If You’re Going to Argue About Taxes Your Argument Better Be Good

Lets face it a lot of taxpayers make mistakes on their tax returns. It’s also true that there are plenty of other taxpayers that willfully falsify their returns in order to save on their total tax bill. Some people even go as far as to simply skip out on filing a return all together. You should already know how that sits with the IRS.

Of course, the nation’s top tax agency doesn’t take kindly to people who don’t file a tax return when they are obligated by the law to do so. What’s more, they like it even less when one of those individuals or companies decides to argue their case but doesn’t have much of an argument. Taxpayers give all kinds of reason for not filing a return, but if you plan on putting up a fight with the IRS, then you had better have a really good reason; and forget about any argument deemed frivolous. The IRS hates those.

In fact, the tax agency even has a list of such arguments and if you happen to go down that road you can expect serious consequences. That’s because the IRS has the right to add a special frivolous position penalty to your bill under Section 6702 of the tax code. As with all situations associated with the IRS, your best bet is to always just tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. However, if you aren’t completely truthful to begin with, don’t make it worse with a frivolous argument.

Posted in

Saving for Retirement: 5 Steps to Building Significant Wealth

Saving for Retirement: 5 Steps to Building Significant Wealth Are you saving enough money for retirement? Do you know how much money you need to accumulate in order to retire? Are you concerned about how you should be saving for retirement? The simplicity of these questions can lead many people to believe that there is…

The Bypass Trust: Using Disclaimers to Manage Large IRA Balances

The Bypass Trust: Using Disclaimers to Manage Large IRA Balances

The Bypass IRA Trust: Using Disclaimers to Manage Large IRA Balances By Mary Kay Foss California CPA, December 2001Trying to fund a bypass trust can be problematic if clients only have a residence and a large retirement plan as their major assets. On the surface, a residence isn’t a good asset for a bypass trust…

Tax Break for College Tuition Payments

Tax Break for College Tuition Payments    If you are writing a college tuition check, there may be a hidden tax break that will allow you to deduct a part of your college tuition payment. In order to do this, you must utilize a ‘Section 529’ College Savings Plan in one of the 26 states…

Cost-Sharing Arrangements – Appeals Court Rules Against Xilinx

Cost-Sharing Arrangements – Appeals Court Rules Against Xilinx Taxpayer loses the Xilinx Case (click this link to see the complete Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decision of 5/27/09) in the Court of Appeal on May 27, 2009.Subject to further appeal to the Supreme Court (which almost never happens with tax related cases), the tax benefits of…