The IRS is warning taxpayers to watch out for fake emails and websites trying to steal personal information that can be used to commit identify or financial theft. The IRS is listing this type of “phishing” scheme on its list of the top tax scams for the 2015 filing season, the typical time when scams …
Posts Categorized: IRS
Congressional Watchdog Releases IRS Report Card
How are the recent congressional budget cuts affecting the IRS’s exempt organizations division? With growing concern about the effectiveness of IRS oversight of exempt organizations, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent, non-partisan congressional watchdog, was asked to prepare a report to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about the division’s …
IRS Top Tips for Year-End Charitable Donations
As individuals and businesses get ready to make their year-end charitable donations, the IRS provides its top tips about giving: 1. If you are making a charitable contribution of clothing and household items (e.g., furniture, furnishings, electronics), they must generally be in good used condition or better to be tax-deductible. Donors must get written acknowledgments …
Court Dismisses Tea Party Suits Against IRS
How do you solve a problem like a tea party group lawsuit? The IRS may have just found the answer: give the group tax-exempt status. In the wake of the Treasury Inspector General report that called out the IRS for using discriminatory labels to sort through exemption applications, such as the term “tea party,” more …
IRS Catches Up on Exemption Application Processing
Has your organization been waiting a long time for its IRS exemption? If so, you may be hearing back soon. Last week Matthew Weir, director for the IRS Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Division, reported that this year the unit has closed 117,000 exemption applications, a 121% increase from last year. Weir pointed out that everyone …
Lerner Plays Victim in Exclusive Politico Interview
After refusing for the last 16 months to speak to Congress about the IRS targeting scandal, Lois Lerner, former head of the IRS Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Division, had a two hour interview with news organization Politico. In the article, Lerner denies wrongdoing and expresses pride in her career, telling Politico she is not sorry …