The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division (IRS CI) targets individual and corporate taxpayers suspected of criminal tax law violations. It investigates certain other types of criminal activity as well. If you have been contacted by IRS CI Special Agents, defending yourself (or your company) starts with engaging a New Jersey tax lawyer to determine why exactly you are being targeted.

The IRS has conducted relatively few audits in recent years. In 2019, the IRS audited just 0.45 percent of individual tax returns, down from 0.59 percent in 2018—and even further down from 1.11 percent a decade prior. But, as New Jersey tax attorney Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, explains, this may change in 2021.

The IRS is prioritizing cryptocurrency tax compliance in 2021. In addition to sending warning letters to known cryptocurrency investors, the IRS is also seeking to identify investors who have failed to report their cryptocurrency investments on their federal returns. As New Jersey tax lawyer Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, explains, it is doing so through the use of what is known as a “John Doe” summons.

Earlier this year, we reported that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was sending warning letters to micro-captive insurance companies and their clients. On April 9, the IRS issued a News Release that underscores its intent to target taxpayers who participate in abusive micro-captive insurance arrangements in 2021. New Jersey tax attorney Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, explains:

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced a safe harbor for certain Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan recipients. The safe harbor allows eligible loan recipients to claim deductions that they failed to claim in 2020. As New Jersey tax lawyer Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, explains, small businesses must meet certain requirements in order to claim safe harbor protection; and, when claiming additional deductions under the safe harbor, they must be careful to ensure that they are otherwise in full compliance with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Tax Relief Act of 2020, and other pertinent federal tax laws.