As we head into 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is continuing to aggressively target taxpayers suspected of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Employee Retention Credit (ERC) fraud. The IRS’ Criminal Investigation Division (IRS CI) is working with federal prosecutors to pursue a wide range of charges in these cases—including charges like wire fraud and money laundering that carry six-figure fines and decades of federal prison time. Learn more from New Jersey criminal tax lawyer Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has reopened the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) Voluntary Disclosure Program that closed in March of this year. The reopened ERC Voluntary Disclosure Program runs through November 22, 2024, and eligible businesses can submit applications under the program to avoid the risk of facing an ERC-related audit or investigation. However, as New Jersey tax attorney Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, explains, not all businesses are eligible to file, and filing doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the IRS will look the other way.

Criminal tax audits present substantial risks for both individual and corporate taxpayers. While taxpayers can effectively mitigate these risks with the right approach, they can also make their situation much worse than it needs to be if they aren’t careful. Learn about five critical mistakes to avoid during an IRS criminal tax audit from New Jersey criminal tax lawyer Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) are continuing to target PPP and ERC fraud in New Jersey. While the paycheck protection program (PPP) and employee retention credit (ERC) were intended as pandemic-era relief programs, widespread fraud under both of these programs has forced the IRS and DOJ to take aggressive action to recover fraudulent taxpayer losses. To date, the IRS and DOJ have conducted more than 1,600 investigations resulting in nearly 400 sentences—with a 98.5 percent conviction rate in prosecuted cases. But, as New Jersey tax lawyer Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, explains, this is almost certainly just the beginning.

Facing allegations of Employee Retention Credit (ERC) fraud presents substantial risks for businesses and their owners. IRS ERC tax audits and investigations can lead to civil or criminal penalties, and once the IRS opens an inquiry, submitting a voluntary disclosure or withdrawing the business’s ERC claim is no longer an option. In this article, New Jersey IRS tax lawyer Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, explains what owners and executives need to know when the IRS targets their business for suspected ERC fraud.