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It's April 15: Do you know where your taxes are?
Thu Apr 15, 2004 19:45
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Thursday, April 15, 2004 - Page updated at 12:08 P.M.

It's April 15: Do you know where your taxes are?
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001904117_webtaxes15.html

Times news services

28 hours needed to fill out tax forms
If it seems like it's taking you longer and longer to fill out your tax return each year, you're not imagining things.

The government estimates it takes taxpayers 28 hours and 30 minutes to complete an average tax return with itemized deductions and income reported from interest, dividends and capital gains. That's 42 minutes longer than last year.

INFORMAL SURVEY

Do you cheat on your taxes?
(We're not telling anyone)

Never.
I (or my accountant) play the system for any loopholes.
I do cheat, and cross my fingers.
Taxes are optional.
Not very comforting for Americans staring at a midnight deadline, local time, Thursday, to get their 2003 taxes filed.

The preparation-time estimate takes into consideration the time spent gathering records, learning and preparing the forms, and sending them to the IRS.

David Keating, senior counselor at the National Taxpayers Union and author of a recent study on tax complexity, said the growing complications in the tax code creep up on us like old age.

"You don't notice something from one day to the next, or maybe one year to the next. But when you look back over decades, it's shocking," he said.

"As it gets older, it's getting uglier."

Anti-tax author appears in Las Vegas federal court on tax charges
As millions of taxpayers prepared to meet the April 15 filing deadline, an anti-tax author argued Wednesday in federal court that no American is required to pay taxes.

The last-minute dash
A post office near you probably will have extra-late mail pickup tonight for getting an April 15 postmark on income-tax returns and beating the midnight filing deadline.

Irwin Schiff and two associates appeared at a hearing to answer charges that they helped thousands of taxpayers file bogus returns.

Schiff, author of "The Federal Mafia: How It Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes," told U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen he would plead guilty if prosecutors could show a tax requirement exists.

"I will not accept your plea of guilty at this time," Leen said and entered a plea of not guilty for him.

A 33-count indictment charges Schiff, 76, and his two employees with helping prepare and file fraudulent tax returns. All three were released on their own recognizance, and a June 21 trial date was set.

Prosecutors allege the three were responsible for nearly 5,000 tax returns that fraudulently reported no income. The returns had zeros on every line related to income and expenses and often claimed a full refund of all federal taxes withheld or paid.

Many of Schiff's clients faced Internal Revenue Service audits and tax collections.

If convicted, Schiff faces a maximum 43 years in prison and $3.25 million in fines.

Las Vegas telemarketing firm accused of promoting tax scams

A telemarketing company is accused of selling tax scams, including phony Web site businesses, that bilked the government out of more than $300 million.

National Audit Defense Network helped prepare 4,747 federal income tax returns for the 2002 tax year and represents customers during Internal Revenue Service audits, according to a government lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.

The Justice Department's tax division is seeking an injunction to bar the company from preparing federal income tax returns for others, and to turn over lists of customers, which it said numbered 100,000.

The government alleges the tax schemes have cost the federal treasury $324 million over the past three years. It seeks to stop the sale of Mallforall, Shopn2000 and TaxBreak2000 computer programs, which it says advocate improper tax deductions and credits.

National Audit Defense Network spokeswoman Lori Goodwine declined immediate comment and said company officials had not seen the civil suit, which was filed Tuesday.

The company touts itself as the nation's largest audit defense firm. It has a 470-employee telemarketing operation co-founded in 1996 by Robert Bennington, according to the complaint.

Bennington sold his interest in the company after the Federal Trade Commission and the Nevada attorney general's office filed separate lawsuits in January 2002 alleging deceptive trade practices. He is among the defendants in the case.
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• Five Reasons You Don't Owe Income Tax, Dammit! — Brian Doherty, Thu Apr 15 19:59