As Relieable as You Might Have Thought

Posted on October 9, 2016 by Russ

That is not a typographical error in the headline. Yes, I meant to type, “Relieable.” Why? Because of a story of a Tampa, Florida tax professional who was as relieable, err, reliable as the headline.

Donna Demps was found guilty of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Here’s what the DOJ press release states:

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Demps formed the Florida corporation “D&D Honest Relieable [sic] Tax Services LLC.” She then used the corporation to open bank accounts into which she electronically transferred tax refunds obtained by stealing the identities of real people, many of whom were veterans, disabled, elderly, or otherwise unable to care for themselves. Demps never registered her tax preparation service with the Internal Revenue Service since she would have had to reveal that she was an eight-time convicted felon. Through her bank accounts, Demps stole more than $120,000 over a one-year period.

So we have someone opening up a corporation ending in “LLC” (limited liability companies are not corporations), with a misspelling of ‘reliable,’ and then stealing identities. There’s not much to add here, except that Ms. Demps will likely be spending quite a bit of time at ClubFed.

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On 1099 Due Dates in 2017

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Russ

You may have heard that Form 1099-MISC’s must be filed earlier next year. That’s true, but it only impacts some of the 1099s. Let’s look at the IRS instructions:

New filing date. Public Law 114-113, Division Q, section 201, requires Form 1099-MISC to be filed on or before January 31, 2017, when you are reporting nonemployee compensation payments in box 7. Otherwise, file by February 28, 2017, if you file on paper, or by March 31, 2017, if you file electronically. The due dates for furnishing payee statements remain the same.

What this means is that only 1099-MISC’s for independent contractors (nonemployee compensation) must be filed by January 31st, whether you file by paper or electronically. All other information returns, including 1099-MISC’s reporting “Other Income,” will have the same deadlines as this past year: paper returns on or before February 28th, and electronic on or before March 31st.

I’m certain there will be confusion this coming year over the deadline. Of course, there’s no penalty for filing all your information returns by January 31st (whether required or not).

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Prepare to Panic

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Russ

No, I’m not talking about the two choices in this year’s presidential election. Rather, I’m talking about the situation if you have yet to send your tax paperwork to your tax professional. It’s just about time to panic.

Mind you, if your return is simple and straightforward, take care of it now: The deadline is in exactly two weeks. If your return has any sort of complexities, you must start working on it immediately. Your tax professional will need time to get your return done right. You need to turn in that paperwork post haste. Yes, if you’ve procrastinated you need to stop, sit down, and take the time to get things done.

If you file late, it’s as if you never filed your extension. So sit down, and get everything done now. Or you may be paying a significant monetary penalty if you don’t.

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If You’re a Celebrity…

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Russ

…It pays to file and pay your taxes. This goes even for those behind the scenes.

Mario Winans is a record producer, a singer, and a songwriter. He’s won a Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance. He may be best known for “I Don’t Wanna Know,” a single that reached #2 in tghe United States. Mr. Winans has been successful, earning $2.8 million (gross income) from 2008 through 2012. We know how much he paid in taxes, and that’s the problem: He didn’t pay anything. Did he have some tax shelter, or perhaps a Net Operating Loss he took advantage of?

No, he simply didn’t file returns. That’s not a good idea, and it became an especially bad idea when the IRS figured this out. Mr. Winans pleaded guilty on Thursday; he faces up to two years at ClubFed, restitution of $434,968, and a possible $200,000 fine.

As usual, it’s always a lot easier to simply pay your taxes…especially if you’re a celebrity. Here’s Mr. Winan’s in “I Don’t Wanna Know;” I guess he now knows that filing and paying his taxes would have been a better idea.

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Another Incorrect IRS CP2000 Notice

Posted on September 28, 2016 by Russ

One of my clients received an IRS CP2000 notice today alleging he did not include $1000 of ordinary dividend income. And the IRS was correct: She forgot to provide me the 1099-DIV. Yet the IRS, in the same notice, states that the client included $1000 in qualified dividends on the same stock.

This may sound familiar, and it should; back in March a client had a similar experience.

I will repeat what I said then: It’s impossible to have qualified dividends without having ordinary dividends. The IRS notice my client received today is wrong. Given I’ve seen two such notices it appears there is a systemic issue; I’ve reported it to the Taxpayer Advocate’s systemic issue hotline. If any other practitioners see similar incorrect notices, I urge you to do the same.

