Tax Law

Anti-Tax Lawyer Indicted Following Undercover Probe

A Pennsylvania lawyer has been indicted for allegedly helping clients and employees hide more than $23 million in income through shell corporations. Bernard Bagdis of Blue Bell, Pa., was indicted after an operation in which undercover agents sought to conceal more than $100,000 in cash, the Legal Intelligencer reports. Federal…

Nov 29, 2007 4:04 PM CST

Civil Rights Lawyer Gets Three Years for Tax Evasion

Crusading civil rights lawyer Stephen Yagman was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison for federal tax evasion, bankruptcy fraud and money laundering. Known for his high-profile cases against law enforcement authorities and President Bush, the 63-year-old lawyer was convicted of trying to avoid more than $200,000 in federal income…

Nov 28, 2007 7:27 PM CST

New York Sues Yankees’ Jeter Over Residency Claim

A high-profile New York tax case against a professional baseball player is giving star billing to the legal issue of establishing state residency. Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees considers himself a resident of Florida, which has no state income tax. But the state and city of New York…

Nov 17, 2007 1:44 AM CST

$1B Class Action Claims E-Filing Group Overcharged

A $1 billion class action lawsuit alleges a group of income-tax software companies charged excessive fees for e-filing. The companies named include H&R Block Inc. and Intuit Inc., the Legal Intelligencer reports. They participated in a group called Free File Alliance, which contracted with the Internal Revenue Service to file…

Nov 15, 2007 1:19 PM CST

Warren Buffett: Superrich Have Enough, So Don’t Repeal Estate Tax

The superrich have already made out like bandits under current tax law during the past 20 years. So the last thing Congress should do is further enhance their financial good fortune by repealing the current estate tax, the world’s third-richest man told legislators at a hearing today. As the average…

Nov 14, 2007 5:55 PM CST

House Passes AMT Relief; Senate Battle Next

A so-called patch to prevent tens of millions of middle-income Americans from being hit with the “dreaded” alternative minimum tax on their 2007 returns was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives today. But it is by no means certain that it will also pass in the Senate, where it…

Nov 9, 2007 11:36 PM CST

AMT Nightmare May Await Many

For the first time in more than five years, it appears unlikely that Congress will enact a so-called temporary patch to prevent the alternative minimum tax from hitting unwary middle-class wage-earners with an unexpectedly high tax bill for 2008. The likely result, at minimum, is delayed tax refunds for many,…

Nov 7, 2007 7:40 PM CST

High Cost of Getting High

Music Fan Gets Pinched for Pot, Says Taxman Included Too Much Filler on the Scale of Justice

Nov 1, 2007 8:51 PM CDT

CA Tax Scofflaw List Prompts Some to Pay

The concept is already working: A list of California’s 250 worst tax scofflaws contains only 224 names, because 26 scurried to ante up before their identities were posted. Among the noteworthy names on the shameful site: O.J. Simpson, Dionne Warwick and the comedian Sinbad, reports the Los Angeles Times. All…

Oct 17, 2007 11:37 PM CDT

Court Fines Law Firm Over Partner’s Tax Levy

When the IRS levied a New York personal injury firm to collect $1.2 million that partner A. Sheldon Edelman allegedly owed in unpaid taxes, Edelman—who was responsible for handling firm accounts—reportedly ignored the levies and continued paying himself and a junior partner their usual weekly draws. Because a draw is…

Oct 12, 2007 7:44 PM CDT

Bill Advances to Nix Surprise Foreclosure Tax

The House has approved a bill that would protect homeowners from having to pay taxes when they lose their homes in foreclosure. The bill, which would be retroactive to Jan. 1, would protect homeowners from having to pay income taxes on forgiven mortgage debt, Bloomberg News reports. The so-called 1099…

Oct 5, 2007 2:11 PM CDT

Ex-Latham Partner Headed to Slammer

A retired Latham & Watkins partner has given up his law license after pleading guilty to tax evasion. Francis K. Decker agreed to serve 45 days in jail and pay $1.5 million in back taxes for failing to file New York state and city returns in 2003 and 2004, the…

Oct 2, 2007 1:46 PM CDT

Bill Would Ban Tax-Strategy Patents

A ban on patents for tax-planning strategies is included in legislation to reform the patent code. The ban is part of a patent reform package that passed the House earlier this month, but isn’t yet part of the Senate bill, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req). Tax lawyers argue…

Sep 24, 2007 7:02 PM CDT

KPMG Prosecutors Claim Secret Defense Pact

Prosecutors battered in an illegal tax shelter case involving accounting firm KPMG have turned the table on defense lawyers. They claim that two lawyers for defendants who worked for Presidio Advisory Services may have had a secret joint defense agreement, the New York Times reports. The Presidio defendants are accused…

Sep 21, 2007 4:24 PM CDT

Tax Lawyer Sued for $17 M Over Claimed Dual Role

An unsuccessful horse-breeding investment by wealthy clients has put a Portland, Ore., tax attorney in the hot seat. He and his law firm reportedly are being sued for at least $17 million by two former clients over his alleged dual role in receiving a commission for promoting the venture while…

Sep 20, 2007 12:31 AM CDT