Tax court judge shows creative side

Judge Robert A. Wherry, Jr., took a novel approach when outlining the facts of a recent Tax Court case involving a waitress who received a winning lottery ticket from a customer. The facts of the case (Tonda L. Dickerson v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2012-60, March 6,...

Put lottery-Ticket agreements in writing

Tonda Dickerson was one lucky waitress – at least until she got to Tax Court. One day in 1999, while Dickerson was working at a Waffle House restaurant, a regular customer gave her a lottery ticket. Unbeknownst to both the customer and Dickerson, the numbers on...

Some taxpayers qualify for a ‘Fresh Start’

If you know people who might not file their returns because they don’t have the money to pay the tax, the IRS may offer them some assistance. The IRS has expanded its so-called Fresh Start initiative to help financially distressed taxpayers by providing...

IRS is trying to give away money

Do you have friends or relatives who have failed to file income tax returns in prior years? The IRS may be holding refunds meant for them. Some people whose withholding exceeds their tax liability don’t file tax returns. As a result, the IRS is holding over $1...