The article was originally published in The Daily Record.

Consumer groups pushing federal and state lawmakers for certification and education

By: Bloomberg Ben Steverman February 16, 2016

For several years, researchers have been sending people into tax preparation offices to test the quality of the work. The results have been scary:

* A tax preparer in North Carolina wasn’t sure what to do with one client’s dividend income form. She decided to just ignore it. Read more

It is nothing to be ashamed of, millions americans fail to file taxes every year. Most of my clients have not filed taxes in over ten years or more.

But what can happen if you don’t pay taxes?

The answer is a lot can happen. The IRS can legally seize your home, business, assets, future tax returns, garnish your paychecks, levy bank account, place a lien on your home, prevent you from getting a license and possibly bar you from renewing your passport. Read more

As a tax resolution attorney, I have clients all over the world. Are you surprised to hear that people in Canada, Thailand, France, and Egypt have U.S. tax problems? Now this usually stems from a portion of time living in the U.S. or having U.S. investments, but nonetheless they are still tax problems. Our firm is proud that we are able to handle federal and local tax controversies for clients all over the globe.

Where does Florida come in?
A little closer to home, we have our Florida friends and frequent resolution clients. Are you surprised that a tax attorney in Maryland has a large number of clients in Florida? These tax problems occur for many reasons but most commonly are a result of dual residency. Read more

The IRS reported that their percentage of individual audits has drastically been reduced by recent budget cuts. They have fallen to record lows not seen in over a decade. Operating with over 20% fewer revenue agents the IRS struggles to keep up with their workload.

How does this impact audits? Read more

The IRS has over 148 different penalty types that can be assessed on a taxpayer or business. What’s even worse is interest and additional penalties can continue to grow from the original penalty. That’s just on the federal level. Maryland has a whopping 13% interest, not to mention they are not as forgiving when it comes to old tax returns. I have seen the State go after clients for taxes from the early 90’s! These penalties and interest charges continue to rack up a bill that sometimes is larger than the original infraction. As bad as they seem, IRS penalties can often times be reduced or even wiped out completely, but you have to know what you are doing. And you must have a justifiable reason to ask for them to be removed. Read more