Law Commons^™

The United States Tax Court - A Court For All Parties, T. Keith Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

Obtaining Relief From Federal Tax Levies, T. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

A levy is an administrative means of collecting taxes by seizure or taking of the taxpayer's property to satisfy delinquent tax liabilities. A levy is analogous to, but something more than, an attachment, garnishment, or other similar creditor's remedy. This chapter explains the levy process, the power of a levy and ways for moving past the levy.

Effectively Representing Your Client Before The Irs, 6th Edition, T. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

"Written by some of the most experienced tax controversy lawyers in the United States, this two-volume reference provides an in-depth discussion of the law and is replete with realistic examples and hundreds of practice tips to aid tax practitioners during all stages of representation before the IRS in controversy matters, including exam, appeals, Tax Court, refund actions, and collection matters. The companion DVD contains select audio and video recordings, gleaned from past ABA Section of Taxation meetings, and is supplemented with meeting materials relevant to your practice." -- ABA Web Shop

The United States Tax Court - A Court For All Parties, T. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

This article seeks to explain the role of the Tax Court both within the system of taxation and the system of tribunals of the United States. To provide this explanation, the article will address several specific areas: 1) the mission of the Court; 2) the placement of the Court within the judicial system and the scope of its jurisdiction; 3) selection of judicial officers of the Court; 4) the internal organization of the Court and its opinions; 5) access to the Court; 6) policy issues facing the Court; and 7) interaction between the Court and the public outside the courtroom. …

Obtaining Relief From Federal Tax Lien, T. Fogg, Frank Agostino

T. Keith Fogg

The Supreme Court has said that Congress could not have chosen broader language than it did when setting out the scope of the federal tax lien. This chapter discusses the scope of the lien as well as how the federal tax lien is created, the priority issues present when the federal tax lien competes with other liens, and how to remove the lien.

Utilizing Bankruptcy To Reduce Outstanding Tax Debts, T. Fogg, Kenneth Weil

T. Keith Fogg

In general, Congress set out to strike a balance in the bankruptcy code between the need for government entities to collect taxes, the need to promote a fresh start for debtors and the desire to create a relatively balanced playing field for competing creditors. This chapter explains how tax creditors will do well when they quickly collect the debts due to them. They will do much less well if the debts have gotten old. Exceptions to this general rule exist for tax debts secured by a tax lien or debts arising from the debtor's collection of funds on behalf of …

Does The Failure To Timely Issue Notice And Demand Impact The Underlying Assessment Rather Than The Just Liens Or Levies?, T. Keith Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

This article analyzes the impact a failure to send notice and demand might have on the validity of an assessment.

Tax Issues Facing Clients Of Legal Services, T. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

This article seeks to highlight tax issues facing clients of legal services. It discusses several specific issues that routinely arise. The article also discusses some of the challenges facing attorneys within legal services that take on a tax clinic and offers some advice on how to address those challenges.

A Calendar Call Staffing Success Story, T. Keith Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

This short article appeared in 33(2) ABA Section of Taxation NewsQuarterly (Winter 2014), p. 13.

Practice Before The Irs After The Restructuring And Reform Act, T. Keith Fogg, Robert E. Lee

T. Keith Fogg

No abstract provided.

What Is A Return -- The Long Slow Fight In The Bankruptcy Courts, T. Keith Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

This article examines what constitutes a return within the context of a bankruptcy for purposes of allowing a taxpayer to discharge the tax debt.

Meeting Leads To Changes To Certain Practices In The Tax Court, T. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

This article covers a meeting of the ABA Taxation section's Pro Bono members, Tax Court judges, the National Taxpayer Advocate, and representatives from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel. The group discussed a wide range of issues that impact pro se petitioners, who file almost 70% of the Tax Court's cases.

An Access To Justice Milestone, T. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

Short article on agreements between Low income tax clinics and the Tax Courts for pro se individuals to receive correspondence offering the opportunity of free legal services from a tax clinic.

Book Review: A Practitioner's Guide To Tax Evidence, T. Keith Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

This is a book review of Joni Larson's book: A Practitioner's Guide to Tax Evidence (ABA 2013). It begins: "Professor Joni Larson has done a great service for all Tax Court practitioners."

Taxation With Representation: The Creation And Development Of Low-Income Taxpayer Clinics, T. Keith Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

This article provides a chronological history of low-income tax clinics in the United States from their inception in 1974 to the present. It discusses leaders in the tax clinic movement such as Stuart Filler, Janet Spragens and Nina Olson and their impact on the growth of tax clinics. In addition to individual leaders, several institutions played significant roles in shaping the development of tax clinics. Tax clinics developed parallel to and then in conjunction with legal service corporation offices and academic clinics. The article discusses the growth of tax clinics within the broader growth of poverty law and the academic …

Systemic Problems With Low-Dollar Lien Filing, T. Keith Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

This article explains why the IRS policy of filing the notice of federal tax lien based primarily on a dollar criteria puts low-income taxpayers, who usually have low-dollar liens, in a worse position. It also proposes improvements on the current system.

