Mansion Ends Up Getting Owner in Hot Water for Tax Evasion
Is it possible to hide anything from the IRS? Even when you think you’re safe, it appears the IRS has an eye in the sky. That eye seems to be all reaching, at least in Pennsylvania. A wealthy real estate developer and CEO of Automated Health Systems owns a luxurious 32,400 square-foot mansion that apparently caught the eye of IRS agents flying in and out of Pittsburgh.
After authorities began to ask questions that eventually lead to the mansion owner’s personal secretary ending up in some serious trouble. That’s because the secretary, who also acted as the bookkeeper for her boss, recently pleaded guilty to tax evasion, which reportedly could be as much as $250 million. The mansion owner has not been charged in the case at this point and his attorney claims that the case is nothing more than a tax dispute.
However, the attorney for the secretary claims that his client was only following her boss’ direction and simply did what he directed her to do. He did concede that it was still criminal activity and his client is aware of that. The scheme reportedly involved re-characterizing her boss’ personal expenses to appear as business expenses. Formal charges include “conspiracy to fraudulently pay for and unlawfully deduct as business expenses, millions of dollars in personal expenses of co-conspirator 1.” It would appear that “co-conspirator 1” is her boss, although he has yet to be named.
The lesson here is if you’re going to build a big mansion, make sure it’s nowhere near a major airport, or else the eye in the sky might decide to take a closer look.
Congress Not Looking to Pass Internet Sales Tax Anytime Soon
Ever since the Internet became a worldwide sensation, there have been those who think it should be taxed, especially Internet sales from state to state. Taxing the Internet would be a huge source of extra revenue for the government, but for those who use the Internet to shop (which is just about everyone these days),…
NBA Stars Losing Hefty Amounts of Their Salary to the Taxman
Just about everyone knows that professional athletes make a ton of money. Whether you agree with athlete salaries or not, the fact is those hefty numbers you always see reported when an athlete signs a new deal aren’t really all that they’re cut out to be. Oh sure, they are making a lot of money,…
Successful Investing With Taxes in Mind
There are many ways to earn money, but no matter how you get your income the IRS wants its piece of the pie. That includes any gains you make from your investments when you sell them. Although everyone does have to pay tax on their gains, you shouldn’t give the IRS any more than what…
IRS Is Carefully Watching Bitcoin and Other Cyber Currency
Big Brother is watching. Always watching. In this case, Big Brother is the IRS and you might be surprised what they’re looking into now. Although, when it comes to the IRS, nothing should surprise us. Have you ever heard of Bitcoin? It’s one of a handful of virtual currencies that making buying and selling things…