Under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, Americans were required to have health insurance coverage for their household. Failure to have health insurance coverage triggered a tax penalty. However, as of January 1, 2019, health insurance coverage is no longer mandatory at the federal level. This means that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
IRS
Head of Household Tax Mistakes
Every year the IRS and Franchise Tax Board send out thousands of questionnaires to taxpayers for clarification on their tax filing statuses. We regularly work with clients at our tax law offices in San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles to help them choose the correct filing status from head of household tax mistakes. Head
Understanding IRS Audit Notices
IRS Audit Notices The number of IRS audits and IRS Audit Notices actually went down in 2015-of course that is of little comfort to the people coming into our tax law offices in San Diego, El Cajon and Orange County. The tax agency expects to complete approximately 1-million audits this year—which is down almost 400,000
Successful Whistleblower Claims
Did you know that in the past few years the IRS has created dozens of newly minted millionaires? The tax agency paid Bradley Birkenfeld 104-million dollars. Another example is Lynn Szymoniak, who walked away with 18-million dollars. In 2015, close to a hundred people walked away on average with more than a million-dollars apiece according to
Stop Identity Theft in its Tracks-Part One
Stop Identity Theft Stop Identity Theft! It seems like we keep reading the same stories over and over again—thieves have cracked a corporate network and stolen credit card and personal information from thousands of people. The latest breach comes from of all places, the IRS where thieves stole personal and sensitive information from more than
Should You Hire a Tax Attorney?
Should You Hire a Tax Attorney? It’s the kind of mail nobody wants to receive—a letter from the IRS. It’s pretty much given that any mail you get from the agency is most likely not going to contain good news. If you receive a letter from the IRS you have an important decision to make.
Deduct With Care: These Write-Offs Could Lead to Audits
As a tax law firm we deal with IRS and Franchise Tax Board audits on a daily basis. As we review tax returns and prepare our clients for the audit process, one question comes to mind during many of these interviews: “What was their tax attorney thinking?” Deduct With Care: These Write-Offs Could Lead to
Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights
Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights Have you heard about the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights? For years the IRS has published different procedures, processes and taxpayer expectations throughout different publications its offered to the public. But just like the Bill of Rights in our constitution, the agency has boiled it all down to ten overarching taxpayer right’s and
Understanding the Alternative Minimum Tax
It’s one of the most dreaded phrases a taxpayer can hear, “you’re subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax.†If you’re hearing it from your tax attorney,  get ready to break out your checkbook because chances are very high that you’ll be paying a lot more to the federal government. What is the Alternative Minimum Tax? The
Allowable living expenses/IRS National Standards
Though the Internal Revenue Service does not take the collection of taxes lightly, the IRS is prevented by law from attempting to collect assets that a person needs to survive and to live a normal life. These necessities have been dubbed allowable living expenses, and they are the expenses a person must be able to