Posts Tagged ‘tax lawyer’

Duty To Pay Tax To The Federal Government

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

It is surprising just how many people try to escape their duty to pay tax to the federal government each year. If you fail to pay your taxes, it is a crime in the United States as it is any almost every country. Perpetrators can be punished severely for this type of offence as it can have serious consequences on the running of government. Most often these so called ‘clean crimes’ are carried out by what are considered respectable people that have not been in trouble with the law in the past.

Tax fraud is a general term used to refer to offences such as tax evasion, non-filing of tax returns, forgery, non-declaration of assets and income, misrepresentation of conditions for the purpose of tax exemption and other such actions related to the payment of taxes. Tax fraud lawyers are specialized attorneys that deal with issues of tax fraud and represent clients who are accused of tax fraud.

Tax fraud lawyers have only one function and are not used for advice on how to plan for future tax commitments. Clients specifically employ them when they anticipate government interrogation regarding their taxes or after they have been charged for tax fraud. Though the issue is morally wrong, tax fraud lawyers work on ways to negotiate with tax authorities and help their clients legally evade taxes to a limited extent and mitigate their situation with regard to the charge of tax fraud.

It is not uncommon for people and even companies to fail in their tax responsibilities through lack of knowledge or understanding of their responsibilities. Some individuals and firms also fall foul of poor advice for their tax planning form the tax specialists they employ to represent them.

In these circumstances it is the responsibility of the attorney to provide proof that their client was an innocent victim of poor advice and did not have any intention to avoid their tax responsibilities. Therefore it is in the interest of everyone who requires the use of a tax consultant to choose them wisely otherwise they may find themselves on the wrong side of the authorities.

Although it would be normal for a custodial sentence to be passed the purpose of the tax fraud lawyer is to try and stop this from happening by negotiating with the authorities to allow the tax evader to escape imprisonment so they will be able to repay their tax debt. A competent lawyer will be able to put this point across so effectively that a payment solution usually by regular instalments will be considered instead of those which rely on a prison sentence.

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Massachusetts Tax And Budget Proposal

Monday, February 8th, 2010

The $28.2 billion budget is headed over to the Massachusetts state Senate and House for consideration. The House and Senate will create their own version of the bill before sending it back to Governor Patrick once again. The new budget proposal is for the fiscal year 2011, which begins on July first.

I have taken the liberty of plucking several note worthy components of the budget proposal:

By getting rid of the sales tax exemption for candy and soda, the Governor would in effect be instituting a new tax increase. The budget calls for taxing soda and candy in the hopes of raising an additional fifty-two million. This new revenue would go towards health prevention programs setup to educate the public about healthy choices and habits. The new budget calls for tax hikes on cigars and smokeless tobacco too.

The new budget proposal cuts back on a tax credit program hoping to bring film producers to Massachusetts. Massachusetts film industry insiders argued that cutting the program is shortsighted seeing as the program has been doing well. It has generated more than $1 billion in economic activity over the last four years, but the program is expensive to maintain.

Cuts have also been made reducing a life sciences tax credit designed to lure companies to Massachusetts. While this program has enjoyed success and creation of new jobs for Massachusetts, the program is expensive. The credits will not be eliminated, simply reduced.

The budget proposal will continue to fund the Commonwealth Care program. This program extends health care coverage to 170,000 adults. It is a component from the state’s 2006 health care law.

Gov. Patrick’s budget proposal depends in part upon $600 million in federal aid. The catch is that Congress hasn’t yet approved the bill and if it doesn’t pass, than additional cuts will be needed. The 2011 budget proposal will be a three percent increase over last years budget.

Massachusetts tax attorney Richard M. Stone specializes in advising businesses on sophisticated federal and state tax issues. If you need the help of Massachusetts tax lawyers, get in touch with the Law Office of Richard Stone.

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The Many Aspects To Tax Fraud

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Although we would like to believe that just the odd few people decide they do not want to pay their taxes to the government, this is not the case as many businesses fall foul of tax laws as well. Anyone found doing this is committing an offence under the tax laws of the United States. Perpetrators can be punished severely for this type of offence as it can have serious consequences on the running of government. Most often these so called ‘clean crimes’ are carried out by what are considered respectable people that have not been in trouble with the law in the past.

Although there are many aspects to Tax Fraud, some of the offences are more serious than others with tax evasion at the top of the list and someone forgetting or late with their tax return at the bottom. Tax fraud lawyers are specialized attorneys that deal with issues of tax fraud and represent clients who are accused of tax fraud.

Unlike other kinds of tax lawyers, tax fraud lawyers do not advise on tax planning or filing of income tax returns. There are two situations where a person or firm will seek their help; when they suspect their affairs are being looked into by the IRS or where they have been formally charged with the offence of tax fraud. The offence, even though serious, does not mean that imprisonment is necessarily the only course of action and a tax fraud lawyer will try to ensure this does not happen.

Many tax frauds are caused due to limited or erroneous knowledge of the tax laws and are not carried out with malice of forethought. Tax advisors can also be responsible for the predicament of their clients with poor advice which create a situation where tax evasion is the result.

When this is the situation then the lawyer will attempt to have the punishment reduced and sometimes dropped altogether. The need to choose a tax consultant that has proper qualifications cannot be underestimated in circumstance like this if investigation by the IRS is too be avoided.

The normal approach by a tax fraud lawyer will be too reason the argument that prosecuting the individual or company will not serve the public interest as recovery of the taxes owed is less likely. Often this line of reasoning works if presented by a good lawyer as it means that the offender will still pay any tax that is owed without the financial burden of paying for them to be in prison.

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