On Friday, Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based Bitcoin exchange, notified approximately 13,000 of its customers that it would be turning over their account information to the Internal Revenue Service within 21 days. This follows the decision by a federal court in November to uphold a “John Doe” summons issued by the IRS seeking such data from
With Tax Season Fast Approaching, IRS Secures Guilty Plea in High-Profile Tax Case Involving Reality TV Star “The Situation”
The Internal Revenue Service has announced that the nation’s tax season will begin on Monday, January 29, 2018. As is typically the case, the annual opening of tax season is accompanied by well-publicized enforcement actions intended to warn potential tax cheats of the perils of filing a false tax return. This year is no different,
DOJ Offshore Bank Resolution Offers Cooperation Road Map
August 29, 2017 – Law360
Justice Department’s Latest Offshore Bank Resolution Confirms Value of Self-Disclosure and Voluntary Remediation by At-Risk Foreign Institutions
The Justice Department revealed its latest offshore bank resolution by announcing that it had entered into a non-prosecution agreement with a Swiss asset management firm called Prime Partners. This means that Prime Partners will not be criminally prosecuted for participating in what the DOJ characterized as a conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and
New IRS CI Chief Describes Enforcement Priorities, Launch of Special Investigation Units
Matthew D. Lee was featured in the Wolters Kluwer article, “New IRS CI Chief Describes Enforcement Priorities, Launch of Special Investigation Units.” Please click DOJ’s Prosecution of Health Care Exec Illustrates Unique Intersection of Securities & Employment Tax Fraud Schemes
In a recent criminal prosecution of a medical doctor/entrepreneur for defrauding his company’s shareholders, the government employed a novel theory of securities fraud premised, in part, upon the defendant’s failure to pay federal employment taxes withheld from his employees’ wages. The government alleged that the defendant, Sreedhar Potarazu, an ophthalmic surgeon licensed in Maryland and
On the Eve of Tax Day, Justice Department Warns That Tax Evaders Will Face Prison Time
With only four days remaining until “Tax Day,” the Justice Department’s well-publicized campaign to deter potential tax evaders continues with more stern warnings to taxpayers. In a bleak press release entitled “With the Individual Income Tax Filing Deadline Approaching, Justice Department Warns Willful Violations of Tax Laws Are Criminal,” the Justice Department sounds the warning
As Tax Day Approaches, Justice Department and IRS Turn Up Heat on Potential Tax Cheats
With less than two weeks until the April 18 deadline for filing individual federal income tax returns, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service are issuing stern warnings to potential tax cheats. Today the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina and the Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Charlotte Field
John Doe Summonses: A Key IRS Tool Against Tax Evasion
The Internal Revenue Service continues to make frequent use of a relatively unknown information-gathering tool in its nearly decade-old crusade against offshore tax evasion: the “John Doe” summons. A John Doe summons may be used to obtain information and records about a class of unidentified taxpayers if the IRS has a reasonable belief that such
Justice Department Sends Stern Warning to Employers With Continuing Crackdown on Employment Tax Fraud
Ensuring that employers collect and pay over to the Internal Revenue Service taxes withheld from their employees’ wages is one of the highest priorities of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. Unpaid employment taxes are a substantial problem for the U.S. government, as amounts withheld from employee wages represent nearly 70 percent of all revenue collected