Sentenced to the Slammer for Failing to File Federal Income Tax Returns

Anthony Rolfe was sentenced to 22 months in prison, one year of supervised release and ordered to pay $100,490 in restitution to the IRS. Rolfe pleaded guilty in March 2015 to an Information charging him failure to file income tax returns. Rolfe was employed by Dr. LeeRoy McCurley at a pain management clinic in Dallas, known as Mid-City Medical Clinic.  As part of his job, Rolfe picked up the clinic’s earnings and delivered them to McCurley, in person or through McCurley’s office in Grand Prairie, Texas. Rolfe also delivered office supplies to and distributed fliers for the clinic. For these tasks McCurley paid Rolfe thousands of dollars per week in checks that Rolfe deposited into a bank account in the name of Platinum A&C Group, LLC, an entity for which Rolfe was a managing partner. Bank records showed that Rolfe deposited more than $500,000 in payments from McCurley in 2010 and 2011 and used the majority of the money on clothing and jewelry, hotel and resort stays, nightclub tabs, and yacht rentals.

New York City Tax Accountant and Tax Attorney Our New York City offices are conveniently located and easily accessible by car, train and subway. Civil and criminal tax consultations are confidential and legally privileged. Same day and emergency appointments scheduled Monday through Friday. For immediate assistance call (212) 974-3435 or contact us Online. 

Restaurant Tax Accountant and Tax Attorney We negotiate excellent installment agreements and provide restaurant owners with effective sales tax and audit representation, including unfiled tax returns and all Department of Labor issues. For a no-obligation consultation call us directly at (212) 974-3435 or contact us Online.

Business Tax Accountant and Tax Attorney We negotiate affordable repayment plans and provide our business clients with effective payroll tax and audit representation, obtaining government contracts with a tax lien, compliance checks, missing tax returns and Workers Compensation audits. For immediate assistance call (212) 974-3435 or contact us Online. 

Tax evasion is when a taxpayer gets caught, gets arrested, goes to trial, is found guilty, loses everything and is sent straight up the river.

Public Service Announcement. Selig and Associates. Tax Problems Solved. Guaranteed. Selig & Associates.

Qualified Business Income Deduction

Many owners of sole proprietorships, partnerships, trusts and S corporations may deduct 20 percent of their qualified business income. The new deduction -- referred to as the Section 199A deduction or the qualified business income deduction -- is available for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2017. Eligible taxpayers can claim it for the first time on the 2018 federal income tax return they file next year.

A set of FAQs provides more information on the deduction, income and other limitations.

Temporary 100 percent expensing for certain business assets

Businesses are now able to write off most depreciable business assets in the year the business places them in service. The 100-percent depreciation deduction generally applies to depreciable business assets with a recovery period of 20 years or less and certain other property. Machinery, equipment, computers, appliances and furniture generally qualify.

Taxpayers can find more information in the proposed regulations.

Fringe benefits

• Entertainment and meals: The new law eliminates the deduction for expenses related to entertainment, amusement or recreation. However, taxpayers can continue to deduct 50 percent of the cost of business meals if the taxpayer or an employee of the taxpayer is present and other conditions are met. The meals may be provided to a current or potential business customer, client, consultant or similar business contact.
   
• Qualified transportation: The new law disallows deductions for expenses associated with transportation fringe benefits or expenses incurred providing transportation for commuting. There’s an exception when the transportation expenses are necessary for employee safety.
   
• Bicycle commuting reimbursements: Employers can deduct qualified bicycle commuting reimbursements as a business expense for 2018 through 2025. The new tax law also suspends the exclusion of qualified bicycle commuting reimbursements from an employee’s income for 2018 through 2025. Employers must now include these reimbursements in the employee’s wages.
   
• Qualified moving expenses reimbursements: Reimbursements an employer pays to an employee in 2018 for qualified moving expenses are subject to federal income tax.  Reimbursements incurred in a prior year are not subject to federal income or employment taxes; nor are payments from an employer to a moving company in 2018 for qualified moving services provided to an employee prior to 2018.
   
• Employee achievement award: Special rules allow an employee to exclude certain achievement awards from their wages if the awards are tangible personal property. An employer also may deduct awards that are tangible personal property, subject to certain deduction limits. The new law clarifies that tangible personal property doesn’t include cash, cash equivalents, gift cards, gift coupons, certain gift certificates, tickets to theater or sporting events, vacations, meals, lodging, stocks, bonds, securities and other similar items.

The tax reform for businesses page has more information on fringe benefit changes.

