Calling yourself a professional gambler on your tax return is not the same as being one. The IRS knows the difference. So does the Tax Court. The stakes for getting this wrong are high. Misclassifying gambling income and losses as Schedule C business activity instead...
Business owners face two distinct federal tax obligations that run on separate tracks, follow different rules, and carry different consequences when they go unpaid. Conflating them is one of the most expensive mistakes we see. Payroll tax and income tax are not the...
You filed. The IRS audited. Now there is a 20% accuracy-related penalty on top of the extra tax, usually the substantial understatement penalty under IRC §6662. For individuals, the understatement is “substantial” when it exceeds the greater of $5,000 or 10% of the...
Most people who contact a tax resolution firm want to know one thing: what will it cost to make this go away? That is the wrong first question. The right first question is: what does the government actually claim you owe, and is that number correct? The answer is not...
People use “lien” and “levy” interchangeably all the time. They are not the same thing, and the difference matters if you are trying to figure out what the IRS can actually do to you right now. Short version: a lien is a legal claim against...
The IRS underpayment penalty applies when you have not paid enough tax throughout the year through withholding or estimated payments. It is not a late-filing penalty. It is not a failure-to-pay penalty. It is a separate charge under IRC §6654 for failure to...
An Offer in Compromise lets you settle your IRS tax debt for less than the full amount, but the IRS does not just take whatever you offer. They run the numbers, and whether your offer gets accepted comes down to a specific formula they apply to your financial...
If you owe taxes and did not file your return on time, you have two separate problems. The one most people ignore is the more expensive one. Failure-to-file and failure-to-pay are different penalties, calculated differently, and they can stack. Here is what they...
An LT11 or Letter 1058 is not a reminder. It is the IRS telling you, in writing, that they are done waiting, and that collection action, including asset seizure, begins in 30 days if nothing changes. Most people treat it like another piece of mail. That is a mistake...
CLAW Tax Group is proud to announce that Matt Wildes, JD, CPA has been selected to the 2026 Minnesota Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers for the third consecutive year. Super Lawyers is an independent rating service that evaluates attorneys across more than 70...
