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
A Federal Crackdown On Tax Zapper Software
In December, the Justice Department announced criminal charges against John Yin, a software salesman who worked for a Canadian company that sells point of sale (POS) software programs that enabled restaurants to underreport their sales, thereby lowering their tax liability.[1] Commonly called “zapper” programs, these revenue suppression software (RSS) programs are used to delete some
Feds Crack Down on Use of “Tax Zapper” Software by Restaurants and Other Cash Businesses
In December, the Justice Department announced criminal charges against John Yin, a software salesman who worked for a Canadian company that sells “point of sale” software programs that enabled restaurants to underreport their sales, thereby lowering their tax liability.[1] Commonly called “Zapper” programs, these “revenue suppression software” programs are used to delete some or
DOJ Announces Final Resolutions Under Its Groundbreaking Swiss Bank Program As Program Enters “Legacy” Phase
Today the Justice Department’s Tax Division announced that it has reached final resolutions with the remaining “Category 3 and 4” Swiss banks who had enrolled in the Swiss Bank Program. Originally unveiled in August 2013, the Swiss Bank Program provided a path for Swiss banks to resolve potential criminal liabilities in the United States,
Lessons from DOJ Prosecution of Tony Hu for Sales Tax Fraud
On Oct. 18, 2016, a federal judge sentenced a well-known Chicago restaurant owner to prison for carrying out an extensive scheme to avoid paying state sales tax collected from customers of his establishments. Two important lessons may be drawn from this criminal case. First, criminal prosecutions of business owners for avoiding payment of state sales
To Address Growing IRS Whistleblower Claim Backlog, DOJ Encourages Submission of Certain Larger, Credible Claims for Tax Division Review
In order to assist the Internal Revenue Service in processing the mountain of whistleblower claims it is receiving, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has indicated that it is open to receiving certain claims – as long as they are based upon “specific, credible, and solid information” in which the tax amount exceeds $2 million.
Since
IRS Adds Nearly 50 New Names to OVDP Facilitator List, Effective November 15
Effective today, 47 new names have been added to the Internal Revenue Service’s ever-expanding list of “Foreign Financial Institutions or Facilitators” which trigger a significantly higher penalty for participants in the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP). Under the current OVDP terms, individuals making a voluntary disclosure about offshore bank accounts and assets can