Estimated Taxes

Individuals, including sole proprietors, partners and S corporation shareholders, may need to pay quarterly installments of estimated tax unless they owe less than $1,000 when they file their tax return or they had no tax liability in the prior year (subject to certain conditions). More information about tax withholding and estimated taxes can be found on the agency’s Pay As You Go page as well as in Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax. Publication 505 has additional details, including worksheets and examples, which can help taxpayers determine whether they should pay estimated taxes. Some affected taxpayers may include those who have dividend or capital gain income, owe alternative minimum tax or have other special situations.

More information

See IRS.gov/taxreform for more information about these and many other tax law changes.

NYC's Most Effective Tax Advocates We Solve Serious Tax Problems. For a Legally Privileged Consultation with a Federal Tax Practitioner and Licensed Attorney call (212) 974-3435 or Contact Us Online. 
 

ITS NOT WHAT YOU DO – BUT WHO YOU KNOW! WHEN BUSINESSES ARE IN TROUBLE WITH THE IRS, SELIG & ASSOCIATES HAS BECOME NEW YORK’S GO-TO TAX FIRM

The first call comes in on Monday morning at 9:05. The owner of a Manhattan sports bar is being charged with felony tax fraud. It’s extremely serious because a conviction means he’ll lose his liquor license and his freedom. He’s lost confidence in his current attorney and accountant, and he decides to call Selig & Associates. 

David Selig picks up the telephone and asks the man several probing questions. When the man seems sufficiently flummoxed Selig says, It doesn’t sound like tax fraud to me. Why not? asks the man. Because tax law is confusing and compliance is complicated. The calculations and extrapolations could confound Pythagoras. At 11:30 he comes to the Office and retains David Selig and Attorney Bradley Dorin. 

Our offices are nondescript and forgettable, says Dorin. The street is congested and the building is unimpressive. In other words, it’s the perfect place for a tax practice.  We keep a low profile because we solve tax problems directly and through back channels, says Selig. All of our clients are in trouble with the IRS and State - and none of them want publicity. 

We’ve become the go-to Firm because we keep our clients out of court and out of prison. We defend the indefensible, and we keep our clients in business. Unfortunately, what makes us so successful has simultaneously kept us in obscurity, says Selig We’re like the Good Doctor in Sun Tzu’s tale of Three Healers, inasmuch as our name doesn’t get out much.

Getting Out of Debt. The Real Deal. Statute of Limitations on IRS Collections

Pleading the Statute of Limitations is one of the most effective ways to eliminate back taxes - particularly if the tax assessment was made years ago. FYI, the IRS is prohibited by law from collecting on expired back taxes (the IRS typically has 10 years from the date of assessment to collect back taxes). 

Q. What to know more?

A. An amazing Tax Expert and Tax Attorney like David Selig and Bradley Dorin can you help resolve your back taxes and other tax problems by performing a Collection Statute Expiration Date analysis.

Selig & Dorin can determine on what day you will be free from your tax obligations. They will  obtain and analyze your IRS Tax Transcripts and Records of Account. And they’ll let you know if you’re in the clear, or alternatively, if the expiration date is coming due! 

Don't go it alone!  You need experts like Selig & Dorin on your side. They'll guide you through the entire process and overcome the many exceptions and obstacles that can get in the way. 

Call Selig & Associates today at (212) 974-3435

Honest Tax Advocates To schedule a FREE legally privileged consultation with a licensed Federal Tax Practitioner and Attorney call Selig & Associates directly (212) 974-3435

Successful Tax Representation We practice before the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (“NYSDTF”) the Department of Justice Tax Division (“DOJ”) and the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals (“DOHA”). *To schedule a legally privileged consultation call Selig & Associates directly (212) 974-3435 

Proven Results  We successfully resolve: Tax Crimes; Tax Evasion; Failure to File a Tax Return and Criminal Non-Filing; Filing False Tax Returns; Installment Agreements; Partial Payment Agreements; IRS Audits; Sales Tax Audits; Sales Tax Controversies; Wage Garnishments; Bank Levies; Seizure of Real Property; Innocent Spouse Relief; Trust Fund Recovery Penalty; Payroll Taxes; Workers Compensation Insurance Audits ("Workers Comp"); Statute of Limitations; Offer in Compromise ("OIC"); Administrative Appeals; Collection Due Process Hearings ("CDP") and most other tax matters. *To schedule a legally privileged consultation call Selig & Associates directly (212) 974-3435

Professional Service Guaranteed We meet with our clients personally. We return telephone calls promptly, answer emails and provide regular updates and status reports. *To schedule a legally privileged consultation call Selig & Associates directly (212) 974-3435

