made a mistake on the account or the taxpayer can show that they relied on advice given by the IRS. This is pretty hard to show because the IRS rarely puts anything they have advised in writing where you could substantiate relying on their advice.

The IR

Recently, the Justice Department and the IRS went after several Jackson Hewitt Tax Service franchises for fraud for cheating the U.S. Government out of around $70 million. Apparently, most of the claims revolved around the tax preparers making false Earned Income Tax Credit claims which provided taxpayers a credit between $412 and $4,536. Eventually, the IRS will get around to examining these returns and determine that a lot of the taxpayers who hired the tax preparation services were not entitled to claim the Earned Income Credit. The taxpayers don't find out that they were not qualified for the credit until at least a year after the return is filed. That leaves plenty of time for the IRS to tack on some penalties and interest to your tax bill.

So the question my clients have is whether they are going to be liable for the taxes, penalties and interest that the IRS will assess against them next year. The answer is not totally clear. The IRS will not abate any interest that accrues on a taxpayer's account unless the IRS has made a mistake on the account or the taxpayer can show that they relied on advice given by the IRS. This is pretty hard to show because the IRS rarely puts anything they have advised in writing where you could substantiate relying on their advice.

The IRS

me Tax Credit claims which provided taxpayers a credit between $412 and $4,536. Eventually, the IRS will get around to examining these returns and determine that a lot of the taxpayers who hired the tax preparation services were not entitled to claim the Earned Income Credit. The taxpayers don't find out that they were not qualified for the credit until at least a year after the return is filed. That leaves plenty of time for the IRS to tack on some penalties and interest to your tax bill.

So the question my clients have is whether they are going to be liable for the taxes, penalties and interest that the IRS will assess against them next year. The answer is not totally clear. The IRS will not abate any interest that accrues on a taxpayer's account unless the IRS has made a mistake on the account or the taxpayer can show that they relied on advice given by the IRS. This is pretty hard to show because the IRS rarely puts anything they have advised in writing where you could substantiate relying on their advice.

The IR

Income Credit. The taxpayers don't find out that they were not qualified for the credit until at least a year after the return is filed. That leaves plenty of time for the IRS to tack on some penalties and interest to your tax bill.

So the question my clients have is whether they are going to be liable for the taxes, penalties and interest that the IRS will assess against them next year. The answer is not totally clear. The IRS will not abate any interest that accrues on a taxpayer's account unless the IRS has made a mistake on the account or the taxpayer can show that they relied on advice given by the IRS. This is pretty hard to show because the IRS rarely puts anything they have advised in writing where you could substantiate relying on their advice.

The IR

ients have is whether they are going to be liable for the taxes, penalties and interest that the IRS will assess against them next year. The answer is not totally clear. The IRS will not abate any interest that accrues on a taxpayer's account unless the IRS has made a mistake on the account or the taxpayer can show that they relied on advice given by the IRS. This is pretty hard to show because the IRS rarely puts anything they have advised in writing where you could substantiate relying on their advice.

The IR

made a mistake on the account or the taxpayer can show that they relied on advice given by the IRS. This is pretty hard to show because the IRS rarely puts anything they have advised in writing where you could substantiate relying on their advice.

The IRS will however abate penalties from time to time. In order to have penalties abated on an account the taxpayer must show there is a "reasonable cause" for abatement. Unfortunately, there is not a very concrete way of guaranteeing that you can get your penalties abated. In fact, it is always an uphill battle to attempt to have your penalties abated - no matter what your excuse is. The excuse in this case is that you relied on the expertise of a professional tax preparer in the preparation of your return. Although you have the responsibility to make sure your return is accurate and prepared correctly before you sign it, the IRS often allows an abatement of penalties for this reason.

Of course, you will always be liable for the taxes that you owe, even if the preparer determined your liability incorrectly, but there are ways to pay off the liability spread over a period of time if you don't have the cash to pay it off immediately.