Internal Revenue Service

Reader: James Dobson is still worth being discriminated against by the IRS?

Yesterday, we posted about claims by Focus on the Family founder James Dobson that the IRS had discriminated against one of his other operations for political reasons. This alleged mistreatment put Dobson back in the public eye, and his reappearance took one of our readers by surprise.

James Dobson, Focus on the Family founder, claims IRS discrimination

Yesterday in this space, we noted that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder may not have time to weigh in on Colorado marijuana laws because of two mushrooming scandals -- one of them involving reports that the Internal Revenue Service placed extra scrutiny on Tea Party groups seeking nonprofit status. ... More >>

Charles Woodson Denver Broncos = perfect fit?

At DenverBroncos.com, Andrew Mason analyzes what former Heisman Trophy winner turned Green Bay Packer Charles Woodson could bring to the Broncos. Colorado Pols on the meeting of GOP legislators and the father of an Aurora theater shooting victim. Colorado Peak Politics on a local tie to the IRS' a ... More >>

American Guns' Gunsmoke Guns: Did Wyatt family rip off the I.R.S. for years?

Update: We've been following a series of surprising incidents involving Gunsmoke Guns, a Wheat Ridge store that served as the setting of American Guns, a reality TV series that was recently canceled by the Discovery Channel; see our previous coverage below. First, there was a robbery. Then, there w ... More >>

Update: Jessica Peck v. Colorado Ethics Watch and Colorado Pols, round two

Update below: Wednesday, Colorado Ethics Watch requested an IRS investigation into the nonprofit status of Open Government Institute of Colorado based on a video featuring OGI's executive director, Jessica Peck. The claim: OGI was working to benefit Congressman Mike Coffman, who's running for reelec ... More >>

Studio 54 opened 35 years ago today

See Also: • Randy Rhoads: Thirty years ago, a tragic accident took the life of a legendary guitarist • Sex Pistols sign with A&M outside Buckingham Palace 35 years ago • Today in History archives Other than the gas shortage and a (relatively) poor economy, the second half of the 1970s was a g ... More >>

Depressed about Tax Day? Here are a couple of deals to cheer you up

Today is the deadline for filing taxes with the Internal Revenue Service. In hopes of easing the pain, a couple of local eateries -- one high-end, one decidedly low -- are offering Tax Day deals. Just remember to hold onto the receipts!

Lindsey Vonn announces on Facebook she's paid $1.7 million in back taxes

You'd think Lindsey Vonn's Facebook note about taking part in a Tim Tebow Foundation fundraiser this weekend would have been a hot news item about the Colorado skiing phenom/marketing marvel. After all, she had to tweet that Tebow hadn't broken up her marriage as recently as December. But no: The me ... More >>

Five acts with more taxing problems than you

See Also: • Tax Evasion: How to live like a rock star -- and pay taxes like one, too. As the saying goes: There are only two things that are certain and unavoidable in this life -- death and taxes. And while both might be causing folks to lose sleep these days (you didn't forget tax time is upon ... More >>

Operation Sweet Leaf: Jordan Buehrer accused ringleader in 25 grow metro-area megabust

Update: A just-released indictment related to Operation Sweet Leaf, in which 25 metro-area marijuana grows were raided, names 22-year-old Jordan Buehrer as the alleged ringleader of the scheme -- although Buehrer's LinkedIn profile suggests another name. The bare-bones page lists him as the owner o ... More >>

Top 10 things you shouldn't call the cops to help you find -- aside from your lost remote

Flickr​The Greeley Police Department recently shared this report from late last month: "Police responded to the 2100 block of 35th Avenue Court after a woman complained that someone stole the remote control for her television cable box. The officer helped the woman find her remote." That was ... More >>

Denver law firm doesn't want staffers to ride in elevators with IRS agents -- but which one?

​Let the guessing games begin! "The Most Awkward Meeting" in today's Wall Street Journal outlines how elevator technology in certain high-rises has changed business etiquette, almost eliminating the "elevator pitch," as execs are dispatched to their own cars -- and, in one Denver building, kee ... More >>

Boulder restaurateur Opas Sinprasong will do time for exploiting workers

Daily Camera​Last October, Opas Sinprasong -- a Thai national who once owned Siamese Plate, Siamese Plate on the Go and Sumida's in Boulder and Louisville -- pleaded guilty to harboring illegal aliens and failure to pay taxes. Yesterday he was sentenced: The restaurateur will do time, pay a h ... More >>

Scott Howard: Inmate's history of obtaining bogus refunds tip of prison-tax-fraud iceberg

