Busting tax cheats pays well - just ask Heinrich Kieber. This former computer technician from the tiny country of Liechtenstein stole 3 CDs worth of banking data containing damning tax-skirting evidence against many of the world’s richest people. Twelve countries have paid him for the information, including the U.S., Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy. The stolen data has already led to the arrest of several prominent CEO’s in Germany, as well as to a Senate Subcommittee hearing of four wealthy U.S. citizens on Thursday, July 17th.

But only if they come forward to the IRS.

The IRS has a “deal” for approximately 20,000 wealthy tax cheats who have hidden income with the help of Swiss bank giant UBS: come clean now and you won’t go to prison. In June, UBS private banker, Bradley Birkenfeld, plead guilty to helping California real estate developer Igor Olenicoff hide $200 Million offshore. During the trial, Birkinfeld revealed that UBS held “undeclared" U.S. accounts totaling $20 Billion. Olenicoff plead guilty and is now paying $52 Million in back taxes, interest and penalties. Now the IRS is on the hunt for more, sending up a “warning shot” with the issue of a “John Doe” summons, and offering to let tax cheats off the hook for criminal charges if they’ll turn themselves in.

Actually, I'm more inclined to believe ex-Sen. Phil Gramm's observation that the current recession is more "emotional" than '"actual." But just in case I'm wrong, as Americans struggle to make ends meet in a sluggish economy, many will be tempted to dip into the money that they should pay to Uncle Sam. If people are forced to choose between paying for gas, food, the house payment or the IRS...they’ll pay for the necessities and deal with the IRS later.

We can expect to see increased incidences of:

Did you know the IRS can take anyone’s Social Security to satisfy a tax debt? It’s true. If you owe money to the IRS, and you are receiving Social Security benefits, the IRS can take up to 15% of your Social Security payments to satisfy your tax debt. Prior to 1996, there was a $750/month “off limits” amount that had to be left for the Social Security recipient. However, that changed with the introduction of the Federal Payment Levy Program, which allowed for 15% of the total monthly payment to be collected - regardless of the amount.

According to RealtyTrac.com, foreclosures in April 2008 involved 243,353 homes nationwide – a 65% increase over April 2007. Plus, in this desperate U.S. economy, for every home actually foreclosed on, there are 5-10 other homeowners hanging on by their fingertips, just trying to keep their homes. With higher prices on gas and food and no increase in income, thousands of broke, desperate Americans will start to dip into the 30.8% on average that Federal, State & Local Governments are taking from their paychecks – causing another more formidable problem – the IRS. Surprisingly, it is during this otherwise bleak period when a person has nothing – no equity, no savings, and/or no retirement accounts – that it’s the BEST time to resolve their problems with the IRS.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rates for the final six months of 2008. Taxpayers may use the optional standard rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

The rate will increase to 58.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven from July 1, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2008. This is an increase of eight (8) cents from the 50.5 cent rate in effect for the first six months of 2008, as set forth in Rev. Proc. 2007-70.

We have been getting a lot of calls from taxpayers wondering how to apply for their economic stimulus check. Our quick answer is that there is no need to apply --- as long as the taxpayer filed a return, the IRS will take car of the rest. But I realized the answer wasn' good enough -- -there are certainly millions of people with no taxable income who are eligible to apply for a stimulus payment and here's how they can do it.

Wealthy tax evaders should be losing sleep as news spreads of the IRS and other nations teaming up successfully to finally crack the formerly impenetrable offshore “tax havens” like Switzerland and Liechtenstein. An estimated $6 trillion is thought to be hidden from the tax authorities of various countries. But now, with new agreements in place, the U.S., Britain, Australia, Japan, and Canada finally have wealthy offshore tax evaders calling their lawyers and accountants in a panic. These countries are now finally able to put pressure on the over 40 nations traditionally seen as tax havens,

Most people with IRS problems don’t deal with them - until something ugly happens - like they discover they have a tax lien filed against them, or their business is padlocked, or their bank account goes bye-bye. People with IRS problems have one thing in common – they’re afraid...very afraid. They’re worried about “doing time” because they don’t have the money to pay the IRS. But there is no reason for the fear factor when it comes to being broke and dealing with the IRS.

I started out practicing criminal law--- both trial work and appeals. I found it easier in some ways, when clients were "guilty." (Wait, I'm, would never say they were guilty, rather in some cases, there was a lot of evidence that, if believed, would tend to prove guilt). The really tough appeals were when I had a client with a rather expansive record, and for whatever reasons was found guilty of something he really didn't do. And the truth is, a lot of these appeals I lost. And here's why, and more important,