Tax

Some of our favorite recent tax fraud cases.

Given the remarkably rapid rise of Internet commerce, it’s no surprise that cash-strapped states are looking for ways to tap into (i.e., tax) the bountiful stream of revenue.

Happy Asker, the founder of a pizza chain based in Farmington Hills, Mich., that operated restaurants throughout Michigan, Ohio and Illinois, was sentenced last week to 50 months in prison for income and employment tax fraud.

Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and ranking Democratic member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Friday the committee will markup a tax extenders bill next Tuesday.

“In every country I’ve been in, real estate is the best tax shelter,” said Tom Wheelwright, CPA, an advisor and speaker at Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad seminars, and a contributor to Donald Trump’s Wealth Builders Program.

Undercover investigators working for the Government Accountability Office were able to receive approximately $30,000 in Advance Premium Tax Credits for health insurance after setting up a dozen fictitious accounts.

Highlights of some of our favorite tax-related blogs from the past week.

Sales tax software provider Avalara has partnered with the publisher Wiley to offer a free ebook, “Sales & Use Tax Compliance for Dummies.”

A new government report urges the Internal Revenue Service to do a better job of educating and notifying taxpayers about provisions of the tax code requiring them to begin taking minimum distributions from their Individual Retirement Arrangements when they reach a certain age, but the IRS responded that it lacks enough money in its budget to do so.

More than 300,000 taxpayers overpaid the Individual Shared Responsibility Payment for health insurance on their tax returns processed through the end of April, according to a new report from the National Taxpayer Advocate.