Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Wednesday, May 5, 2021 A federal court in the Northern District of California entered an order today authorizing the IRS to serve a John Doe summons on Payward Ventures Inc., and Subsidiaries d/b/a Kraken (Kraken) seeking information about U.S. taxpayers who conducted at least the […]

Crypto Exchange Forced to Send User Information to the IRS Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, April 1, 2021 Court Authorizes Service of John Doe Summons Seeking Identities of U.S. Taxpayers Who Have Used Cryptocurrency A federal court in the District of Massachusetts entered an order today authorizing the IRS […]

What is the Voluntary Disclosure Practice?  The Voluntary Disclosure Practice (VDP) as described in Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) Section 9.5.11.9, is an option for taxpayers whose failure to report foreign financial assets and pay underlying taxes exposes them to criminal liability. This is a longstanding practice of IRS Criminal Investigation (CI), which takes timely, accurate, […]

IRS COVID Tip 2021-55 The premium tax credit helps pay for health insurance coverage bought from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Eligible people can choose to have all, some, or none of the estimated credit paid in advance directly to their insurance company on their behalf. These payments – which are called advance payments of the premium tax credit, […]

IRS Tax Tip 2021-52 The IRS mails letters or notices to taxpayers for a variety of reasons including if: They have a balance due. They are due a larger or smaller refund. The agency has a question about their tax return. They need to verify identity. The agency needs additional information. The agency changed their […]

IRS: Tax Tip 2021-51 Taxpayers need to know their correct filing status and be familiar with each option. The IRS Interactive Tax Assistant can help them determine their filing status. A taxpayer’s filing status typically depends on whether they are single or married on Dec. 31, which determines their filing status for that entire year. More than […]

A federal grand jury in Philadelphia returned a superseding indictment charging a Pennsylvania man with 16 counts of assisting in the preparation of federal tax returns (emphasis by Zaher Fallahi, CPA, Esq.). According to the superseding indictment, Jean Coq of Philadelphia prepared tax returns for clients for tax years 2013 and 2014 that claimed inflated […]

IRS explains which meals qualify for temporary 100% expense deduction Source: AICPA Journal of Accountancy The IRS released guidance on Thursday explaining when the temporary 100% deduction for restaurant meals is available and when the 50% limitation on the deduction for food and beverages continues to apply for Sec. 274 purposes (Notice 2021-25). Under Sec. […]

IRS to recalculate taxes on unemployment benefits; refunds to start in May 2021 Source; IRS 2021-71, March 31, 2021 WASHINGTON — To help taxpayers, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today that it will take steps to automatically refund money this spring and summer to people who filed their tax return reporting unemployment compensation before […]

IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) pledges continued commitment to investigating COVID-19 fraud as CARES Act reaches one-year anniversary IR-2021-65, March 25, 2021 WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI) marks the one-year anniversary of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act by pledging its continued commitment to investigating COVID-19 fraud. Over […]