Tax Legal Questions

The easiest way to determine if your tax preparer submitted a fraudulent return is to get a copy of your return from the IRS. Go to irs.gov on the FORMS AND PUBLICATIONS tab fill out a from 4506-T. The IRS will send you the data from your tax return 9this is free, don't ask for a copy of the return - that costs $50.00). Check the return data from the IRS. If the IRS data is wrong, then you've got a fraudulent return problem.... Read More

The CPA is required to return all of YOUR records upon request. YOUR records are items that you gave the CPA. A CPA isn't required to give you THEIR records, documents that they created in the course of working on your taxes. However, a CPA (or anyone else that does tax work) is required to give you all necessary documents to complete your taxes regardless of who owns the documents. If the CPA is charging for work that wasn't completed and/or refusing to return your records, you can file a complaint with the state accountancy board and/or the CPA society. That gives you a lot of leverage in this transaction. I would recommend that you get your new CPA to handle this for you.... Read More

If you are providing a majority of his support and have no written agreement to the contrary, you can claim him. If you and she together are providing a majority of his support and you have a written agreement that you can claim him, you can claim him. If you are providing at least 10 percent of his support and nobody else claims him, then you can probably claim him.... Read More

Congratulations on your win! However, no one is going to be able to answer your question without a lot more information about other income you will likely have in 2015. You need to figure out what your total gross taxable income is likely to be, including the value of the car and any other prizes and also any wages, commissions, bonuses, interest, dividends, rents, and other income. You then need to figure out what your total deductions are likely to be for the year, and whether you may be able to itemize or will be stuck with the standard deduction. If you file jointly, your spouse's income and deductions will also need to be estimated. Then, you should be able to figure out the likely net income number and how much you will have withheld. The additional amount will be what you need to have set aside. You might also need to file quarterly estimated income returns and pay some of those taxes in advance, even if you have withholding from other income sources. Don't forget to look at both state and federal income, including the taxes that may be imposed by the state where you won the car, if that's not the same as your home state (i.e., if you won a game show that is filmed in California, California will likely want to tax the winnings as income from California, even if you live somewhere else). It's probably a good idea to talk to a good income tax CPA or other experienced income tax preparer who can help you make the estimates and figure out what you need to set aside, and whether you should be filing the quarterly estimated returns. It's not the sort of question most tax attorneys will answer.    ... Read More

Did the divorce decree address the back taxes? If so, then the divorce decree controls. If the divorce decree doesn't address the back taxes, then both are liable for the full amount. However, the IRS can split the tax liability between divorced spouses. If the liability arose at least in part from her income less her payments, then he would only be responsible for paying his share and she would be responsible for her share. For example, if his wages were $40,000 and $$3,500 was withheld and her wages were $60,000 and $1,000 was withheld. There were no deductions or other income. If their joint tax was $8,000. His responsibility is $3,200 ($8,000 tax times 40%). Since he already paid $3,500 he won't have to pay any more and she'll be responsible for the whole amount (you can't get a refund in this program).... Read More

You can take an exemption for children who live abroad, if the other parent, agrees that you're eligible for the exemption. You must file the form, signed by the other parent, giving you the exemptions. Since the other parent lives abroad, they probably aren't concerned about US exemptions so it should be easy to get the form signed (if anything is ever easy between estranged parents).... Read More

I have not researched the statute, so am not going to opine on what it does say. Under most Georgia laws, the definition of a family member does not include sons-in-law or daughters-in-law. Therefore, while your daughter's husband is family to you, under most state laws he is a stranger to you. In fact, under many Georgia laws, the stepgrandchildren would normally also not be considered your family members. If they are considered family members under the laws relating to sales tax on the transfer of a vehicle purchased from an immediate family member, that would be an exception to the general rule that people not related to you by blood or adoption are not considered to be your family. Your statement also contains an incorrect statement about assets being marital assets under Georgia law. In Georgia, we are not a community property state, and there are no such things as "marital" assets except in the narrow case where a couple is getting divorced. For ALL other purposes, if a person's name is on the title, the asset belongs to that person. In other words, it doesn't matter if your daughter was the one who used the car, or whether the intent when she and her husband bought it, for state law purposes it was HIS car if his was the only name on the title. If he had died, she would have had to deal with his probate estate in order to receive it, and if he had a creditor problem, his creditors could have tried to take it, and she would have had not claim on it at all. As I said, the statute in question, in treating stepgrandchildren as if they were part of the family, is making an exception to the general rule. That may be because, at least in my experience as an estate planning attorney, more people will treat stepgrandchildren as "real" family than will treat their sons-in-law or daughters-in-law that way. But I'm actually surprised that you were told that stepgrandchildren were treated as your family for that purpose. The fact that your son-in-law isn't treated as family doesn't surprise me at all. It's also not a sales tax any longer. It's a title transfer ad valorem tax.  ... Read More

Being named in a will as guardian of children is an honor but it has no legal or tax significance. Guardians are appointed by a judge. The only person who qualifies for the exemption is the person who's providing their support. ?That can be changed by the divorce decree but that is only between the two parents, since one of the parents has died, the divorce decree is no longer controlling. If you have provided all of the support for the year, then you get to claim the exemption.... Read More

Good Afternoon, It sounds like the IRS made changes to your return through their Automated Underreporter Unit or a related department.   There could be many different causes so I won't speculate as to the exact problem, but usually these changes are the result of the IRS having information that wasn't reported in the return.   As an example, if you received a taxable distribution from your retirement account, but the proceeds were not reported on the return, then the IRS would issue several notices regarding the proposed changes and then ultimately assess and attempt to collect the balance due. Based on the above example, the cause could be failure of the preparer to accurately report the distribution, failure of the taxpayer to provide the information to the preparer, or failure of the retirement account custodian to issue the taxpayer a copy of Form 1098-R.  It is hard to pinpoint who, if anybody, is at fault until all the facts are known. In any event, you or a tax professional should immediately reach out to the IRS and attempt to resolve the balance due.  If you truly owe the money to the IRS, then you can either pay the full amount or attempt to resolve the balance through an installment agreement or other program. Best regards, Adam Brewer, Esq. AB Tax Law APC... Read More

Good Afternoon, The first step in these type of tax cases is to reach out to the IRS and CA Franchise Tax Board (FTB).  The IRS and FTB will be able to provide information about your filing compliance, any balance due on your account, and wage and income transcripts that will show reported income including unemployment compensation. From there, it will likely be necessary to use the information obtained from the IRS and FTB to prepare your returns going back to 2010.  If there are any resulting liabilities, then those can be put into an installment agreement, currently not collectible/hardship status, or perhaps an offer in compromise. I hope this information helps.  Please let me know if you require any additional assistance with you tax case. Best regards, Adam Brewer, Esq. AB Tax Law APC... Read More

Ms. Ivanov, It's a scam.  Whenever you receive a call like this never provide any information and never provide any money to them.   The IRS will never make initial contact by telephone, email, or text.  The IRS will always mail you a letter regarding any balance due.   To confirm your suspicions that the call is a scam, first try Googling the number that appears on your caller ID.  Often, other people will have reported that they received a call from the same number threating arrest.   Second, you can call IRS collections directly at 1-800-829-3903.   I hope this helps. Best regards, Adam Brewer, Esq. AB Tax Law APC... Read More