If you’re a taxpayer and receive an IRS notice, do not blindly assume it is correct. Show the notice to your tax professional. Your tax professional can look at your return and see if it is correct or not. IRS statistics show that two-thirds of IRS notices are wrong in whole or in part. The IRS has publicly stated that they know they send out incorrect notices, but it’s a profit center so they’ll keep sending them out.

As for my client, the IRS alleged my client owed a bit over $300. In truth, my client owes a touch over $100. A reply to the IRS notice has been sent and in about ten weeks we’ll hear back that we’re correct. My client has already paid what we believe the balance to be.

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As The Caesars Turns, Episode 2

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Russ

Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (CEOC) today announced that they reached a restructuring agreement with its major creditors. The deal will likely allow CEOC to emerge from bankruptcy early in 2017. The settlement must be finalized and will require approval of the bankruptcy court.

“It’s important to recognize that a lot of work needs to be done in the next few weeks. Will there be bumps along the road? Yes. Is this a durable deal? Yes,” said Bruce Bennett, a lawyer for Jones Day representing junior creditors.

The deal will have CEOC merge with Caesars Acquisition Company, with first tier lenders getting about 115 cents per dollar, first lien holders getting 109 cents, and junior debt holders getting between 66 cents to 83 cents on the dollar.

But not everyone is settling. Trilogy Capital Management has $22 million of CEOC’s unsecured bonds and will pursue its lawsuit against the casino giant. The next hearing in Trilogy’s lawsuit against CEOC is scheduled for October 6th in New York. Trilogy is asking for $160 million in the lawsuit. The lawsuit, if it goes to trial, would likely confirm or deny whether Caesars truly split into a “good” Caesars and a “bad” Caesars (as Trinity and others claimed).

Tune in next week to see what happens with Trinity’s lawsuit and whether any other obstacles appear for the closure of the bankruptcy of CEOC.

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California Cities Eye Netflix as a Revenue Source

Posted on September 25, 2016 by Russ

“Don’t tax you, don’t tax me. Tax that fellow behind the tree.” — Russell B. Long

The city of Pasadena, California (home of the Rose Bowl and annual Rose Parade) voted to expand their telecommunications tax to include streaming video services such as Netflix. The tax rate is 9.4%; the tax will begin on January 1, 2017.

The Pasadena Star-News noted,

Councilman Tyron Hampton called the decision “ridiculous” on Friday and said he hopes the council will take up the topic.

“Cable has been a hardship for many families and now we’re going to add a hardship to them,” Hampton said. “Next we’ll be taxing you for streaming music on Pandora. This is ridiculous.”

There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Pasadena will be bringing up a tax on Pandora at their next city council meeting. (Seriously, I made that up.) But it does show the desperation of California cities to balance their budgets. And the biggest culprit are pension costs.

The crisis dates back to the late 1990s, and the dot-com bubble. California tax revenues were increasing rapidly thanks to the stock market, so everyone drew straight lines going up, up, and up. California legislators and the then Governor Grey Davis forgot this song:

But I digress….

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association isn’t enamored by the new tax, and I suspect a lawsuit is in the future. Still, there’s no doubt in my mind that Californians need to watch their wallets (which is nothing new, and one of the reasons I now reside in Nevada).

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As the Caesars Turns

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Russ

There have been more developments in the Caesars bankruptcy. First, Caesars Entertainment said it is offering an additional $1.6 billion for junior creditors of Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (CEOC) in the contentious bankruptcy. The stock market reacted favorably to the news Caesars stock went up 21% today.

The underlying issue in the bankruptcy is whether Caesars management deliberately created a “bad” Caesars (CEOC) and a “good” Caesars (everything else). Junior creditors are accusing Caesars of exactly that. Lawsuits on this issue are on hold but unless a court extends an injunction they’ll start moving forward in October.

Earlier this month Judge Benjamin Goldgar ruled that junior creditors are within their rights to have top management at Caesars complete financial disclosure statements. As Bloomberg reported,

Apollo co-founder Marc Rowan, company principal David Sambur and TPG co-founder David Bonderman must provide the information to a committee of dissident creditors who are fighting a reorganization proposal for Caesars, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge A. Benjamin Goldgar ruled. That plan would release the men from any legal liability related to the Las Vegas-based gambling company’s bankruptcy. The bondholders say the men shouldn’t be shielded from lawsuits related to the bankruptcy.

