Martin Cantu, EA - Tax Consultant - Tax Relief Services Blog

  Tax practitioners are still waiting for the IRS to accelerate their notice letters and accompanying collection actions, after announcing earlier this year that the notices would resume their Covid hiatus, after tax season. So far, no acceleration.   The Texas Comptroller has filled that void, sending notices of sales tax audits to many more taxpayers. I base this on the number of calls my office has received from taxpayers who have received notices of a sales tax audit.   So, let’s take a moment to review a few things to keep in mind when dealing with the Texas Comptroller, just in case you receive that audit letter. 1. The Comptroller staff are professional, efficient, well-managed, very knowledgeable, etc., etc. You get the picture – you’re dealing with a well-run machine and one that knows their subject matter like the back of their hand. Taxpayers must be prepared when dealing with them. 2.     2. W hile payment plans are available, they will not discount the amount d

Sometimes events coincide and you have one of those "Ah ha" moments. Well, I had last week. Let's set the scene. Recently the IRS launched an initiative against small business where the IRS questions if the small business has reported all of their income. The IRS sends out letters with the heading "Notification of Possible Income Under reporting."  It notifies the business owner "your gross receipts may be under reported" and says they must complete a form "to explain why the portion of your gross receipts from non-card payments appears unusually low." The Forbes article goes into more detail about the initiative, and the response from the business community . This on the heels of a report that the IRS is using social media as a way to monitor the spending habits of suspected tax cheats. Now the third leg of the stool - I spoke with a colleague recently who recounted how the Texas Comptroller's Office BART unit instigated a sal

#IRS #Taxes #TexasComptroller We're seeing a number of clients having problems with the Texas Comptrollers Office for state due on businesses that were shut down years ago. While the taxpayer may have viewed the business as shut down, the Comptroller did not. What starts out small grows huge - if only our 401k's grew as fast. The scenario is something like this: 1. Business incorporates and obtains a sales tax permit. 2. Business goes kaput, is shut down, but corporation and sales permit stay active. 3. No reports filed - the Comptroller prepares substitute returns for a couple of years. 4. Taxpayer moves, ignores certified mail from the comptroller, summons, etc. Judgment is taken, including the substituted returns where no actual sales are made. 5. Taxpayer finds out about the judgment years later, after the debt has grown ten-fold. 6. Comptroller refuses to negotiate on the amount due, leaving you between a rock an a hard place - an not able to get that house