, and for the past 3 years there has been a lot of gridlock on how exactly to get it under control. Parties from the left and right have called for a ban on what is known as “pork” spending.”
Pork is often tucked away in bills to secure votes on a bill so that it passes, and in exchange the sponsors of the bill will allocate money to that Congressperson’s district or state. The ban is supposed to stop this practice in order to curb wasteful government spending, but that doesn’t mean the waste is gone.

Here are a few things Congress spends millions of tax dollars on annually:

1. Congressional Franks: These mailers are sent to inform registered voters of their Congressperson’s legislative achievements, positions on critical issues, and a general overview on what’s been done for the represented district.

While this literature resembles a campaign brochure, it is not classified as campaign expenditure, therefore it is paid by taxpayers. In total, Congress spent $13.1 million in 2011 on Congressional “Franking.” It’s important to note, many Congresspersons have started to make the transition to email in recent years.

2. Federal Printing: No, I’m not talking about the federal government printing money (that’s another blog), I’m talking about the money it costs in office printing (i.e. printer machines, ink, upkeep, paper, etc.).

The federal government (not including the Defense department) spent nearly $1.3 billion in 2010 on office printing, and this doesn’t include the above mentioned “franks.” The Department of Defense spent almost $1.4 billion alone in copying, printing, and faxing in 2010.

3. Silly Studies: The government is supposed to grant money to scientists in order study things that are in the nation’s interests, and therefore worthy of tax dollars. However, I am not sure how anyone will justify these scientific studies or the bills they racked up on taxpayers.

• Internet Dating Study: The National Science Foundation (NFS) allocated nearly a quarter of a million dollars to study how Americans find love using the Internet.

• Studying World of Warcraft (and other virtual games): What started out in 2008 as a $100,000 NFS grant to a professor at the University of California to study how players collaborate and approach various challenges within the game, has turned to almost $3 million in taxpayer funds since. To top it off, the professor published her findings in 2010 and has still acquired grants to continue her research.

• A scientist from Temple University used a $66,638 NFS grant to study the influence of political programming (i.e. Fox News, MSNBC) in the mass media, testing the claim that such programming polarizes the electorate. What did he find? That the electorate may be more polarized because of increased interest in national politics.

While both sides of the isle make it seem that they are trying to cut spending, they should take a lesson from Main Street and cut the small waste first. While this may not make a huge dent in the deficit, it will sure allow the bigger programs from being severely cut.

As always, this is the IRS Hitman looking out for the American taxpayer. If you find yourself on the other end of a substantial tax debt, give my team a call at 888-415-1337 or fill out the submission form for a free consultation. We are A rated with the Better Business Bureau and we’ll give you the whole truth on your situation.

I am calling businessweek, PCmag and fastcompany and cancelling my subsrciptions I will explain that frugal dad went political.(the swipe at Mitt Romney)
FD/Jason I suggest you leave politics to the politicians, nothing infuriates me more then someone injecting a political view where it does not belong. (I thought this site was about saving money and spending wisely)?.

Great post. I know the US takes a really dim view of tax dodgers (especially nationals who have left the country for tax purposes). Looks like the rest of the world is doing the same now. What’s worst is being a dual citizen, now that’s when things go crazy!!

This gives everyone the right to have an opinion about taxes, and for most Americans, they are not excited to pay taxes. This isn’t just an assumption, consistent polling has shown 57 percent, or a majority of Americans feel as if the wealthy have more opportunity to skirt their tax bill (through numerous loopholes) while they are forced to pay what they owe. In contrast 38 percent, or a substantial minority of Americans believe they pay more than their fair share in taxes (though tax rates are at historic lows).

As one might imagine, political affiliations affect the response. A whopping 73 percent of Democrats cited the fairness issue as their biggest problem with taxes, while only 38 percent of Republicans felt the same way. A small majority, 42 percent, of Republicans said the complexity of the tax code was what bothered them most about taxes, while a small amount of Democrats agreed.