We Settle Commercial & Residential Property Damage Claims for Top Dollar David Selig PA and Attorney Dorin successfully settle residential and commercial property insurance claims, including business interruption, burglary, fire, windstorm and losses caused by water damage. *For a free consultation call David Selig directly (212) 974-3435

Will a False Sexual Harassment Claim Destroy Your Business in 2018? We provide legal, insurance and other asset protection strategies for Business-Owners and Medical Service Providers. *To schedule a consultation or a comprehensive evaluation of your existing plan call Selig & Associates directly (212) 974-3435 

Torn from the Headlines: Another Tax Protester Bites the Dust

He should have hired Selig & Associates

USTC Drops the Hammer on another Pro Se

We have also recognized that tax-protester arguments: (1) are unlimited; (2) may have little actual importance to those making them; (3) have often already been answered; and (4) are often patently frivolous. 

Petitioner claims his arguments are not frivolous, but we disagree. The assertion that a taxpayer does not owe income tax in the absence of a self- assessment is an “outdated protester-type argument”. See Hill v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1992-140. We therefore hold the voluntary system of self-assessment argument is frivolous.

Petitioner also argues that the lack of underlying Code of Federal Regulations to support the statutes which he has violated nullifies the statute. Petitioner has confused the order of authority. “Ordinarily, administrative interpretations of statutory terms are given important but not controlling significance.” Batterton v. Francis, 432 U.S. 416, 424 (1977). We hold the parallel authority argument is frivolous.

We find that respondent has proved petitioner failed to report taxable income for the years at issue and is liable for the Federal income tax he failed to pay on that income.

A. Burden of Proof

Under section 7491(c), the Commissioner bears the burden of production with regard to additions to tax and must come forward with sufficient evidence indicating that it is appropriate to impose additions to tax. See Higbee v. Commissioner, 116 T.C. 438, 446 (2001). However, once the Commissioner has met the burden of production, the burden shifts to the taxpayer to show the additions are improper. See Rule 142(a); Higbee v. Commissioner, 116 T.C. at 446-447.

B. Reasonable Cause

The section 6651(a)(1) and (2) additions to tax will not apply if it is shown that the failure to file and/or pay timely was due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect. A failure to pay timely is due to reasonable cause if the taxpayer “exercised ordinary business care and prudence in providing for payment of his tax liability and was nevertheless either unable to pay the tax or would suffer an undue hardship * * * if he paid on the due date.” Sec. 301.6651-1(c)(1), Proced. & Admin. Regs.; see also Ruggeri v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2008-300. To prove reasonable cause for a failure to timely file, the taxpayer must show that he exercised ordinary business care and prudence and was nevertheless unable to file the return within the prescribed time. See Crocker v. Commissioner, 92 T.C. 899, 913 (1989). Willful neglect contemplates “a conscious, intentional failure or reckless indifference.” United States v. Boyle, 469 U.S. 241, 245 (1985).

Petitioner intentionally chose not to file and pay tax for the years at issue, making frivolous tax-protester arguments. We have found that frivolous positions do not constitute reasonable cause for purposes of section 6651. McGowan v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2006-154 (“[T]ypical tax protester arguments are not reasonable cause.”).

C. Section 6651(a)(1)

As a general rule “any person made liable for any tax * * * shall make a return or statement according to the forms and regulations prescribed by the Secretary.” Sec. 6011(a). In the case of a failure to file a return on time, an addition to tax is imposed at 5% of the tax required to be shown on the return for each month or fraction thereof for which there is a failure to file, not to exceed 25% in the aggregate. Sec. 6651(a)(1).

Petitioner did not file timely tax returns for the years at issue. Respondent has thus met his burden of production. See Wheeler v. Commissioner, 127 T.C. 200, 207-208 (2006), aff’d, 521 F.3d 1289 (10th Cir. 2008). Petitioner has not presented any evidence that his failure to file was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect. Accordingly, we sustain the additions to tax under section 6651(a)(1).

D. Section 6651(a)(2)

An addition to tax is imposed for failure to pay the amount of tax shown on a return on or before the date prescribed for payment. Sec. 6651(a)(2). The addition is equal to 0.5% of the amount shown as tax on the return for each month, or fraction thereof, during which the failure to pay continues, up to a maximum of 25%. Id. Where the taxpayer did not file a valid return, to satisfy his burden of production for the section 6651(a)(2) addition to tax the Commissioner must introduce evidence that he prepared SFRs. Respondent prepared SFRs under section 6020(b) for the years at issue. SFRs made by the Secretary under section 6020(b) are treated as returns filed by the taxpayer for purposes of determining whether the section 6651(a)(2) addition to tax applies. Sec. 6651(g)(2); Wheeler v. Commissioner, 127 T.C. at 208-209. Respondent prepared SFRs in these cases which showed that petitioner owed tax for each of the years at issue before the addition of interest and additions to tax. These returns conform with section 6020(b).

