Tax fraud

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson said in a report Wednesday the Internal Revenue Service ran a generally successful filing season this year, but it needs to assign more employees to taxpayer service instead of enforcement.

Four Senate Democrats have written a letter to one of the companies hired by the Internal Revenue Service to collect tax debts after complaints that some of its employees encouraged people to use money from their 401(k) retirement funds or take out a second mortgage to pay off their tax debts.

The Internal Revenue Service, along with state tax agencies and the tax industry, is cautioning tax preparers to beware of a new phishing scheme revolving around emails claiming to be from a tax software education provider.

Stolen names and SSNs; ‘substantial’ fees in a $1.1 million scheme; Canadian conspiracy; and other highlights of recent tax cases.

The number of victims of employment-related identity theft is far larger than previously estimated and the Internal Revenue Service’s processes aren’t able to keep up, according to a new report.

Madoff victims still wait; suing the IRS anonymously; where tax dollars go; other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Bogus gifts, job expenses; ‘varying fees’ for fraud; Crazy skin game; and other highlights of recent tax cases.

The Internal Revenue Service issued a warning Thursday cautioning taxpayers and tax professionals about a new scam revolving around the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, in which criminals are calling innocent taxpayers demanding they make an immediate tax payment through a prepaid debit card.

Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has been accused of failing to pay 14.7 million euros ($16.5 million) in taxes.

Cigars and nose jobs; ‘training’ to manipulate numbers; and other highlights of recent tax cases.