Indicted for Conspiracy and Employment Tax Fraud 

“Impeded IRS Efforts to Collect and Failed to Pay Over $2.8 Million in Payroll Taxes!”

A federal grand jury sitting in Memphis, Tennessee returned an indictment on Nov. 10, which was unsealed yesterday, charging two Tennessee residents with conspiring to defraud the United States and failing to account for and pay over employment tax, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo, head of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and U.S. Attorney Edward L. Stanton III for the Western District of Tennessee. Mark and Jayton Stinson were each arrested Tuesday and charged with one count of conspiring to defraud the United States and five counts of failing to truthfully account for and pay over payroll taxes. Mark Stinson was also charged with five counts of filing false tax returns, one count of theft of government funds, and one count of aggravated identity theft. According to the indictment, from 2005 through 2015, the Stinsons operated a temporary staffing company that provided services to businesses in Tennessee and elsewhere. The staffing company’s standard contract with its customers provided that the staffing company was responsible for withholding employment tax from its employees’ wages and paying over the amounts withheld to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 

It is alleged that the Stinsons failed to pay over $2.8 million in employment tax to the IRS, failed to timely file employment tax returns and filed false employment tax returns. The indictment further alleges that despite having the same line of business and substantially the same customers, the Stinsons changed the name and structure of the company multiple times after accumulating employment tax liabilities, operating as Jayton Stinson Connex Staffing & Janitorial Service, Connexx Staffing Services LLC, Connexx Staffing Services Inc. and Complete Employment Agency. The Stinsons are also alleged to have conspired to impede IRS collection efforts of the company’s payroll tax liabilities. For example, the Stinsons are alleged to have made false representations to the IRS about their control of the staffing company and their knowledge of their responsibility to truthfully account for and pay over the employment taxes, placed the staffing company in the names of nominees who did not have control over the business operations, and established payment arrangements intended to impede an IRS levy placed on their customer payments. It is further alleged that the Stinsons used the withheld funds to pay for personal expenses, including a Mercedes-Benz, a Cadillac Escalade, mortgage payments and private school tuition for their children. If convicted, the Stinsons face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy count and for each count of failing to pay over employment taxes. Mark Stinson also faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison for each false return count, 10 years in prison for theft of government funds and a mandatory sentence of two years in prison for the aggravated identity theft charge, which will be in addition to any other term of imprisonment he receives. Both defendants also face a period of supervised release and monetary penalties. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo and U.S. Attorney Stanton commended special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Damon Griffin and Trial Attorney Nathan Brooks of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case. An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Selig to New York State Tax Department “Stop Closing Businesses and You’ll Collect More Taxes!”

Aggressive Selig & Associates provides the most aggressive tax representation allowed by law. Specializing in payroll, income and sales tax controversies for individuals, contractors, restaurants, bodegas and professional practices.

New York State is on a mission – Pay your taxes (plus up to 16% interest) or they’ll put you out of business!

Q. But if you close me down, how will I be able to repay my debt?

A. Pay your taxes (plus up to 16% interest) or we’ll put you out of business!

Q. But if you close me down, what will happen to my employees?

A. Not our problem – you should have thought about that before!

Q. But it wasn’t my fault – I’ve already paid the underlying debt – how can I owe more today than when I first started?

A. Not my problem – you owe the State and that’s that!

The Ugly Truth: The State won’t usually close you down directly – rather, they’ll simply take all of your money and cause you to default on all of your payments – this way, the Bank and your creditors get to do the dirty work (you might even get divorced). And when everything is said and done, you’ll still owe the State - and as a little reminder of this catastrophic failure, you’ll have a whopping judgment following you around for the next 20 years.

Unfortunately, many of these “judgments” aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. For example, the NY Department of Labor recently slapped a small restaurant with a $107,000 penalty. The result - the restaurant must close its doors and their employees are out of work and out on the street. In this and many other cases, the “debt” will never be repaid. Accordingly, the State is carrying worthless receivables around as if they’re real assets, without any possibility of collecting. Moreover, irrespective of the claims, the State doesn’t like to compromise its liabilities (worthless or otherwise).

FYI Disgruntled former employees claiming to have been paid beneath the minimum wage, regularly target restaurant-owners by filing complaints with the Department of Labor. Astonishingly, in many of these cases, the claimant is lying but gets away with it all the same. The solution – keep good records and stop paying these future claimants in cash.

But wait there's more - The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance is sending drivers license suspension notices to delinquent taxpayers. These notices are being sent to individuals for unpaid income taxes and to businesses that owe sales taxes.

Thankfully, Help is just a telephone call away - If you owe income or sales taxes, you need to be represented by an Aggressive, Effective Advocate. Call Selig and Associates today to schedule a Free Consultation.

