Orange County Tax Lawyer Blog

Orange County tax attorneys took note when the IRS announced Thursday that it would drop its court case against the Swiss bank UBS. Apparently the the Swiss government prepared to release details on thousands of American clients with offshore bank accounts in Switzerland who are suspected of using their accounts to evade taxes.

So far, the I.R.S. says it has received details on 2,000 American account holders so far and expected to receive information on the remaining 2,450 this fall.

A previous deal had set this Tuesday as the deadline, but apparenly...

Orange County tax attorneys will almost always recommend making charitable donations and deducting them from your taxes. But like everything else with taxes, there are right ways and wrong ways to do it. Avoid problems with the IRS by following their advice on what to know before deducting charitable donations on your 2010 taxes.

The IRS wants every taxpayer to know these ten things before deducting charitable donations:

1. To be deductible, charitable contributions must be made to qualified organizations. Ask the organization whether it is a qualified organization. Most of them will be able to tell you. Also, IRS Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations, lists most qualified organizations. IRS Publication 78 is available at IRS.gov.

2. The only way to deduct charitable contributions is to itemize deductions using Form 1040, Schedule A.

Orange County tax attorneys and planners are are receiving increasing inquiries from clients about what they believed were perfectly innocent offshore accounts. Now the Internal Revenue Service is reexamining these accounts as they crack down on intentional tax evasion.

The IRS cracked down last year on United States citizens with offshore bank accounts who were not reporting income or filing the proper reports.

The IRS created a voluntary disclosure period during which people could come forward. The voluntary compliance period ended last year, but some people still are coming forward.

In the meantime, the IRS and the Department of Justice are conducting a wide-ranging investigation into whether Americans with offshore bank accounts have used the accounts to...

Orange County tax attorneys know that the IRS is prioritizing the collection of unpaid employment taxes from businesses, regardless of size. Nobody is safe from IRS payroll tax audits as the federal government zeros in on randomly selected companies and individuals in order to take back what it is owed.

Earlier this year, the Internal Revenue Service began employment tax audits of approximately 6,000 U.S. companies to provide statistical data for the National Research Program study of employment tax compliance.

The IRS estimates that companies underpay employer taxes by...

Orange County tax attorneys know that you may not be thinking very hard about your tax return this summer, but summer is still a good time to start planning for next years' filing and to make sure your tax records are well-organized. Maintaining accurate records, even in the summertime, will make filing your return much easier and will help you remember all the transactions you made with tax consequences during the year.

If you're not thinking about filing tax returns, you're certainly not thinking about being audited. But keeping well-organized records also ensures that you can answer questions if you are audited or receive an IRS notice.

In most instances, the IRS does not require you to keep records in any special way. Generally, you should keep all documents that may have an impact on your federal tax return.

If you are a business owner, you must keep all your employment tax records for at least...

Orange County tax attorneys will tell you that most Americans get a tax refund from the IRS each year. But if you weren't so lucky this year and owe taxes, the IRS has some tips on paying.

• If you get a bill for late taxes, you should pay promptly. Be prepared to pay the tax owed and any interest and penalties. It is usually a better idea to take out a loan to pay late taxes, rather than make installments to the IRS.
• Paying with a credit card may be a good option. The interest rate on the card may be lower than the combination of interest and penalties imposed by the Internal Revenue Code.
• If you pay by electronic funds transfer, you can use the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System by calling 800-555-4477 or going online to www.eftps.gov.

Continued...

The owner of Wholesale Palace, a Burbank-based tobacco wholesaler, was indicted for tax evasion after failing to pay $554,000 in taxes.

The indictment claims that Wholesale Palace defrauded the state of California of tax revenue in its purchase of tobacco products, including leaf and chewing tobacco and cigars, between May 2006 and August 2008. 

According to California law, when a distributor sells untaxed tobacco products, it is required to collect the excise tax from the purchaser. Additionally, the distributor is required to submit monthly reports detailing the amount of tobacco products purchased, the amount of excise tax owed and the amount of payment to the California State Board of Equalization.

Wholesale Palace is accused of purchasing tobacco products under its own name and "Kim's Supplies" from an unidentified out-of-state distributor. The company Chief Executive Jack Haroun paid by check for purchases made in Wholesale Palace's name, but used cash or a money order when purchasing under the name Kim's Supplies.

If you're one of those people who panic when you hear from the tax collector, you may want to take a page from the book of an intrepid Orange County family.

When Adele Orozco's family received a letter from the Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector, they thought it was odd. Back in May, they had sent in a $700 money order to pay part of the property tax bill on the 86-year-old Orozco's home. They were surprised to read that the payment had never been received.

The family acted quickly.

First, they requested a copy of the cashed money order. They immediately saw that the name of the payee had been altered. Fortunately, the name was legible.

What happened next could be right out of the movies. Orozco's son called the County and asked for that person.

He was connected immediately.