Oops Gets Bigger

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Russ

Or, first California, now the United States.

Last week I reported on Cover California’s error impacting an estimated 100,000 individuals who received incorrect Form 1095-A’s. It turns out that was just the tip of the iceberg. As reported by AP:

About 800,000 HealthCare.gov customers got the wrong tax information from the government, the Obama administration said Friday, and officials are asking those affected to delay filing their 2014 returns.

This represents one-fifth of the Form 1095-A’s sent out by the federal exchange. That means there are a lot of people who can’t correctly file taxes until the corrected 1095-A’s are sent out. That should hapen in a couple of weeks but there’s an issue that’s implicit in the AP story: The government isn’t sure how the error happened. If that’s the case there’s an obvious question; how do you know that the ‘corrected’ 1095-A’s are correct?

Given that the majority of Americans would like to see ObamaCare go to the scrap heap, I’m sure these new revelations will inspire more confidence in the law. Given further that it is also quite likely that the majority of those who received subsidies for health care will have to repay some to all of the subsidy on their tax returns, I’m sure even more people will embrace ObamaCare….

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Oops

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Russ

This past weekend I saw my first Form 1095-A. That’s the form that individuals covered by health insurance through a plan form an exchange will receive. In California, 800,000 of these were mailed. Unfortunately, 100,000 of these were wrong. Oops.

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Covered California sent out the wrong forms:

Covered California said it sent incorrect information on some forms because its customer data didn’t match what health plans had on file.

For instance, there may have been a discrepancy for the person’s length of coverage in 2014 and amount of subsidy received.

Amy Palmer, an exchange spokeswoman, said the agency is reconciling that information and sending revised forms to the affected customers by later this month.

There’s another major issue here: No one knows which of the forms are correct until Covered California completes its review of all of the accounts. Heh, there’s only a 12.5% chance that any specific 1095-A is wrong….

And let’s give a huge demerit to Covered California’s webpages. One would think that if there’s a mistake impacting 12.5% of customers you would publicize it. That’s especially the case when this is a mistake that impacts these individuals when they file their tax returns. However, Covered California’s main webpage and its 1095-A page are both silent about this error.

No wonder customer dissatisfaction with ObamaCare remains high, and this is before many individuals discover that they’ll owe money on the advanced credits they received.

Posted in IRS | 2 Comments

IRS Announces Small Business Relief for Form 3115 (Property Regulation Issue)

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Russ

The IRS apparently figured out that under a literal reading of the new property/capitalization/depreciation regulations, every business would have to submit a Form 3115. The IRS determined that being buried under a tsunami of paper wasn’t a great idea. Today, the IRS announced in Revenue Procedure 2015-20 that a business which has under $10 million of average sales (for the last three years) or less than $10 million of assets (as of the beginning of their 2014 tax year) can use a simplified method for complying with the new property regulations.

I’ve done a quick read of the new Revenue Procedure. What I suspect we will have to do is attach a statement stating that the taxpayer is an eligible taxpayer under Revenue Procedure 2015-20, and has elected to follow this Revenue Procedure to come into compliance with the regulations. This will be far easier and far more palatable to most of my clients.

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A Bipartisan Tax Bill? I’ll Drink to That!

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Russ

There hasn’t been much bipartisanship on Capitol Hill recently. But there is a piece of legislation that is being proposed by both Democrats and Republicans. It’s to end age discrimination against bourbon and whiskey.

You didn’t know that there was such discrimination? Well, it’s not at the liquor store; rather, it’s in the Tax Code. One of the fundamentals of accounting is to match expenses against revenue. The problem for bourbon and whiskey is that it must age, so the expenses must wait until the product is sold. As this article from the Louisville Courier-Journal notes, a bipartisan group of Kentucky and Tennessee Congressmen would like to change that. They would like bourbon and whiskey producers to be able to take their expenses as incurred.

We’ll have to wait and see if this measure gains any traction in Congress. If it does, bourbon producers will certainly be drinking up for the success.

