News

The Internal Revenue Service recently released information that government employees on Capitol Hill owe overdue taxes worth $9.3 million, as part of the per agency IRS debt breakdown. It is not clear whether there are some Congress members guilty of not properly paying their taxes, as the agency refused to specify those involved.

The IRS can take 15% of your Social Security payments to satisfy your tax debt. Prior to 1996, there was a $750/month "off limits" amount that had to be left for the Social Security recipient.

On April 20, 2009, in St. Paul, Minn., Kara Kristine Sommer, of Burnsville, Minn., was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for failing to pay the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) payroll taxes from employees of a construction business.

When the IRS prosecutes, tax evasion is not always the only charge (if it's charged at all). In fact, there are cases where the person who has been found guilty of one crime may also be charged with violating other laws.

Every month I choose a very special Client of the Month. It's my way of acknowledging good friends and saying "thanks" to those who support me and my business with referrals, word of mouth and repeat business.

On March 19, 2009, Keith Kuchenbecker, of Neenah, Wisconsin, was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay $288,546 in restitution to the IRS. Kuchenbecker pleaded guilty to failing to pay over to the IRS approximately $197,000 in payroll taxes that had been withheld from the wages of the employees of his business, Keith Kuchenbecker Construction, Inc. According to documents filed in federal court, Kuchenbecker was responsible for paying payroll taxes that had been withheld from the wages of the employees of the business.

 On July 2, 2009, Scott Alexander, of Merriam, Kan., was sentenced to one year and a day in federal prison for mortgage fraud. Alexander pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. In his plea he admitted that in 2003 and 2004 he conspired with co-defendant, Wildor Washington, Jr., and others to obtain mortgage loans by fraudulent means including submitting inflated property appraisals to lenders.

When I counsel people dealing with IRS problems, I usually end up asking the one big nagging question ....."Why did you wait so long to do something about this?" Here's the usual reply: "I thought I would end up going to jail."Let's go ahead and get something straight about the IRS and prison time...

IRS Spokesman David Stell declared that the agency shall no longer release "debt indicators" of taxpayers to tax preparation services.  Debt indicators released by the IRS are those that indicate whether the taxpayer will receive any tax refund, and if that refund would be offset by payment of delinquent taxes, student loans or child support.

The IRS does have a provision in place that will reward average citizens a 15%-30% reward if they "blow the whistle" on individuals or companies that aren't following the tax laws.