Tax Defense
Over the last 40 years, I’ve earned a successful track record working with both the IRS and the Justice Department in high stakes white collar criminal and tax matters. In addition to having argued before the United States Supreme Court in Washington, I have argued before federal courts throughout the country. I fight hard to enforce the rights of my clients, and I believe in the integrity of that fight.
If you have questions or concerns about the IRS federal tax amnesty program, your tax shelters, undisclosed foreign accounts or assets, or other IRS issues, I invite you to contact me directly to discuss them at 888-700-1555 or Mullin@TaxDefense.com.
You will discuss your concerns with me, personally. Never an associate or a paralegal. In addition, you should know that your contact with me, and with my firm, is privileged under the law, regardless of whether or not you decide to retain my firm to represent you.
An IRS tax audit is an examination of your income and expenses to ensure that you correctly reported your tax liability to the IRS. All types of tax returns are subject to audit, including income, business, estate, and gift tax returns.
If you receive a notice of a civil audit, you will be required to produce all supporting documentation for that year’s tax return. Audits can be requested years after the return was actually filed. The IRS may generally impose additional tax liability for up to three years after a return was due or filed (whichever is later). However, if there was an underreporting of more than 25% of gross income states in the original return (or 25% of gross estate or gifts). Accordingly, it is advisable to keep copies of all returns and supporting documentation for at least seven years. Notice of an audit should not be taken lightly; serious civil fines – and even criminal penalties – are possible results from a civil IRS tax audit.
Corporations are responsible for filing annual income tax returns. Corporations have different filing requirements and income tax rates than individuals. Eligible corporations can elect S corporation status which affords them special tax status.
The IRS can impose severe monetary penalties when corporate tax requirements are not met, or for misstatements on corporate tax returns. An experienced tax attorney can guide you to ensure you are complying with corporate tax requirements. Additionally, if the IRS is auditing your corporate tax return, an attorney can protect your rights and get you the best results.
Americans who live, work, or hold assets overseas who fail to maintain current tax filings and payments in the United States may face steep consequences, including, among others, revocation of their United States passport, as well as significant penalties and interest, and potential criminal tax charges. You need an attorney who is experienced in defending these issues.
The government has been increasingly targeting expatriates due to increased remote working and global travel, and they bring the full force of their resources to bear against tax preparers under investigation. You have powerful opponents, and the stakes are high.
I have successfully defended expatriates against IRS administrative, civil, and criminal investigations around the world, including China, Singapore, Finland, Switzerland, Cypress, and Mexico. Our discussions are always confidential and privileged under the law, regardless of whether you choose us to represent you.
If you are required to pay a tax return, you must do so by the due date of the return (including extensions). Failure to file your tax return timely may lead to the imposition of a penalty that increases each month that the return is late. The penalty is 5% of the tax not paid by the due date for each month or part of a month that the return is late. The amount of this penalty, however, is capped at 25% of your tax liability.
If you are subject to both the failure to file and failure to pay penalty, the IRS cannot impose both penalties in full. The failure to pay penalty will be imposed to the full extent, however, the failure to file penalty will be reduced by the amount of the failure to pay penalty for any months both penalties apply. For taxpayers who are more than 60 days late in filing a return, the penalty will not be less than $100 or 100% of the tax balance, whichever is less.
Tax preparers may be subject to civil and, in particularly egregious cases, criminal penalties for various issues relating to tax returns they prepared. Internal Revenue Code Section 6694 imposes monetary penalties as high as $5,000 on tax preparers who prepare returns taking positions that may not be fully supported by current law. Additionally, Internal Revenue Code Section 6695 imposes penalties against tax preparers who fail to sign a return, fail to furnish a taxpayer identification number, fail to furnish a copy of the tax return to the taxpayer, fail to retain a completed copy of the tax return, or fail to conduct due diligence regarding the taxpayers eligibility for certain credits including the earned income credit. If the tax preparer has violated Circular No. 230, additional monetary penalties may apply up to the value of the fee earned for completing the tax return.
Tax return preparers may also suffer severe professional consequences. The tax preparer may be referred to the IRS’s Office of Professional Responsibility. In that case, the tax preparer may be subject to suspension, disbarment, or censure and may be prohibited from acting as an income tax preparer in the future.