Author Archives: Russ

Miccouskees Reach End of the Road

The Miccouskee Tribe runs a very successful casino outside of Miami.  The tribe itself is a sovereign nation and is exempt from federal taxation.  However, its members are US citizens and owe tax on all their income.  The tribe offered … Continue reading

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Commissioner Rettig, Come Clean and Stop the B.S.

Last week I wrote a post titled 18 Months and Counting.  As promised, here’s the follow-up and it can be summed up with a simple line, “The IRS is lying to everyone about correspondence.” Commissioner Rettig today said he is … Continue reading

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IRS Reportedly Extending Federal Individual Due Date from April 15th to May 17th

Multiple news reports  state that the IRS will extend the April 15th tax deadline to May 15th.  Because May 15th falls on a Saturday, that effectively pushes the deadline to Monday, May 17th.  I would expect this would be for … Continue reading

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18 Months and Counting

Last year I wrote about one of my clients, James Smith.  The IRS “helpfully” changed his Employer Identification Number (EIN) for his business without telling him, and we have had to deal with numerous IRS notices relating to the EIN.  … Continue reading

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IRS Looking for “Hidden Treasure” (Unreported Cryptocurrency Income)

The IRS’s Director of the Office of Fraud Enforcement, Damon Rowe, announced at a conference that the IRS has started “Operation Hidden Treasure.”  The IRS is looking for individuals (and businesses) which had cryptocurrency income but didn’t report it on … Continue reading

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Stimulus for a 10-Year Old? Another (Likely) Erroneous IRS Notice

One of my clients just received IRS Notice 1444-B noting they received their Second Economic Impact Payment of $600 by direct deposit.  (The notice was dated February 19th, but they received it just this past week.)  They wondered why it … Continue reading

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When Acquire Doesn’t Mean Acquire

It’s time for today’s lessen in double-speak, or bureaucratese, courtesy of the IRS.  On the top of Form 1040, just below your address is a question: At any time during 2020, did you receive, sell, send, exchange, or otherwise acquire … Continue reading

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Are California $600 Stimulus Payments Taxable?

The state of California will soon be issuing $600 stimulus payments to an estimated 5.7 million residents.  These payments will go to: Households receiving the California Earned Income Tax Credit for 2020 (typically making $30,000 or less) Taxpayers with Individual … Continue reading

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IRS Extends Some Filing Deadlines for Victims of Texas Winter Storms

The IRS announced today that they have extended the deadline for victims of Texas winter storms until June 15th. This impacts the March 15th partnership and S-Corporation filing deadline and the April 15th individual, C-Corporation, and Trust/Estate deadline for those … Continue reading

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Online Gambling and Cryptocurrency Addresses for 2021

If you have one or more foreign financial accounts and you have $10,000 aggregate in those account(s) at any time during 2019, you must file the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (the “FBAR”). This is Form 114 from … Continue reading

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