The IRS's Top 12 Dirty Tax Scams

By Sandy Botkin

The IRS just announced today (how's that for timely?) the top 12 dirty tax scams... and here they are:

1. Identity theft in order to fraudulently file a tax return
2. Pervasive telephone scams

3. Phishing
4. False promises of free money from inflated rebates and other techniques

5. Return preparer fraud
6. Hiding income offshore

7. Impersonation of charitable organizations and to help disaster victims donate to recognized charities

8. Claiming false income, expenses or exemptions

9. Frivolous tax arguments

10. Falsely claiming zero wages or using false 1099s
11. Abusive tax structures such as using foreign trusts, LLCs offshore debt cards, etc.
12. Misuse of trusts

Derived from IRS notice 2014-16, Achieve Financial Freedom – Big Time! and Lower Your Taxes: Big Time.

Sandy Botkin, Attorney and Certified Public Accountant, is the Chief Executive Officer and Principal Lecturer of the Tax Reduction Institute based in the Washington, D.C. area. Over the past 20+ years, Sandy has taught thousands of taxpayers how to save millions on their taxes with his seminar. He consistently earns rave reviews for his clear and humorous presentations.