Archive for May 5th, 2009

Can avoiding the IRS land me in prison?

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Many taxpayers refuse to believe that the IRS does not have the power to send taxpayers to jail for violating the United States’ tax laws.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

The following is a list of criminal actions that the IRS could send a taxpayer to jail for:

  1. Section 7201 crime – A willful attempt to evade or defeat a tax or the payment of tax constitutes a felony and is punishable up to a $100,000 fine and/or 5 years in prison.
  2. Section 7203 crime – A willful failure to pay an estimated tax, file a tax return, keep records, or supply information constitutes a misdemeanor and is punishable up to $25,000 and/or 1 year in prison
  3. Section 7206(1) crime – A willful subscribing of a tax return or other statement containing a written declaration that is made under penalties of perjury that the person does not believe to be true or correct constitutes a felony and is punishable up to $100,000 and/or 3 years in prison
  4. Section 7206(2) crime – A willful aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false return or other document that is fraudulent or false constitutes a felony and is punishable up to $100,000 and/or 3 years in prison
  5. Section 7212 crime – An attempt to interfere with the administration of the IRS laws by corruption, force, or threats of force constisutes a felony and is punishable up to $5,000 and/or 3 years in prison
  6. 18 USC 2 crime – Any person who aids, abets, counsels, induces, or procures an offense against the United States will be held federally criminally liable
  7. 18 USC 371 crime – Any two or more people that make an agreement to either commit a crime or defraud the United States will be held federally criminally liable
  8. 18 USC 1001 crime – Any statement that is material, false, voluntary, intentional, and known to be false will be held federally criminally liable

The above listed crimes are not a complete list of all of the crimes that a taxpayer could be sent to prison for by the IRS.

Posted in Individual, Taxation | No Comments »

Jackson County Missouri Property Tax Assessments

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

A hot issue this year is the increase in the taxable market value of the property of Jackson CJackson County, Missouriounty, Missouri residents despite the depressed economy.  While the value of the dollar continues to drop, prices around the country are increasing, and so are the taxable values of people’s property.

Jackson County, Missouri is the second largest county in Missouri and consists of over 600 square miles of land and over 600,000 in population.  Within all of this landscape is the county’s power to assess and levy a tax on all personal and real property located in the county.

In order to compute the actual property tax on a specific piece of property, the following math calculation is performed:  (1) find the actual or fair market value of the property, (2) determine the assessed value by multiplying the market value by the appropriate classification percentage, (3) divide that number by 100, and (4) multiply that number by the tax levy rate.  For example, for a house valued at $200,000 in the Kansas City school district with a levy rate of $8.00 for every $100 of value, the tax computation would equate to $3,040 in yearly property taxes.

However, taxpayers have one main avenue that they can challenge and even lower their property tax assessment for a given year.  If a taxpayer is not satisfied with the determination of their property’s market value, the taxpayer can make an informal appeal with the county.  Informal appeals must be received by the county by mid-May.

Taxpayers are also able to make formal appeals to the Board of Equalization in order to challenge their property’s determined market value.  Appeals to the Board of Equalization must be received by the Board by the third Monday in June.  Once the Board of Equalization makes a decision and the taxpayer is still not satisfied, the taxpayer can appeal the Board’s decision to the State Tax Commission by filing an appeal by August 15 or within 30 days of the Board’s final action.

Posted in Business, Taxation | No Comments »