The latest case out of the Suffolk County DA's office couldn't be better timed to Tax Day. According to DA Thomas Spota, a former manager at a nonprofit health agency on Long Island stole IDs from more than 50 patients with brain injuries—so that he could get their tax refunds. Which strikes us as a lot of dreary paperwork for an estimated $20,000 in New York state refunds. more ›

An area Giants fan won some money after his beloved "G-men" won the Super Bowl yesterday, and his dignified celebration was captured on video and posted on YouTube. Then BuzzFeed picked it up, and here we are. (Look, we don't make the rules.) To be sure, it is pretty "LOL" to watch this grown man completely "OMG" lose his shit like a tween going "WTF?" outside a Ke$ha concert. But it's even LOLer when his wife appears to warn his kids not to post the video on YouTube. In response, the exultant winner orders his son to post it on "IRS YouTube." more ›

A New York inmate will spend more time in prison after filing tax returns claiming he was owed a $890 million refund. The AP reports that the forms were submitted to the IRS from 2006 to 2010 while he was incarcerated, and at one point the inmate was mailed a $327,000 check from the government, but prison officials confiscated it. In other blatant examples of why our tax law needs to be reformed, Mitt Romney paid $44,000 more in taxes than he actually owed. more ›

Skincare and fitness enthusiast Christie Brinkley apparently owes the IRS $531,720, as the agency recently placed a lien for the same amount on Brinkley's $30 million home in Bridgehampton. "Financially, her accounts are in good shape. This must be some kind of accounting screw up," a source close to Brinkley tells the Post. We've all been there: Whoops! We forgot to pay $500K in taxes, and we haven't watered our ficus in weeks. more ›

These days, stories of CEOs getting their companies to buy their antique map collections for millions of dollars have us yawning. We need examples of pure, systematic evil to get our bile mojo going. Thankfully the Times supplies it in a profile on how billionaire cosmetic heir Ronald Lauder dodges more taxes than a Black Friday crowd in Delaware. more ›

The 1 percent are all around you! The rallying cry of the Occupy Wall Street types at Zuccotti Park turns out to be incredibly apt here in the NYC Metropolitan area where "Nine of the 10 most heavily taxed neighborhoods in the U.S." just happen to be, according to Internal Revenue Service data. What're we talking about here? Oh, y'know, nothing much. In 2008 the nine zip codes reported "$70.1 billion, or 0.9 percent, of the nation’s total adjusted gross income of $7.98 trillion." more ›

It has been a really good week for Christian Lopez. When the 23-year-old woke up on Saturday he had $100,000 in student loans and nobody knew his name. Then he went to a Yankees game and caught Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit, and he returned it for which he was showered with gifts from the Yankees. That alone could make for a good week for most people. But it gets better. After the media, us included, got worked up about the tax implications of the gifts to Lopez a number of companies lined up to help him pay. But still, it gets better. more ›

If the IRS ever decides to go after Christian Lopez, the 23-year-old who caught and returned Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit, he need not worry. Publicity-smelling companies have his back. Yesterday the Times and the News both ran stories speculating on the tax hit that Lopez might receive if the IRS decides to tax him for the gifts he got from the Yankees in return for giving the ball back to Jeter. They modestly estimated that the tickets, bats, jerseys and balls given to Lopez were worth about $50,000, which could mean the kid with $100,000 in student loans could wind up owing the taxman $14,000. more ›

The man who snagged Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit—and gave it back—now may owe the IRS thousands. In exchange for returning the ball 23-year-old Christian Lopez was given front-row seats to last Sunday's game, four season tickets to the Yankees remaining home games and any postseason games as well as three bats, three balls and two jerseys signed by Jeter. Modestly that's worth about $50,000. And the taxman will want a cut. more ›