Attention Business Owners and Entrepreneurs

If you’re launching a new start-up, or growing or expanding your existing business, Selig & Associates, Inc., recommends the superlative services of Attorney Craig Delsack.

Attorney Delsack provides practical and cost-effective “white-shoe big law firm” legal and business advice to startups, small and large businesses and individuals. Contact Attorney Delsack directly – there’s no fee or obligation for an initial telephone consultation.

Woman Indicted For Evading Payment of Trust Fund Recovery Penalties. Concealed Personal Funds and Assets from IRS Collection Efforts. Better call Selig & Associates

Selig & Associates provides the most aggressive tax representationallowed by law. Specializing in payroll, income and sales taxcontroversies for individuals, contractors, restaurants, bodegas andprofessional practices.

A woman was charged by a superseding indictment for attempted tax evasion announced the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney (names withheld) the head of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and U.S. Attorney. According to the superseding indictment (name withheld) owned and operated (name withheld) from 1996 through 2009 and was responsible for collecting, accounting for, and paying over income, social security, and Medicare tax withheld from employees’ wages. 

Selig &Associates Mission Statement Our mission is to win every tax case; to bring all of our tax, advocacy and legal expertise to every fight, and to serve our clients with integrity, honesty and perseverance.

The tax withheld is referred to as “trust fund tax” because the employer holds those funds in trust until the amounts are paid over to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on behalf of the employee.  If a responsible person willfully fails to pay over trust fund taxes, the IRS may impose a penalty equal to the amount of the trust fund taxes on the responsible person.  This penalty is known as the trust fund recovery penalty. 

We’re Effective We settle contested tax audits, compromise tax debts and can resolve all marital tax issues including innocent spouse relief and separation of liability. 

The superseding indictment alleges that from 2004 through 2009, (name withheld) failed to pay over the tax withheld from its employees’ wages and, as a result, the IRS assessed trust fund recovery penalties against (name withheld) equal to the amount withheld and not paid over. According to the superseding indictment, (name withheld) willfully attempted to evade and defeat the payment of the trust fund recovery penalties assessed against her by concealing and attempting to conceal from the IRS her access to personal funds and assets. 

Reasonable-Rates All tax representation is provided by a Federal Tax Practitioner and Licensed Attorney. To schedule a FREE face-to-face consultation, contact Selig & Associates today.

Specifically, the superseding indictment alleges that (name withheld)  purchased a home in the name of a nominee, engaged in currency transactions with financial institutions in amounts less than $10,000 to prevent the filing of currency transaction reports, changed the name of her business and placed the business in the name of a nominee, and provided false information to the IRS regarding her ability to pay the trust fund recovery penalties. 

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

If convicted, (name withheld) faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison, a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.

She should hire Selig &Associates (and so should you)

The IRS is racially profiling Dominicans and other Hispanic Tax Return Preparers says David Selig of Selig & Associates. Bronx, Brooklyn and NYC unfairly scrutinized!

Compared to the national average, Hispanic neighborhoods receive more Earned Income Tax Credits and have a disproportionate number of Head-of-Household filers. Accordingly, the IRS has implemented a clandestine computer scoring system that profiles certain demographics e.g. Hispanic single parent families with low incomes, viz. bodegas, restaurants, domestics and other unskilled laborers. According to Selig, this program unfairly targets Hispanics and improperly punishes Hispanic Tax Return Preparers. 

Aggressive Selig & Associates provides the mostaggressive tax representation allowed by law. Specializing in payroll,income and sales tax controversies for individuals, contractors,restaurants, bodegas and professional practices. 

EITC Due Diligence Law and Regulation Internal Revenue Code §6695 and related regulations set out the EITC Due Diligence requirements and the penalties for failure to comply with them.

IRC §6695(g) states that any person who is a tax return preparer with respect to any return or claim for refund who fails to comply with due diligence requirements imposed by the Secretary by regulations with respect to determining eligibility for, or the amount of, the credit allowable by section 32 shall pay a penalty of $500 for each such failure. IRC §6695(h) allows a cost-of-living adjustment. The penalty for taxable years beginning in 2015 is $505.

There are four due diligence requirements. Generally, if you prepare EITC claims, you must ask all the questions required on Form 8867, Paid Preparers' Earned Income Credit Checklist, as well as, ask additional questions when the information your client gives you seems incorrect, inconsistent or incomplete. Complete and submit the Form 8867 for all paper and electronic tax returns and for all other EITC claims. It is required for all EITC claims, the ones with a qualifying child and the ones with no qualifying child. Also, keep a copy of the completed form. Prepare and keep the worksheet showing how you computed the credit. The table below provides more information on your record-keeping requirements. 

You could be penalized for each time you fail to meet all four due diligence requirements for each EITC claim.

