I think some people have misconceptions about money. And if you think about it, we all have lots of misconceptions about lots of things, including the IRS. I admit that sometimes I don’t realize that what I know is not common knowledge for everyone. (See misconception right there.) So, I thought I do my part…
Now that tax season is officially over, and folks are breathing a sigh of relief, the scammers are really digging in. IRS scams are everywhere, bilking people out of thousands of dollars and fraudulently obtaining their personal information. These days, you’re just as likely to get an email from a strange IP address, but traditionally,…
Damian Barrett, a Florida tax preparer, was convicted of filing 745 false tax returns in 19 states. Barrett owned two tax preparation companies. He used one to file legitimate returns and the other to file false returns. From 2015 to 2018 Barrett filed 348 false returns in the state of Oregon alone, requesting more than…
Okay, the New Year is closing in fast, so I wanted to pen a quick reminder about what HAS to be done before the 31st… Charitable donations. Individuals who itemize their deductions can receive a current-year tax deduction for cash donations. In other cases, such as stock donations or gifts to foundations, they are still…
The bookkeeper for a family-owned tree nursery in North Carolina pleaded guilty to embezzling more than one million dollars over a six-year period. Richard Clark began working for the nursery in 2003, and in 2013 started writing checks to himself from the company. He covered his tracks by altering the check descriptions in Quickbooks. In…
Before the New Year gets here, I want to ask you to think about sharing some money truths with your family. NOT the ones your parents told you, in most cases, but the ones that really are true. You see, as a tax professional, I see the same old (bad) money habits being transferred from…
Daniel Berglund, a self-employed computer language instructor, was convicted of four counts of tax evasion for failing to file taxes from 1987 to 2017. Berglund took many steps to hide his income from the IRS – including giving his clients a made-up tax identification number to prevent payments to him from being reported to the…
As a tax professional, easily the most common type of question I get is related to either making more money or saving more money. The two are nearly synonymous, but, of course, to save it, you have to make it. Unfortunately, a lot of “makers” aren’t very good “savers.” I want to share an “old…
The founders of a cryptocurrency company, Bruce Bise and Samuel Mendez, pleaded guilty to tax evasion for a scheme that defrauded more than 13,000 investors of approximately 24 million dollars. Bise and Mendez marketed their company, Bitqyck, and the company’s currency, Bitqy, as a way for “those individuals who missed out on Bitcoin” to get…
Have you ever thought about what you’ll do when you sell your company? If Google, or Walmart, or Marriot rang you up tomorrow, offering you eight or nine figures to simply walk away, what would you do? For many entrepreneurs, of course, this day may never come. On the other hand, most of us do…