Dad filed his taxes but didn’t pay. Several years pass by, say five years. Dad dies. The family eventually files for probate several years later. Say 10 years has passed since the taxes were first due? Has the time limit for the IRS to collect the unpaid taxes lapsed? How does the filing of the……
Category: Tax Law
How to Substantiate Gambling Tax Losses
There are several types of tax disputes that are frequently litigated. Gambling losses are an example. Taxpayers who gamble often incur significant losses. If the taxpayer is found to be a professional gambler, these losses can be counted for income tax purposes and used to offset the taxpayer’s other income. These tax losses can reduce……
Correcting Tax Overpayments After the Refund Period
There are times when tax deadlines are strict. They cannot be changed. The time period for filing a refund claim is an example. Taxpayers generally have the later of three years from the filing of a return or two years from the payment of the tax to file a refund claim. But what if the……
IRS Expands Sec. 9100 Relief for Late Forms 3115
As innocuous as it sounds, the Form 3115 is a tax form like no other. A Form 3115 that is inadvertently omitted from a tax return filing can result in sizable differences in tax and trigger significant tax penalties and interest. Given the amounts that are often reported on the Form 3115, errors could cost……
Converting Home to Rental to Get Tax Loss Deduction
If you move out of a house and rent it to a friend for less than fair market value rent, can you then take a tax loss on the subsequent sale of the house? If the home is not converted to a rental property, the loss is disallowed as a personal tax loss. If the……
Tax Court Puffery: Exaggeration is Not Evidence
Every communication makes statements. The statements may be truthful or false. A statement that is misleading or exaggerated is somewhere between these two. There can be significant legal consequences depending on where a statement falls on this continuum. This raises questions as to how precise do the statements have to be to be false? If……
Funeral Expense Organization Denied Nonprofit Status
Gargamel, the antagonist in the Smurfs, is the villain. Wile E. Coyote in the Road Runner, Raquelle in Barbie, Lex Luther in Superman, the Joker in Batman, Darth Vader in Star Wars. The list goes on. That is one side of these stories. It’s the side of the story that is presented to us. It……
Rejected e-File Return is a Valid Tax Return
The IRS’s Identity Protection Personal Identification Number (“IP PIN”) is intended to protect those who are victims of identity theft. It does so by making it harder for third parties to file fraudulent tax returns. The IP PIN can also cause problems for taxpayers. This is particularly true for tax returns that are filed close……
Meal & Entertainment: The IRS Auditors “Bread & Butter”
I once worked with an IRS agent who would only make two types of adjustments. He would make UNICAP/inventory adjustments and meal and entertainment adjustments. If either of these items could be adjusted for a tax return, he would adjust them. It didn’t matter what else was listed on the tax return. It did not……