But is $1.6 Billion more enough? Given that an independent examiner said Caesars could be liable for over $5 billion in damages, I suspect junior creditors may be thinking “no.” Caesars management is threatening to put all of Caesars in bankruptcy, with the obvious implication that you might get a lot less if the bankruptcy expands. Perhaps the junior creditors are thinking that this is a sign of desperation; that they’ll get 100% of their debt back by either lawsuits or a full bankruptcy; or that Caesars will increase their offer yet again in the future.

When the bankruptcy began I asked and answered some questions:

How long will the bankruptcy process take? A long time…

Who will profit from the bankruptcy? That’s a question with a sure answer: the lawyers…

Why aren’t all of Caesars’ hotels included in the bankruptcy? If you look at the list, some of the hotels are merely operated by Caesars and won’t be included in the bankruptcy even if the second-tier debtholders win. However, it is definitely possible that the bankruptcy could expand and take in more of Caesars than just CEOC…

Could some of Caesars’ properties be sold? Definitely. If this does not end up being a prepackaged bankruptcy, then each tier of debtors will propose a plan. One plan could be to auction various properties, so it’s definitely possible.

Nothing has caused me to change my opinions on any of these answers. The soap opera, er, bankruptcy began in January 2015; if you placed a bet on it reaching two years without resolution, your bet looks like a winner to me.

So stay tuned soon for the next exciting episode of “As the Caesars Turns.”

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A New Scam: Mailed “IRS” Notices

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Russ

Something else to be wary of: Imitation IRS notices. Today I saw an “IRS” notice that looked almost real. The notice had the normal headers, and the terminology was just about right. The notice was supposedly from the Austin Service Center, but instead of responding to the Service Center the address for responding was a post office box in Austin. The real key was the request for money. All IRS notices (when a payment is due) ask for the check to be made payable to “United States Treasury.” The phony notice asked for the check to be made payable to “I.R.S.”

For taxpayers, a quick tip: If you have any doubts about the veracity of an IRS notice, call the IRS or your tax professional. If you see that the notice asks you to write a check payable to “I.R.S.” it’s phony.

For tax professionals, make sure you look at clients’ IRS notices. The scammers are trying something new, so we have to be wary. Given that two-thirds of legitimate IRS notices are wrong in whole or in part, we should already be asking our clients to forward to us any IRS notices they receive.

The one good news about this scheme is that it should be easier for IRS Criminal Investigation, TIGTA, and/or the US Postal Inspectors to catch the culprits. Renting a post office box leaves a paper record, so hopefully these fraudsters soon find their way to ClubFed.

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The Tax King Goes to Prison

Posted on September 14, 2016 by Russ

The Tax King—at least, the St. Louis version thereof—is heading to ClubFed. Eyob Tilahun owned the Tax King tax preparation firm in the St. Louis area. He wasn’t charging low prices; his typical fee was $400 to $650. And he asked for tips of $100 to $1000. Sounds like a good business model to me.

Of course, I didn’t mention the other things he did. Let’s head back to the DOJ press release from May:

In the pleading guilty today, Tilahun admitted that Tax King’s return preparers were trained and instructed to increase their customers’ refunds by falsifying certain information on their tax returns. The false information that was placed on the returns included: (1) false Business Income and Schedules Cs which caused the clients to qualify for larger Earned Income Credits (“EICs”); (2) false wages, which again caused the clients to qualify for larger EICs; (3) false education expenses which enabled the clients to qualify for American opportunity education credits; and (4) false information regarding fuel taxes which qualified the clients for federal fuel tax credits.

I think I’ve talked about how all these credits can be used for fraud in the past. Congress might want to consider not having so many tax credits…but I’m likely talking to the converted.

Well, sentencing came up last Friday. Mr. Tilahun will have 38 months at ClubFed to think things over. He’ll also have to make restitution of something over $2 million. Maybe that’s why I haven’t embraced this business model.

For individuals shopping tax professionals, remember that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. If you make a lot of money, you’re likely going to pay a lot in tax. There is no tax fairy to make your taxes go away.

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