The IRS Taxpayer Advocate’s office released the Taxpayer Roadmap (TAS_Roadmap) that provides a very visual illustration of the many stages of interactions with the IRS. This roadmap details the process of filing and processing a tax return. The IRS audit process and the Taxpayer’s ability to contest and review IRS audit examinations and changes.
Federal White Collar & Tax Crime
IRS Focused on Criminal Prosecution of Employment Tax Cases
The IRS is increasing its focus on prosecuting business owners for delinquent federal employment tax liabilities. Specifically, in March 2017, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) published a report detailing how employment tax crimes have become a major problem for the IRS. In this report, the TIGTA noted that as of December 2015,
Criminalization of Payroll Tax Cases
Oftentimes, and particularly during the recent financial crisis years, businesses fall into financial distress, and business owners decide to temporarily, but illegally, “borrow” funds from the IRS by failing to pay over to the IRS the payroll taxes they withheld from their employees’ wages. The more common scenario is that the business never had enough funds to withhold the taxes in the first instance.
