I hear from people every week who think their tax problem is the end of the world. It usually isn't. I'm Darrin Mish. I've resolved over $100 million in tax debt for clients. Here's what you should know.<\/p>\n
The California government is petitioning a judge for jail time for \u2018tax lady\u2019 Roni Deutch after she purposely shredded millions of pages of tax documents after a court order prohibiting her from doing so was issued. \u00a0The court order specifically instructed Deutch not to destroy the documents in a $34 million lawsuit that accused her of cheating her tax clients.
\nLast August, the then California Attorney General, Edmund G. Brown Jr. filed a lawsuit against Deutch and charged her with carrying out a \u2018heartless scheme that swindled people with tax problems\u2019. \u00a0A-G Brown Jr. said of Deutch, \u201cShe promises to significantly reduce their IRS tax debts, but instead preys on their vulnerability, taking large up-front payments but providing little or no help in lowering their tax bills.\u201d
\nOn Wednesday, the present California A-G, Kamala D. Harris filed an application in Superior Court for a motion to hold Deutch in contempt, charging her of repeatedly violating the court\u2019s orders. \u00a0Ironically, Deutch is a lawyer and member of the Bar in California. \u00a0Harris commented, \u201cDeutch is an officer of this Court and a member of the Bar, which only serves to magnify the seriousness of Deutchs violations of the Courts orders. \u00a0If anyone can be expected to respect and follow this Courts orders, it should be those licensed to practice as attorneys before the Court. \u00a0The harm caused by Deutchs contempt is worthy of the most severe sanction.\u201d
\nAccording to the court order, Deutch was to \u2018take reasonable steps to preserve every document\u2019 that has to do with her case. \u00a0However, Harris said, \u201cThe very next day after the (court issued the order), Deutch conducted a purge of law firm documents that resulted in the shredding of nearly 2,000 pounds of the firm\u2019s documents, or about 200,000 pages. \u00a0The millions of pages that Deutch shredded while the document preservation order was in effect are permanently destroyed because the shredding company double shreds the documents and then bales them for resale to the recycling industry. \u00a0There is absolutely no way for the people to know, much less recover, what Deutch shredded \u201d
\nFurthermore, Deutch also did not comply with a preliminary injunction that required her to refund unearned fees to her clients within 60 days. \u00a0She admitted to keeping over $400,000 in refund requests that were over 60 days old.
\nAccording to A-G Harris\u2019 filing, Deutch also gave $12,000 to her brother, Scott Juceam to enable him to open a tax debt resolution business, the Juceam Group which is housed in one of Deutch\u2019s business premises.
\nDeutch has often advertised her services on popular media like late-night cable TV and offered tax advice on the Today Show, CNN and CNBC. \u00a0For example, one of her ads entitled \u2018It\u2019s Your Turn\u2019 depicts the story of 3 of her clients she supposedly helped to save thousands of dollars in taxes. \u00a0But in actual fact, they still owe the IRS the full amount of their taxes, plus interests and penalties.
\nSo if you are in a bind over your taxes, call us at (813) 229 7100 for a free consultation.<\/p>\n