Posted in Kentucky, Legislation, Tennessee | 2 Comments

10

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Russ

Today is the tenth anniversary of this blog. My very first post stated,

After reading Hugh Hewitt’s Blog, starting a blog for Clayton Financial and Tax became a necessity, not a project for “tomorrow” (whenever that is). There are already some excellent blogs covering taxes (see the blogroll on the right–if yours isn’t included, email me a link and I’ll add it on), but only the Leonard Letter looks at taxes from a California perspective. My goal is to focus on taxes and how they impact what we, as citizens and taxpayers, get to keep in our pockets.

Inevitably, this means that I have to look at the politics behind taxes. An example is a proposal currently in front of the city council of Los Angeles which would increase the sales tax from 8.25% to 8.75% (the proposal failed to make it on the ballot by one vote). If this proposal were to pass, then business would increase in nearby cities (e.g. Burbank) because prices would be less expensive than in North Hollywood (part of the City of Los Angeles). That’s a positive for Burbank, but a negative for Los Angeles. Additionally, if prices increase in Los Angeles (they would), then sales will decrease.

I’ll also be looking at humorous tax events. Tax cheats, tax evaders, and humorous taxes are all fair game. And if I get wind of a politician saying things like Linda Stubbs of Middleton, Ohio, you will hear about it.

Some things have changed: I’ve moved from the perfumed landscape of Orange County, California to the desert wastes of Las Vegas, Nevada. Clayton Financial and Tax has changed: From a one-person business there are now three of us. We have a second office in Bethesda, Maryland. Other things haven’t changed: The focus of this blog remains looking at taxes that impact our clients. That puts the focus on small business owners, professional gamblers, real estate owners, and others. I also try to write in a humorous way; taxes, after all, is about as a dry a subject as there is. (For anyone who has trouble sleeping, just pick up a volume of the Tax Code and start reading. You’ll be out like a light before you know it!) That’s why I write about bozo tax offenders.

I’m aiming to make the second ten years of this blog as fun to write as the first ten.

Posted in Taxable Talk | 1 Comment

Harassing IRS Agents Isn’t a Bright Idea

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Russ

Speaking of ways to get in trouble with the IRS, one is to harass an IRS agent. They don’t like it (and it’s a crime). Scott Bodley of Silver City, New Mexico apparently didn’t care.

Back in 2003 Mr. Bodley threatened to file liens on an IRS agent who was auditing his taxes. (Had he done so, those liens would have been quashed.) He quit his job in 2004 to stop an IRS levy. Then he filed false paperwork with employers so he wouldn’t have taxes withheld, claimed he was a sovereign citizen, and basically tried to avoid paying his taxes. His actions did work for a few years, but his luck ran out on Friday. That’s when he was convicted of 26 charges including harassing IRS agents, filing false tax returns, and tax evasion.

Mr. Bodley will be sentenced in May, and he’ll likely have some time at ClubFed to think about the reality that it’s always easier to just pay your taxes in the first place…but that somehow doesn’t enter the Bozo mind.

Posted in Tax Evasion | 1 Comment

Former NFL Player Alleged to Have Fumbled His Sales Tax Returns

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Russ

I’ve said repeatedly that if you want to get in trouble with the IRS, one of the easiest ways to do so is to collect payroll taxes but not remit them. Less frequently I’ve commented about state tax agencies and mentioned that they don’t like you collecting sales taxes and not remitting them. A former NFL player is accused of that and committing wage theft against his employees.

Sam Adams played in the NFL for 14 years with Seattle, Baltimore, Oakland, Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Denver. A defensive lineman, he has 44 sacks credited to him in his career and made the Pro Bowl three times. He and his CFO, Dana Sargent, now face 21 counts of theft and tax evasion. From the Affidavit of Probable Cause:

Adams and Sargent have not only made multiple attempts to evade tax liabilities resulting in a tax bill, as of January 21, 2015, of over $446,571.38, but have failed to pay employees their deserved wages, failed to pay the medical premiums promised to employees as part of their benefit packages, failed to remit the premiums withheld from employees’ paychecks for medical insurance and failed to pay into unemployment insurance for employees, resulting in liens by the Employee Security Department on each company. During the latter part of 2013 through January 2014, Adams’s and Sargent’s illegal actions have caused employees, through no fault of their own, to have countless insufficient fund checks that they were unable to cash which resulted in employees losing their housing, being unable to pay household bills, being unable to buy Christmas gifts and accruing thousands of dollars in unpaid medical bills for themselves and their families. Numerous wage complaints have been filed against Lincoln Plaza Athletic Club, LLC, West Seattle Athletic Club, LLC, Adams and Sargent. The Department of Labor has been involved in efforts to assist employees in getting their unpaid medical, dental and vision bills paid due to Adams and Sargent either failing to pay the premiums as promised in the employees’ compensation packages and/or deducting premiums from employees’ pay checks and failing to remit them to the insurance company.

