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A Friendly Notice for Celebrities: Your Accountant Is Not Your Mother

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez

Fresh off Rihanna's massive settlement from her former accountant Peter Gounis and his firm Berdon LLP, we have another story of a poor celebrity led wrong by his trust financial advisor. Colin buried it in ANR but here you go:

McKnight has filed a lawsuit against Vernon Brown and Company, claiming Brown ruined his life by not paying ANY of Brian's taxes for close to a decade … resulting not only in more than a million bucks in back taxes, but more than $500K in penalties and interest.

Here's how bad McKnight says it got … In the lawsuit he claims Brown knew he screwed up and secretly contacted Congressman Henry Waxman and gave him a phony sob story that got Waxman to contact the IRS and get McKnight back on an installment plan.

First, if your accountant can't reach the IRS and has to go straight to Capitol Hill, you know you have a problem.

However, one has to wonder how exactly a millionaire manages to dodge paying taxes for a full decade without having any idea taxes are owed. The IRS isn't exactly subtle when they feel they've been stiffed, surely they, I dunno, sent a letter or something? Was the mailman in on it too, bro?

Does no one recall the seedy tale of one Kenneth Starr? Not the hater who tried to ruin Bill Clinton's life, the celebrity financial adviser and stripper connoisseur who was eventually picked up for running a massive $30 million fraud on his wealthy clients.

Before another multi-millionaire finds themselves in this situation (unless it's Justin Bieber, I hope that guy ends up so destitute he's doing sexual favors for truckers behind a dumpster in Toronto), remember you're never too busy or famous or special to get ripped off. If you trust a single individual or firm with your entire well-being, then maybe you deserve to find what remains of your assets frozen by the IRS.

I mean 10 years, really? Really?! Come on, man.

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The IRS Is Ruining Its Weekend Plans for the Sake of the American Taxpayer Again

The April 15th deadline has come and gone but that does not mean the IRS’ work is done. In fact, getting money in the Treasury Department’s door is a 24/7/365 sorta deal and in case you didn’t notice, there’s a bit of a deficit problem.

Accordingly, the IRS has decided to host open houses at 200 facilities in all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico on May 15th from 9 am to 2 pm local time (locations here). IRS staff will be there to help individuals and small businesses sort out any issues they may have (See? Filing that extension was a good idea).


This marks the second time in 2010 that the IRS has opened its arms to public on the Sabbath, having done so on March 27th. According to the Service, that particular National Day of IRS Friendliness was a resounding success, with 88% of taxpayers getting their issues resolved that day.

Doug Shulman all but assures your satisfcation in the press release, “Our goal is to resolve issues on the spot so small businesses and individuals can put any issues they have with the IRS behind them. If you have a problem filing or paying your taxes or resolving a tough tax issue, we encourage you to come in and work with us.”

Okay, maybe it’s not exactly a 100% money-back guarantee but the Service is going to work their cans off to get you in compliance and cutting a check that day. Unless of course you’re a Tea Party type trying to get on the six o’clock news, in which case you’ll be dealt with in a swift and decisive manner.

Open House on Saturday May 15 to Help Small Businesses, Individuals Solve Tax Problems [IRS.gov]

The IRS May Want to Stock Up on Shotguns

The IRS is not the most popular government agency. This is not news. What is a developing problem is more and more people feel that reacting to the Service through with violence is somehow an acceptable option. Can we expect another lunatic to fly a plane into a building? Hard to say. But Joe Kristan did warn us about this.

And now the Treasury Inspector General has informed Tim Geithner that this will be one of the “challenges” the Service can expect in the new year:

In addition to safeguarding a vast amount of sensitive financial and personal data, the IRS must also protect approximately 100,000 employees and more than 700 facilities throughout the country. Attacks and threats against IRS employees and facilities have risen steadily in recent years.

The February 2010 attack on an IRS facility in Austin, Texas, is a stark reminder of the dangers that IRS employees face every day in trying to perform their jobs. Animosity towards the tax collection process is nothing new, but the Austin incident and other recent events point to a surge of hostility towards the Federal Government. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the militia movement has almost quadrupled in size in the past two years, growing to more than 200 groups across the country. The Southern Poverty Law Center has reported that anti-government and hate groups have grown from 149 groups in 2008 to 512 groups in 2009, a 244 percent increase. The ongoing public debate regarding the recently enacted health care legislation may also lead to increased threats against IRS employees and facilities, underscoring the need for continuing vigilance in the area of physical security.

It’s good to know that our country is filled with so many level-headed folks that creating hate groups has become a relatively popular thing to do.

Latest IRS Snafu: Inmates Collect $100k in Refunds

This is getting ridiculous, you guys. As if suicidal pilots and bulldozing protestors weren’t enough of an annoyance, now the Service has been victimized by inmates in a South Florida jail.

According to the AP, about 50 inmates are allegedly responsible for requesting $1 million in fraudulent refunds from the IRS and collecting around $100,000 for their diligent efforts. The report states that the inmates used “a standard IRS form” (we’re guessing Form 843?) most for $5,000 and that some checks were sent directly to the jail. Oh and the best part is that the scheme was foiled by “a how-to note…found in an inmate’s cell,” rather than a crack squad of investigators.


To say that the IRS needed some good press would be a gross understatement, but for crissakes, they need some good press. Sure getting Nicolas Cage to bone up $14 mil is okay and everyone is stoked for Ron Howard to make the Service hilarious but they could use a big break right now. We called the Florida branch to get their ideas but the spokesman told us that the Herald pretty much had it right and that’s all that he was saying.

At this point, nothing short of Doug Shulman capturing Osama Bin Laden (with an IRS-issued Remington no less) while singing God Bless America and apologizing for all the unanswered customer service phone calls will get the American public to looking fondly upon the IRS. If you’ve got better ideas, let us know but that would be our suggestion for an improved image campaign.

Inmates at S. Fla. jail accused of scamming IRS [AP via Miami Herald]