Frank Azar ends 20-month fight with IRS over 2017 tax bill
Frank Azar, the powerhouse personalized injury lawyer and denizen of a great number of Colorado billboards, has attained a settlement about a $716,000 tax bill he at the time sued to cease.
The settlement finishes a 20-thirty day period tax dispute concerning Azar and the federal govt that also gave rise to two similar Colorado lawsuits, just one of which is continue to ongoing.
Under the settlement among Azar and the Interior Earnings Company, he agreed to shell out the monthly bill additionally an added $53,000, for a complete of $769,270. In trade, the IRS agreed to drop a $143,000 penalty it had levied on the law firm at the begin of 2021.
Azar stated $3.9 million in taxable money for 2017. The IRS calculated the real quantity to be $5.6 million, according to U.S. Tax Court records acquired by BusinessDen.
The settlement was approved by U.S. Tax Court docket Judge Cary Douglas Pugh on Dec. 13 and attained by BusinessDen as a result of an open information request.
Azar sued the IRS in April 2021, alleging it had produced a long listing of problems in pinpointing that his 2017 tax return had been faulty and that he owed an extra $716,443.
Azar’s lawsuit claimed the IRS experienced wrongly decided he built $1.3 million in taxable money from corporations in 2017, had wrongly prohibited him from deducting $193,802 in charitable donations, had ignored his money losses of $185,175, experienced wrongly penalized him for a tax return that was exact, and made 5 other considerable blunders.
The circumstance was scheduled for trial in April 2022 but later delayed at Azar’s ask for. It was rescheduled for Jan. 9, right up until past month’s settlement ended the require for a trial.
The tax bill has largely been compensated, according to courtroom files. Azar sent the IRS about $312,000 in 2020 and the company utilized a $384,000 credit from Azar’s 2018 taxes to his 2017 financial debt. If he doesn’t spend the remaining $74,000, desire will accrue.
A spokeswoman for Azar declined to comment on the settlement. His tax lawyer, Lakewood lawyer Charles Kersch Jr., did not respond to a request for comment.
The IRS was represented by Anne Craig, a senior legal professional in its Denver workplace. Craig also did not respond to a request for remark about the settlement.
The settlement turns consideration to an Arapahoe County situation in which Azar is suing two accountants, Michael Sidon and Christopher Steedly, and their organization CBIZ for allegedly giving him negative advice that led to that 2017 tax bill. The defendants have denied wrongdoing.
In July, Azar requested that all proceedings in the situation be placed on hold till the U.S. Tax Courtroom scenario was settled but Choose Peter Michaelson refused to do that. A five-working day bench trial is scheduled to start off Might 8 in Centennial.
The defendants in that situation are represented by Steven Anderson and Brian Huebsch, with the Littleton legislation firm Anderson & Jahde. They declined to comment on the make any difference.
In May 2022, Azar settled a associated lawsuit that he had filed late in 2021. In that circumstance, he and his law organization, Azar & Associates, accused their tax preparer, Timothy McKey, of accomplishing shoddy work on the 2017 tax returns. The conditions of their settlement are private.
This story was reported by our associate BusinessDen.