There’s plenty more in the affidavit, including West Seattle Athletic Club closing and the next day a “new” business opening (West Seattle Club) opening. That club paid its first three sales tax returns and then decided not to. That’s a good way to get on a tax agency’s naughty list. Mr. Adams operates six athletic clubs in Oregon and Washington. After reading the indictment, I think it’s possible he won’t be operating any soon.

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We’re Moving (Blog Hosting)

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Russ

On Friday night we’ll be changing hosting companies for this blog. It can take up to 48 hours for this to cascade through the tubes of the Internet name servers of the Internet (though it usually takes about ten minutes). All should be fine by Sunday evening.

Posted in Taxable Talk | Comments Off on We’re Moving (Blog Hosting)

IRS Launches Directory of Tax Professionals

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Russ

This morning I received an email noting that the IRS has released an online directory of tax professionals. The system lists EAs, CPAs, attorneys, and participants in the IRS’s Annual Filing Season Program.

The first time I tried to use it I saw this:

Capture

To be fair, the second time I searched the system was up and I found myself. The system sorts alphabetically (by default), though you can select one credential, or look for a specific last name.

There are errors, though; my business partner is listed based on my address (the main office) rather than his address (which is only 2000 miles away).

The good about this system is that a taxpayer can verify that someone has a credential. (That’s about all it’s good for to me.) Was this worth the effort, employee hours, and money that the IRS spent on it? Well, I’d much rather the IRS have spent the money on more employees for the Practitioner Priority Service so I’m not on hold for (on average) two hours. Or bring back the ability for tax professionals to enter POAs through e-services; that would be a great use of money that would save the IRS money (as there would be fewer phone calls to e-services).

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Fake Interest Income, Fake Withholding, Real Fraud at the Tax Court

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Russ

One of the more popular tax fraud schemes is the OID scheme. The idea is that there’s a “secret account” held by the US government and you can obtain a refund from that account. All you have to do is send in 1099-OIDs and magically you get a refund. A helpful hint to anyone so inclined: Don’t do it. There are no such secret accounts.

A tax preparer in California tried a variation of this scheme.

On Schedule B, Interest and Ordinary Dividends, of her 2008 return petitioner reported banks as the source of her interest income in the following amounts: Union Bank for $55,150, Washington Mutual for $9,071, Bank of America for $1,366 and $94, and Wells Fargo for $597…

Petitioner did not receive any interest from Union Bank, Washington Mutual, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo during 2008.

Well why would anyone lie and put extra income on their tax return? Because she claimed extra withholding–that most of the interest income never reached her because it was withheld by the banks. She claimed that $60,225 was withheld rather than the actual $573. Unfortunately, she received her refund based on the phony withholding.

But she wasn’t done; she filed an amended return asking for another $14,800 based on a “1099 OID erroneously included in income.” While her return was modified by the IRS, the refund wasn’t issued.

Before the amended return was filed, the petitioner had another “brilliant” idea. Why not transmit phony 1099-OIDs through the FIRE system? That way she could get big refunds for others! (The FIRE system is what tax professionals use to electronically file information returns, such as 1099-OIDs, with the IRS.)

When the IRS discovered the original issue–that there was no withholding–the petitioner attached five phony 1099-OID forms and five phony 1099-A forms to a letter where she alleged that these were filed through the FIRE system.

The petitioner continued with the same strategy on her 2009 and 2010 returns. Unfortunately, the IRS didn’t catch the phony withholding on her 2009 return until after they sent her an $83,976 refund.

When the IRS sent a notice of deficiency, the petitioner challenged it in Tax Court. She never filed a response to the IRS allegations, so they were deemed accepted. So she owes the tax and the fraud penalties.

What is amazing to me is that the petitioner has not, as far as I can tell, been criminally indicted. She should count her lucky stars on that.

Case: Young v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2015-18

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