Tax Strategies to Avoid & How to Negotiate with the IRS

On this week’s episode, Casey Smith is joined by Jordan Sute, CPA from Sute CPAs to talk about tax strategies to avoid and how to negotiate with the IRS.

Listen on Apple Podcasts or watch on YouTube:

SUMMARY:

Here’s helpful info and tips about the IRS Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2020.

Phishing Scams

The IRS is never going to reach out to you via phone or email first. They will likely never even reach out via email. The first way they will try to contact you is via mail. The only time they will call you is if you arrange a call with them.

Fake Charities

The IRS does not recognize GoFundMe donations because GoFundMe is not a 501c3. These donations are still helpful, but IRS will not let you claim them on your tax return. Click here to see what 501c3s are tax deductible.

Threatening Impersonator Phone Calls

The IRS is not going to call you unless you have scheduled a call with them. If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, never give them any personal information and simply hang up.

Social Media Scams

There is a large amount of misinformation spread via social media that causes panic. Do your research before believing everything you read.

Refund Theft

This happens more than you’d think, especially this year with stimulus payments. Be weary about who has or knows enough information to file on your behalf.

Senior Fraud

Nursing homes are claiming that they are owed stimulus money, but that money belongs to the tax payer first.

Scams Targeting Non-English Speakers

These people are often targeted because they might not be as knowledgable about laws in the United States.

Unscrupulous Return Preparers

You have to be careful with tax return preparers, especially if they are not a CPA. There are unfortunately some shady tax preparers. Always check online reviews, or do a quick Google search to look up a preparer if it is the first time you are using them.

Offer in Compromise Mills

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Here is a link to a calculator on the IRS website, it will tell you if you are eligible. There are 54,000 offers in compromise submitted to the IRS, and they accepted 18,000.

Fake Payments with Repayment Demands

There are people who will file a fake return, deposit the refund into someone else’s bank account, and call that person to say that was an error on the IRS’s part. Then, they try to get you to repay that fake refund by making you do odd things, such as buy gift cards.

Payroll and HR Scams

This can be similar to the fake repayment, as it commonly has to do with getting personal information and hanging it over your head. If it sounds like a scam, it probably is.

Ransomware

What happened with the colonial pipeline is a prime example of this. They ended up having to pay a ton of money to fix the situation.

TIMESTAMPS:

1:09 Phishing Scams

2:30 Fake Charities

5:00 Threatening Impersonator Phone Calls

8:48 Social Media Scams

11:56 Refund Theft

12:40 Senior Fraud

13:40 Scams Targeting Non-English Speakers

14:10 Unscrupulous Return Preparers

16:04 Offer in Compromise Mills

17:35 Fake Payments with Repayment Demands

18:15 Payroll and HR Scams

20:59 Ransomware

24:00 Negotiating with the IRS

LINKS:

Learn more about Casey Smith and connect with him on Twitter.

Learn more about Brad Lyons.

Learn more about Matthews Barnett.

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Learn more about the Wiser Wealth Management Roundtable podcast and access previous episodes.