Tax Returns

Some taxpayers splurge on big-screen televisions or pay off their credit cards with their tax refund, while others, like Brandon Frank, count on it to pay rent. The 25-year-old former construction worker from Michigan and father of three may have to wait as long as six weeks before he sees his refund, because of a filing error by H&R Block. "I was counting on it for rent," said Frank, who's been unemployed since October and is attending college. "I'm probably going to have to go to one of the cash-advance places, because the money I was expecting isn't there.

As procrastinators scramble Monday to file their federal income taxes, some who reside in the well-off enclaves of Los Angeles or San Francisco may be bracing for an audit by the Internal Revenue Service. That's according to a new study from the National Taxpayer Advocate, which scoured IRS data to pinpoint five metropolitan areas where small business owners are more prone to dodging taxes. Other top tax-cheating hubs are the District of Columbia, Houston and Atlanta. Communities near the five cities were called out as well.

The Lynwood Unified School District's former chief business officer was charged Thursday with embezzling more than $700,000 in public funds and filing false tax returns. William Douglas Agopian, 60, of Santa Ana allegedly used the money from a district bank account to pay for tickets to professional baseball games, gas and his personal taxes over a four-year period, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. "The allegations do involve a significant violation of public trust involving funds that are intended for the students of the Lynwood Unified School District," said prosecutor Dana Aratani.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama's income continued its recent creep downward in 2012, along with his effective federal income tax rate, according to the tax returns released Friday by the White House. The president and first lady reported a joint adjusted gross income of $608,611, down from almost $790,000 in 2011. The Obamas paid $112,214 in federal taxes in 2012, for an 18.4% effective income tax rate. In recent years, the president's income has slipped as sale of his books appear to have tapered off. On a form noting his profession as “author,” the president  reported $273,000 in income from book sales, a 40% drop since last year.

Facing increasing scrutiny over the profits he made while working in private equity, Mitt Romney said Thursday he took advantage of opportunities to save on his taxes on that income like anyone else would. But just what those opportunities were is unclear without his tax returns, and don't expect to see those any time soon. Reporters and rival campaigns have been poring over Romney's 15-year record at Bain Capital , a private equity firm he launched in 1984. Romney resigned from the firm in 1999, but a New York Times story reported this week that Romney continued to reap a share of Bain's profits through February 2009.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Paul D. Ryanreleased two years of his tax returns Friday, days after the Obama campaign called on Mitt Romney to release three more years of his records.   The records reveal that Ryan and his wife, Janna, paid a higher effective tax rate than his Republican running mate and his wife, Ann. The Ryans paid an effective tax rate of 15.9% in 2010, or $34,233 of taxes on $215,417. They paid an effective rate of 20% in 2011 -- $64,764 of taxes on $323,416 of income. Ryan's tax returns can be found here , along with Romney's.

About 600,000 H&R Block customers face lengthy delays for tax refunds after a filing error by the Kansas City, Mo.-based tax preparer, the Internal Revenue Service said late Tuesday.  The filing blunder affects customers -- mainly students -- who filed Form 8863 for education credits. Many were upset the delay would affect applications for federal financial aid for college. "The IRS is continuing to review the situation and working with affected software companies to assist in the processing of these tax returns," said IRS spokeswoman Michelle Eldridge, in a statement.

Re "Romney 'never paid less than 13%,'" Aug. 17 Mitt Romney says he checked through his tax returns for the last 10 years, and he confirms that he never paid less than 13% in taxes. He must have 10 years of returns available for examination; he just doesn't want to show them to us. Romney handed over 23 years of tax returns to John McCain's campaign four years ago when he was vetted as a potential running mate. Romney received several years (not just one or two) of returns from the running mates he considered this year.

Conceding that his refusal to release his tax returns immediately was "a mistake" and "a distraction" that helped cost him a South Carolina primary win, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Sunday that he would release his 2010 federal return this week, along with an estimate of his 2011 taxes. "We made a mistake in holding off as long as we did," Romney said on "Fox News Sunday. " As a result, he added, the issue became "a distraction" as he attempted to halt Newt Gingrich's surge in the first Southern primary.