Petitioner has not paid any portion of the amounts reported due on the returns respondent prepared. As a result, we find that petitioner failed to timely pay the tax shown due on the section 6020(b) returns without reasonable cause and is liable for the additions to tax under section 6651(a)(2).

E. Section 6654

Respondent determined additions to his calculation of tax liabilities for the years at issue for failure to pay estimated tax. A taxpayer’s required annual payment is limited to the lesser of: (1) 90% of the tax shown on the return for the taxable year, or 90% of the tax for such year if no return is filed or (2) 100% of the tax shown on the return of the individual for the preceding taxable year.6 Sec. 6654(d)(1)(B). Petitioner has argued that he had no tax liabilities for the years at issue. We have already found that petitioner was liable for tax for the years 2004 through 2010, and we also note that petitioner’s tax liability for 2003 was greater than zero. Therefore, petitioner is liable for the section 6654 addition to tax for each year at issue. The amounts of the additions shall be determined by the parties in their Rule 155 calculations in accordance with the other holdings herein.

Petitioner has taken a multitude of frivolous and groundless positions characteristic of tax protesters. We strongly warn petitioner that making such arguments before this Court in the future will likely result in the imposition of sanctions against him. In reaching our holdings herein, we have considered all arguments made, and, to the extent not mentioned above, we conclude they are moot, irrelevant, or without merit. To reflect the foregoing, Decisions will be entered under Rule 155. 

Honest Tax Advocates To schedule a FREE legally privileged consultation with a licensed Federal Tax Practitioner and Attorney call Selig & Associates directly (212) 974-3435

Successful Tax Representation We practice before the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (“NYSDTF”) the Department of Justice Tax Division (“DOJ”) and the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals (“DOHA”). *To schedule a legally privileged consultation call Selig & Associates directly (212) 974-3435 

Proven Results  We successfully resolve: Tax Crimes; Tax Evasion; Failure to File a Tax Return and Criminal Non-Filing; Filing False Tax Returns; Installment Agreements; Partial Payment Agreements; IRS Audits; Sales Tax Audits; Sales Tax Controversies; Wage Garnishments; Bank Levies; Seizure of Real Property; Innocent Spouse Relief; Trust Fund Recovery Penalty; Payroll Taxes; Workers Compensation Insurance Audits ("Workers Comp"); Statute of Limitations; Offer in Compromise ("OIC"); Administrative Appeals; Collection Due Process Hearings ("CDP") and most other tax matters. *To schedule a legally privileged consultation call Selig & Associates directly (212) 974-3435

Professional Service Guaranteed We meet with our clients personally. We return telephone calls promptly, answer emails and provide regular updates and status reports. *To schedule a legally privileged consultation call Selig & Associates directly (212) 974-3435

We Settle Commercial & Residential Property Damage Claims for Top Dollar David Selig PA and Attorney Dorin successfully settle residential and commercial property insurance claims, including business interruption, burglary, fire, windstorm and losses caused by water damage. *For a free consultation call David Selig directly (212) 974-3435

Will a False Sexual Harassment Claim Destroy Your Business in 2018? We provide legal, insurance and other asset protection strategies for Business-Owners and Medical Service Providers. *To schedule a consultation or a comprehensive evaluation of your existing plan call Selig & Associates directly (212) 974-3435 

(“HOW TO DEFEND YOURSELF AGAINST SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIMS”) SELIG Supports MATT LAUER, The Allegations are False

The circumstances surrounding Matt Lauer’s firing are completely fictitious, says David Selig of Selig &Associates. After loosing the presidential election, Hillary Clinton blamed Matt Lauer by name, which is why I believe they [the so-called elite] decided to destroy Matt’s reputation. It’s a sign of the times says Selig. And the celebrities are just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, for every high-profile celebrity who is accused of sexual harassment, 5000 -10,000 unknown business-owners and working professionals are quietly accused, sued and generally victimized by false or embellished claims. In today’s climate, you’ve got to protect yourself. 

Risk Management Could a sexual harassment claim ruin your business? In today’s litigious environment you need to protect yourself against sexual harassment and hostile work environment claims. We provide legal, insurance and other asset protection strategies for business-owners and medical service providers. By implementing an effective sexual harassment strategy today, you can protect your reputation, your business, and your assets tomorrow. We solve problems before they happen. To schedule a consultation or a comprehensive evaluation of your existing plan call Selig & Associates directly (212) 974-3435 _{*Our fees are Tax Deductible (IRC §162)}