Tax Court Collection Due Process Cases Take Too Long, T. Fogg, Carlton Smith

T. Keith Fogg

This report documents through Tax Court records the time it takes to complete CDP cases versus non-CDP cases and then offers solutions to what the authors perceive as a problem with the system. Because of the nature of CDP cases, the solutions focus on the administrative record preceding litigation. They do not stop with early introduction of the administrative record during the Tax Court proceeding, but also concern summary judgment in situations when the administrative record reveals no factual conflict. Delays in collection hurt the IRS's ability to collect while decreasing the taxpayer's ability to climb out of the financial …

Effectively Representing Your Client Before The Irs, 5th Edition, T. Keith Fogg, Editor-In-Chief, T. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

"Effectively Representing Your Client Before the IRS is a comprehensive collection of everything a tax professional should know when dealing with the IRS. Written by some of the most experienced tax controversy lawyers in the United States, it not only provides an in-depth discussion of the law, but is replete with realistic examples and hundreds of practice tips to aid tax practitioners during all stages of representation before the IRS in controversy matters, including exam, appeals, Tax Court, refund actions, and collection matters. The two-volume reference also includes a companion CD-ROM. No tax professional should be without Effectively Representing Your …

Tax Collection: Procedure And Strategies, T. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

No abstract provided.

Relief For Taxpayers From The Federal Tax Lien, T. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

No abstract provided.

Transparency In Private Collection Of Federal Taxes, T. Keith Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

Most federal taxes are collected from taxpayers by business entities, held in a public trust for the United States, and then paid over to the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS). While the vast majority of business entities pay over the taxes held in trust in a timely and appropriate manner, a sizeable amount, in dollar terms, does not get paid. The amount of unpaid "collected" taxes in 2008 created a $58 billion tax gap item.

Disclosure law governing federal taxes defaults to non-disclosure for most tax returns. This general rule of non-disclosure governs the returns reporting the taxes collected by …

In Whom We Trust, Temple K. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") collects the majority of taxes through business entities that are required to withhold taxes from wages or collect excise taxes at the time of providing services. These business entities hold the taxes they collect in trust for the IRS. The wast majority of business entities pay over the taxes held in trust in a timely and appropriate manner; however, a sizeable amount, in dollar terms, does not get paid. Aside from passing criminal laws at or near the passage of the 1954 code, Congress has done little to create a structure that provides incentives for …

Viewpoints: Collection Due Process Hearings Should Be Expedited, T. Keith Fogg, Carlton M. Smith

T. Keith Fogg

In this article, the authors argue that the collection due process hearings have failed in their objective of expediting cases and recommend creating stricter time-frame guidelines for CDP hearings.

Tax Collection: Procedure And Strategies, T. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

No abstract provided.

Chapter 11, Section 10, T. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

No abstract provided.

Handling A Case With Potential Criminal Problems, Including Dealing With Nonfilers, T. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

No abstract provided.

Leaving Money On The Table And Providing An Incentive Not To Pay -- The Story Of A Flawed Collection Device, Temple K. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

As of September 30, 2007, the IRS had $282-billion of unpaid assessments on its books. Of that amount $58-billion, over 20 percent, represents the unpaid payroll taxes due from employers. The majority of payroll taxes due from employers results from income and social security taxes collected by the employer and held in trust for the government. Internal Revenue Code section 6672 ("6672") gives the government the right to pierce the corporate veil to pursue collection of these payroll taxes. Because it creates personal liability, 6672 can serve as a powerful tool in the fight against the growing tax gap.

Unfortunately, …

Shelf Project: Amended Returns -- Imposing A Duty To Correct Material Mistakes, T. Keith Fogg, Calvin H. Johnson

T. Keith Fogg

The amended returns proposal would create a duty for a taxpayer to correct material factual errors on its tax return when the error is discovered. Failure to correct an erroneous but innocent representation is considered to be a form of deceit in American tort and contract law.

Shelf Project: National Tax Lien Registry, T. Fogg

T. Keith Fogg

The current system for filing a notice of federal tax lien came into existence before the electronic age. It relies on myriad state laws and the filing of notices in localities more than 4,100 in all. The current system hurts both the IRS and taxpayers by requiring multiple filings and, thus, multiple removals when the underlying obligation is paid or discharged. With increasing complexity comes increasing costs and errors for the IRS, taxpayers, and taxpayers' creditors. A single Web-based system would be cheaper and more efficient. That possibility drives this recommendation.