WASHINGTON -- A pair of congressional brothers sought Wednesday to rally support for greater transparency among presidential candidates, particularly in regard to the hot topic around Washington this week - tax returns. Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, announced he is preparing legislation to amend 1978's Ethics and Government Act to mandate that all presidential candidates release at least 10 years of tax returns. As it stands now, it's up to each candidate how much of their financial history they wish to disclose, a standard that Levin says is insufficient, particularly in regard to the disclosure of offshore accounts, compensatory arrangements and the details of capital gains income.

Stephen Baldwin on Friday admitted in court he hadn't paid New York state income taxes for a period of three years, and then walked away a free man - albeit one who still owes $300,000 in back taxes, and has to repay them fast. Under the term of Baldwin's deal, the "Celebrity Apprentice" contestant will stay out of jail so he can earn money to pay his debt. If he pays the money back within a year, his record will be wiped clean; otherwise he's looking at a five-year probation sentence, during which he has to repay the cash.  "Unfortunately, I got some really bad suggestions and advice ... from lawyers and accountants," he told reporters outside court in New City, N.Y. He said he never intended to avoid paying taxes.

About 600,000 H&R Block customers face lengthy delays for tax refunds after a filing error by the Kansas City, Mo.-based tax preparer, the Internal Revenue Service said late Tuesday.  The filing blunder affects customers -- mainly students -- who filed Form 8863 for education credits. Many were upset the delay would affect applications for federal financial aid for college. "The IRS is continuing to review the situation and working with affected software companies to assist in the processing of these tax returns," said IRS spokeswoman Michelle Eldridge, in a statement.

Some taxpayers splurge on big-screen televisions or pay off their credit cards with their tax refund, while others, like Brandon Frank, count on it to pay rent. The 25-year-old former construction worker from Michigan and father of three may have to wait as long as six weeks before he sees his refund, because of a filing error by H&R Block. "I was counting on it for rent," said Frank, who's been unemployed since October and is attending college. "I'm probably going to have to go to one of the cash-advance places, because the money I was expecting isn't there.

A former manager of an H&R Block tax preparation office in Van Nuys pleaded guilty to charges that he used the identities of the firm's clients to file false tax returns and get thousands of dollars in fraudulent refunds. Damon Charles Dubose, 39, of North Hills pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of wire fraud and one count of filing false claims with the Internal Revenue Service. Dubose used his access to client records to file unauthorized tax returns for at least 12 people, generating more than $48,000 in fraudulent refunds, federal prosecutors said.

Federal prosecutors in Washington on Friday charged both Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, Sandi, alleging the former congressman misused $750,000 in campaign funds while she understated their income on  tax returns for six years. Attorneys for Sandi Jackson issued a statement saying she has signed a plea deal with prosecutors and would plead guilty to tax fraud. Jesse Jackson Jr. was charged in what is known as a criminal information, which typically signals that he, too, will plead guilty.

Derrick Bean filed his income taxes at an H&R Block office in Los Angeles this month, and the 26-year-old left with something unexpected: a price quote on federally subsidized health insurance. Using the information from his 2012 return, a tax advisor told the actor and waiter that he would qualify for significant government help and pay only about $65 a month in premiums under the federal healthcare law. If he skips coverage, H&R Block warned him, he faces a $95 tax penalty next year and $356 the following year.

Under fire from his GOP rivals, Mitt Romney on Thursday pledged to eventually release his tax returns, but suggested they would be made public only after he had secured the presidential nomination. "I'll release my returns in April, and probably for other years as well,” Romney said at the Republican debate in South Carolina, adding that he would do so if he were the nominee. He swiftly tried to pivot off the issue to President Obama, whom he accused of playing "90 rounds of golf" while doing little to cure the nation's economic woes.

A feature allowing California taxpayers to use their income tax returns to make donations toward arts programs will disappear in 2013. Forms for the 2010 and 2011 tax years had a checkoff box for the California Arts Council as one of 18 options for targeted giving to various state-funded causes. But it won't be an option any longer. The state law that added the grant-making Arts Council to the mix for the two years specified that the box would vanish if the option didn't bring in at least $250,000 from tax returns filed for the 2011 tax year.

Stephen Baldwin, self-billed as "the kookiest of the Baldwin Brothers," was arrested in New York on Thursday and charged with failure to file state income taxes for three years.  Baldwin was arraigned for repeated failure to file tax returns for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010, according to the Rockland County district attorney, who said the youngest of the Baldwin Brothers owes more than $350,000 in taxes and penalties. The 46-year-old "Celebrity Apprentice" alum and talk-radio host pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance.