Description:

Working with clients who have failed to file their income tax returns for one or more years can be a challenging task for any tax professional. This webinar by tax attorney Adam Fayne will equip you with the essential tools and strategies needed to navigate these situations. Adam will discuss scenarios where the IRS has already contacted the taxpayer about missing returns, as well as cases where the taxpayer is voluntarily seeking compliance without IRS prompting.

You’ll learn how to help your clients in situations involving collection alternatives, criminal risk mitigation, or even marital separation where unfiled returns are a factor. Whether your client’s goal is to negotiate with the IRS or simply come into compliance, this session will prepare you to assist them with confidence.

Session Objectives

• Learn how to represent taxpayers who have not filed tax returns, including individuals and entities.
• Understand how to address unfiled income tax returns, employment tax returns, FBARs, and other foreign information reporting requirements.
• Discover how many years or periods of unfiled returns should be filed to minimize penalties.
• Gain clarity on how to file reasonable cause statements to avoid penalties and understand how to abate penalties related to unfiled or late returns.
• Learn how to handle unfiled returns during IRS audits, collections, and criminal investigations.
• This session is essential for tax professionals who work with clients that have fallen behind on tax filings and need to navigate IRS processes efficiently while minimizing legal and financial risks.

Session Highlights

• Common Reasons for Non-Filing: Understand why some taxpayers fail to file their returns—reasons may go beyond simply choosing not to file, such as spousal issues, business partner disputes, or physical incapacitation.
• Triggers for Filing: Learn what typically motivates taxpayers to file their income tax returns, whether it’s due to receiving a notice from the IRS or other personal and financial reasons.
• Filing with Incomplete Information: Discover strategies for preparing and filing a tax return when complete financial information or documentation is not available.
• When Proactive Filing is Necessary: Identify specific situations where it is crucial for taxpayers to file their returns proactively, such as during collections, bankruptcy proceedings, or fraud investigations.
• Handling IRS-Prepared Returns: Learn how to address and respond to substitute tax returns prepared by the IRS on behalf of a taxpayer, and how to regain control of the filing process.
• Filing Methods for Unfiled Returns: Explore various methods for filing back taxes, including audit reconsideration, submitting an Offer in Compromise, and other IRS-approved options.

Why You Should Attend

The changes in reporting requirements can be confusing and the IRS has recently made changes to reporting, error correction, and filing due date requirements. Accounts payable professionals, managers, and withholding agents need to be aware of the changes in order to avoid non-compliance and penalties. For non-compliance, penalties have recently been increased. In order to stay compliant, practitioners must know which form to use to report specific transactions, when these forms must be filed or furnished to recipients in order to be on-time, what information should be included and how to make sure it is accurate, how and when to make corrections, how to avoid or mitigate errors, whether a particular payee is subject to backup withholding or transaction reporting, and the due diligence procedures that shield an issuer from penalties, even when the forms contain incorrect information.

Who Should Attend

• Accountants
• Tax Preparers
• EA’s
• CFOs
• CEOs
• Financial Compliance Professionals
• Tax Attorneys

Speaker Profile

ADAM S. FAYNE is a partner with Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP, where he assists companies and individuals, nationally and internationally, on corporate and tax issues. As a corporate attorney, Mr.Fayne routinely advises management or in-house general counsel on various legal matters affecting their day-to-day corporate activities. His experience includes handling matters involving mergers and acquisitions, employment, compliance, litigation, personal injury, vendor contract review and negotiations, employment benefits, financing, real estate and many other issues. Mr. Fayne helps businesses and individuals with tax controversies before the Internal Revenue Service and tax planning, both domestically and internationally. He also handles a variety of white collar criminal matters, both federal and state particularly involving civil and criminal tax fraud, including tax evasion, money laundering and offshore tax compliance. Mr. Fayne‘s knowledge of tax law is informed by his former role as a Special Assistant United States Attorney with the Department of Treasury Internal Revenue Service. He earned his B.A. degree from the University of Arizona, and his J.D. degree, with honors, from Chicago-Kent College of Law.