It's a "St. Valentine's Day back-tax massacre," says the Post (stretching it). On February 14th, director Martin Scorsese was reportedly hit with a back-tax bill of $2.85 million, which the IRS says he owes for taxes and related interest and penalties. And sources say the troubles may stem from Scorsese's business relationship with Ponzi-schemer Kenneth Starr. One source said, "He'd been mismanaged for a number of years when he was at Starr, and s--- started to happen. In a general sense, his finances were messed up, and this is probably one of the many things that didn't get tended to." more ›

We already knew that New Yorkers have been leaving the state in record numbers. Taxes are too damn high, after all. But once they pass the state borders, where do they go? We like to think most of them would be kicking it in another blue state, but according to IRS data there is a reason that Texas gained a whopping four House seats. more ›

Yesterday, The Smoking Gun published a federal tax lien that showed a Marcos Esparza Bofill over $172 million in back taxes from 2006. Who is Esparza Bofill? Well, TSG calls him a "hipster" as well as a former Alphabet City resident and "a garage music fan who came to New York to try his hand as a day trader" who has since returned to Barcelona. His friend told the Post, "The first thing he said to me [yesterday after learning of the tax bill] was, 'What's the IRS?'" more ›

In the wake of this morning's raid on the Bronx non-profit controlled by State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr., it's being reported that investigators were looking for evidence to support charges of money laundering, mail fraud and tax fraud. A team of agents from the FBI, IRS and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office spent eight hours at Espada's Soundview Healthcare Network, and "used bolt cutters to open an 8-foot-tall, 25-foot-long storage container behind the building and removed Espada campaign posters and other items," the AP reports. Agents were seen unloading boxes marked "payroll" and "timesheets" from the trailer. more ›

Yet another investigation is being launched into the shady doings of State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. The latest allegations suggest that Espada may have used a Bronx consulting firm, called A-1 Multi-Service LLC, to avoid paying taxes on contracts for himself and people close to him. The firm reportedly received contracts from another Buffalo firm, GDP Consulting, which has ties to Espada counsel Steve Pigeon. (The two companies worked together on health care consulting and trying to legalize a lottery in the Dominican Republic.) Today Espada fired back. more ›

NYPD Sgt. William Lewis went on trial yesterday over some $90,000 in unreported cash cops found in his home. The incident was reported after his fiancee, allegedly angry with him at the time, hid the money from Lewis. According to the Post, Lewis then "called cops to report the missing money and even fingered his gal pal in the incident." The cops eventually found his money, but then wanted to know how he got that much in the first place. more ›

It's tax time and the Finance Department wants big-time evaders to pay up. To that end, it's asked the IRS to hand over a list of rich city dwellers outed for keeping funds in Switzerland's UBS bank. Last year the offshore money repository was forced to give clients' names to the IRS and fined. So far it's unclear how many New Yorkers are enumerated on the list, but according to the Post many of the offenders are thought to live here. "Presumably, they haven't paid taxes for some period of time," said Finance Commissioner David Frankel more ›

'Tis the season for somewhat infuriating news: The Washington Post reports, "The federal government quietly agreed to forgo billions of dollars in potential tax payments from Citigroup as part of the deal announced this week to wean the company from the massive taxpayer bailout that helped it survive the financial crisis." more ›

The Department of Justice released Bernard Madoff's mugshot yesterday, and the Post notes, "that sickening smirk has been wiped off" his face. The disgraced financier remains in isolation at the Metropolitan Correctional Center while his lawyers prepare to argue why he should be released, in spite of his guilty plea with the mutlibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. In the meantime, the IRS says Madoff's victims, as well as victims of another fraudulent investor, R. Allen Stanford, can claim losses as deductions on their tax returns. IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman said, "The IRS is today issuing guidance articulating the tax rules that apply and providing ‘safe harbor’ procedures for taxpayers who sustained losses in certain investment arrangements discovered to be criminally fraudulent." more ›