In the last two years there has been intense debate over taxes in general including the rate between income groups, the laws that allow different tax breaks, the purpose of the revenue generated through taxes, and how the entire tax code can be reformed in order to be fairer (which is a whole different argument).

The one thing both parties, all income brackets, and politicians alike can agree on about taxes is that the tax code needs to be changed completely. When you delve deeper into how to change it, you find many opinions and thus the debate wages on.

If you find yourself on the other end of a large tax debt, no matter where you fall in the debate, give my team a call at 888-415-1337 or fill out the submission form for a free consultation. We’re A rated with the Better Business Bureau and we’ll give you the whole truth on your situation.

It seems like everyone has an opinion about how to best collect and use the tax dollars paid by Americans, and for good reason too, everyone pays taxes. While there is evidence stating many Americans do not pay anything in taxes, they still have taxes taken out of their wages, they still pay sales tax on purchases, and they surely would suffer consequences if they failed to file or report their earnings to the federal government, so for all intents purposes, everyone pays taxes.

In order to protect payment of withheld income and employment taxes, including social security taxes, railroad retirement taxes, or collected excise taxes, Congress passed a law that provides for the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (“TFRP”). These taxes are called trust fund taxes because the employer actually holds the employee’s money in trust until he or [...]

March 26, 2009 My goal has always been clear — to get those taxpayers hiding assets offshore back into the system. We recently provided guidance to our examination personnel who are addressing voluntary disclosure requests involving unreported offshore income. We believe the guidance represents a firm but fair resolution of these cases and will provide [...]

In a recently issued Chief Counsel Advice (CCA 200927019), the IRS stated that it can issue a levy on a taxpayer’s health savings account (HSA). What is even more interesting, in such a case, the taxpayer will be liable for a 10% excise tax on an HSA distribution to pay a tax liability, unless the [...]

Offshore Tax Evasion by UBS Client

The United States government has been pressing UBS AG, one of the Switzerland’s largest banks, to release the names of a reported 52,000 wealthy Americans with accounts at the bank. Federal authorities suspect that some U.S. taxpayers may be using accounts at UBS to evade taxes. A civil case brought by the United States against [...]

On May 13, 2008, the Chief Counsel of the State Board of Equalization issued its legal opinion supporting the Board’s program to pursue criminal violations of Revenue and Tax Code Section 6071 (engaging in a sales business without a valid California seller’s permit) by using the Board Investigation Division employees rathar, than exclusively pursuing prosecution by referring violations [...]

In 2008, the California State Board of Equalization initiated a program to increase prosecution of violations California Revenue and Tax Code section 6071 (engaging in a sales business without a valid California seller’s permit).  If you received BOE-420-R Letter, Notice to Appear, then the State Board of Equalization has determined tha t you are conducting sales [...]

IRS extends due date for filing some FBARs The IRS issued a new notice, Notice 2009-62, 2009-35 IRB, which extends the due date for filing Form TD F 90-22.1 (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)) in certain cases. The extension applies only to the following individuals: (i) persons with signature authority over, but no financial interest in, a foreign financial account, and (ii) persons with a financial interest in, or signature authority over, a foreign commingled fund.

Credit Suisse has provided U.S. investigators with the information related to U.S. account holders.

There is a new piece of legislation pending in Congress which can substantially change relief currently available to employers who may have misclassified workers as independent contractors.   James McDermott, a Washington State Congressman,  has introduced legislation that would make it more difficult for employers to receive protection from a potentially large employment tax assessment resulting [...]

Under a recently proposed treasury regulation, the director of the IRS Exempt Organizations Division would be the official responsible for approving tax inquiries of churches.  Internal Revenue Code Section 7611 imposes special limitations on how and when the IRS may conduct civil tax inquiries and examination of churches.  The IRS may only initiate a church [...]

On August 19, 2009, the IRS and UBS AG, one of the major Swiss banks, announced the terms of the settlement reached in a “John Doe” summons enforcement case brought by the U.S. Government to reveal the names of American account holders of UBS Swiss accounts.  Pursuant to the settlement, UBS has agreed to reveal the [...]