Among other things, Tax Return Preparers must:

Complete Form 8867, Paid Preparer's Earned Income Credit Checklist, to make sure you consider all EITC eligibility criteria for each claim you prepare.

Complete checklist based on information provided by your client(s).

For EITC EITC returns or claims for refund filed electronically, submit Form 8867 to the IRS electronically with the return.

For EITC returns or claims for refund not filed electronically, attach the completed form to any paper return you prepare and send to the IRS.

For EITC returns or claims for refund you prepare but do not submit directly to the IRS, provide the completed Form 8867 to your client to send with the filed tax return or claim for refund.

Complete the EIC worksheet from the Form 1040 instructions, or Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, or a form with the same information.  The worksheet shows what is included in the computation, that is, self-employment income, total earned income, investment income and adjusted gross income. Most professional tax preparation software includes the computation worksheet.

Not know or have reason to know any information used to determine your client's eligibility for, or the amount of EITC is incorrect, inconsistent or incomplete.

Make additional inquiries if a reasonable and well-informed tax return preparer would know the information is incomplete, inconsistent or incorrect

Know the law and use your knowledge of the law to ensure you are asking your client the right questions to get all relevant facts.

Document any additional questions you ask and your client's answer at the time of the interview.

FYI   To qualify for Head of Household filing status, taxpayers must be unmarried or considered unmarried at the end of the year, and have paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the tax year.

The Earned Income Tax Credit “EITC” is intended to help low-income earners with children. The EITC is a refundable tax credit, viz. redistribution of wealth scheme.

The IRS uses a computer scoring system to determine who will be audited, referred to as “DIF” viz. Discriminant Inventory Function System.

Aggressive Selig & Associates provides the mostaggressive tax representation allowed by law. Specializing in payroll,income and sales tax controversies for individuals, contractors,restaurants, bodegas and professional practices. 

Mission Statement Our mission is to win every tax case; to bring all of our tax, advocacy and legal expertise to every fight, and to serve our clients with integrity, honesty and perseverance.

Effective We settle contested tax audits, compromise tax debts and can resolve all marital tax issues including innocent spouse relief and separation of liability. 

Reasonable-Rates All tax representation is provided by a Federal Tax Practitioner and Licensed Attorney. To schedule a FREE face-to-face consultation, contact Selig & Associates today. 

IRS Warns Taxpayers of Surge in Automated Phone Scam Calls; Requests for Fake Tax Payments Using iTunes Gift Cards & other tax related BS

Selig & Associates 

The most Aggressive Tax Representation allowed by Law

The Internal Revenue Service today warned taxpayers to stay vigilant against an increase of IRS impersonation scams in the form of automated calls and new tactics from scammers demanding tax payments on iTunes and other gift cards.

The IRS has seen an increase in “robo-calls” where scammers leave urgent callback requests through the phone telling taxpayers to call back to settle their “tax bill.”

These fake calls generally claim to be the last warning before legal action is taken. Once the victim calls back, the scammers may threaten to arrest, deport or revoke the driver’s license of the victim if they don’t agree to pay.

“It used to be that most of these bogus calls would come from a live-person. Scammers are evolving and using more and more automated calls in an effort to reach the largest number of victims possible,” says the Big Cheese “IRS Commissioner John Koskinen”.

“Taxpayers should remain alert for this summer surge of phone scams, and watch for clear warning signs as these scammers change tactics.” 

In the latest trend, IRS impersonators are demanding payments on iTunes and other gift cards. The IRS reminds taxpayers that any request to settle a tax bill by putting money on  any form of gift card is a clear indication of a scam.

Some examples of the varied tactics seen this year are:

•    Demanding payment for a “Federal Student Tax.” See IR-2016-81.

•    Demanding immediate tax payment for taxes owed on an iTunes or other type of gift card

•    Soliciting W-2 information from payroll and human resources professionals. See IR-2016-34.

•    “Verifying” tax return information over the phone. See IR-2016-40.

•    Pretending to be from the tax preparation industry. See IR-2016-28

Since these bogus calls can take many forms and scammers are constantly changing their strategies, knowing the telltale signs is the best way to avoid becoming a victim.  

Aggressive Selig & Associates provides the most aggressive tax representation allowed by law. Specializing in payroll, income and sales tax controversies for individuals, contractors, restaurants, bodegas and professional practices. 

Mission Statement Our mission is to win every tax case; to bring all of our tax, advocacy and legal expertise to every fight, and to serve our clients with integrity, honesty and perseverance.

Effective We settle contested tax audits, compromise tax debts and can resolve all marital tax issues including innocent spouse relief and separation of liability. 

Reasonable-Rates All tax representation is provided by a Federal Tax Practitioner and Licensed Attorney. To schedule a FREE face-to-face consultation, contact Selig & Associates today.