With tax day two months away, elected officials making sure to remind people about the Earned Income Tax Credit. City Councilman Eric Gioia took to the airwaves to say, "I want New Yorkers to know if you made under $43,000 last year and you have kids, you could qualify for thousands of dollars back... The average recipient receives $2,600 and you could qualify for over $6,000." About 250,000 New Yorkers qualify, and here's IRS info to see if you qualify—apparently childless workers can be eligible, too. During his weekly address, Mayor Bloomberg said that there are a number of tax assistance sites (some are free, some cost $20) set up to help people file their taxes— here are the locations— and promoted the $aveNYC accounts, where you can get free tax help and put your refund into a savings account. more ›

Today the rabble-rousing Post is reveling in allegations that the IRS is investigating the Yale Club for violating a requirement that 70% of its guest rooms be reserved for members in order to maintain tax-exempt status. While the IRS won't verify the claim, one pissy club member has blabbed about the brewing brouhaha. "In recent years, the club has become more like a hotel than the private club it is chartered to be," the unidentified member complains, airing a grievance about difficulties getting a room reserved at the special alumni rate of $215 a night (as opposed to $325 for nonmembers). And another disgruntled member, one Mrs. Harrison DeSilver, declares that the club has been just plain "crappy. I just want to put my feet up here, but instead, weddings are being shipped down from The Bronx." While that does sound simply abhorrent, Mrs. DeSilver might also want to steer clear of the club Wednesday night, when L.G.B.T. photographer Catherine Opie is scheduled to be feted. more ›

The two-blocks long line around Federal Plaza, with about 800 job seekers on it, was for that venerable institution, the Internal Revenue Service. The NY Times noticed quite a few "laid-off Wall Street types in charcoal-gray pinstripe suits and trenchcoats" as well as a "woman with a new accounting degree on her resume and a 14-month old baby in a stroller." One applicant, laid off from Lehman Brothers without a severance, said, "You could get a lucrative job in the financial market right now, but how long can you keep it? Everywhere I look, I see layoffs. If I take a $10,000 or $20,000 pay cut, in the long run, I’m ahead. The government is not in the trading business. It will be around.” But the competition for IRS positions is tight: Another told the Post, "You talk with recruiters, and they get anywhere between 200 and 500 résumés for one job." more ›

A state judge has ruled that a 77-year-old Bay Ridge tax lawyer must pay back taxes after wrongfully deducting more than $300,000 for prostitutes, porn, sex toys and erotic massages. After the verdict, the defendant William Halby told the Post, "I live a solitary life. I have no social life. I needed that release." So he dutifully documented each liaison in a notebook titled "Tax Journal," in case he ever got audited. Turns out that in 2002 alone, Halby deducted $111,364 for "therapeutic sex" and massages "to relieve osteoarthritis and enhance erectile function through frequent orgasm." He argued that the write-offs were necessary medical expenses. But because "significant portions" of his sex therapy was, you know, illegal, they can't be written off. The state auditor also argued that "in addition to being illegal in New York State, these expenses are not substantiated with receipts." more ›

It's the day after Representative Charles Rangel's press conference discussing his tax issues related to not reporting 20 years of rental income (totaling around $75,000) to the IRS, and the big headline is that no one seems to quite buy one of his excuses. From the NY Times:

At a Capitol Hill news conference, during which he was by turns remorseful and combative, the congressman said that he had not been aware of the income and unpaid taxes in part because he had trouble getting detailed financial statements from the resort’s managers in the Dominican Republic. more ›

While many people are wondering when they are getting their stimulus check, some are finding out they have accidentally received other people's checks! Newsday reports checks being sent to taxpayers who paid via electronic payment have been direct deposited to the wrong accounts. more ›

Now that the glory days of moving to Brooklyn after being priced out of Manhattan are all but gone, the question remains: where do Manhattanites move? more ›

April 15 is finally here and if you haven't filed your tax returns (or for an extension), you better hustle. The James Farley Post Office at 421 Eighth Avenue and 31st Street, just west of Madison Square Garden, is where the procrastinators tend to congregate, because it is the city's only 24-hour postal facility. more ›