​This week's cover story, "The Devil's Playground," recounts the ordeal of Scott Howard, a Colorado inmate extorted and sexually assaulted by the 211 Crew prison gang. But it's also about Howard's history of obtaining bogus tax refunds while behind bars, a talent the gang was eager to exploit. ... More >>

Lil' Jon's tax woes: He's not alone. Here's five of the biggest celebrity tax evaders

​The IRS loves leaning on rich people for tax evasion. Case in point, reports have surfaced that Lil' Jon (whose house was just foreclosed on in August) is on the hook for $638,000. It's certainly not easy to do taxes if you're a musician -- or any type of entertainer for that matter -- which ... More >>

Brenda Stewart, Denver Players/Sugar owner & ex-escort, indicted for tax evasion, racketeering

Large photos below.​This week, Brenda Stewart was indicted on charges related to tax evasion, racketeering, money laundering and more in relation to Denver Players/Sugar, a notorious escort business. A former escort known to her staff as "Katrina Carter" or simply "Carter," Stewart potentiall ... More >>

Opas Sinprasong, Siamese Plate owner, pleads guilty to treating workers like slave labor

NaRaYa has replaced Siamese Plate on the Go​I was at Lotus of Siam, one of Lori Midson's favorite restaurants in the world (and she's right -- too bad it's in Las Vegas), eating and catching up on my Westword reading, when I found this report by Michael Roberts on a Thai restaurant group much ... More >>

Opas Sinprasong pleads guilty to running his Siamese Plate restaurants like slave ships

Daily CameraOpas Sinprasong.​When it came to taking advantage of his employees, Opas Sinprasong, who owned several Boulder-area Siamese Plate restaurants, appears to have been an expert. Sinprasong pleaded guilty to harboring illegal aliens and failing to pay taxes -- offenses likely to result ... More >>

Scottie Ewing, swinger entrepreneur, pleads guilty to tax evasion for prostitution business

A former Denver Sugar girl.​The really wild ride of Scottie Ewing, former ski pro turned porn purveyor and swinging entrepreneur, took another turn yesterday, when he pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion in connection with the sale of the Denver Sugar/Denver Players prostitution business ... More >>

Ronald Hoodenpyle gets jail time for bogus lien on IRS agent's home

​One gutsy Colorado Springs man is facing hard time after he filed a fraudulent lien against the home of an IRS agent in retaliation for a lien the IRS placed on his home. Ronald Roy Hoodenpyle, come on down!

Scottie Ewing, pro skier and swinger, on a slippery slope with the IRS

​Scottie Ewing has had quite the career. While still a pro skier, he became an entrepreneur, starting a number of businesses that promoted partying... and prostitution. I first encountered him when he'd opened a swingers' club, the Sindicate, in a very unlikely spot -- the arts district on Nav ... More >>

Tax day warning: U.S. Attorney will bust your ass if you file incomplete/inaccurate returns

A Flickr photoForty-eight hours is about all you've got left...​April 15 -- the deadline for filing income-tax returns -- is just two days away. And in case your stress over that fact isn't already overwhelming, the U.S. Attorney's Office has a message: "It is important to file complete and ac ... More >>

April Fools!: IRS wasn't joking when they accidentally billed Denver couple more than $500K

Hey, honey, apparently we owe the federal government half a million dollars. ​On April Fools' day, folks are a little less inclined to believe the bizarre. Your consummate bachelor friend probably isn't announcing his marriage over Facebook, and Canada most likely didn't apologize for Nickelba ... More >>

Con man Thomas Quintin allegedly got out of jail free, collected $1.2 million in tax-fraud scheme

Doesn't money smell better when you stole it from the federal government?​Thomas Quintin, 63, a Denver man with a long history of felony tax fraud, is facing new scrutiny after he walked away from his sentence at a half-way house and allegedly started a scheme investigators traced to caches to ... More >>

Shmucks of the week: Haiti charity scammers

"Shmuck" is too kind a term for the type of bogus charity collectors who tend to crop up after disasters of the size and scope of the one currently rolling out in grisly slow motion across Haiti, a country that was hardly in the best shape even before an earthquake struck earlier this week. So is " ... More >>

The Mexican advises against rushing to the altar

End of Empires lose gear to thieving d-bags

Bet End of Empires would love to get their hands on the culprits.​If karma truly is a boomerang, then may the thieving, unscrupulous jerkoffs who stole a truckload of gear belonging to End of Empires get audited by the IRS -- or at least, like, I don't know, come down with a nasty case of swine fl ... More >>

How much does Anti-Gym's Michael Karolchyk owe to the IRS?

Karolchyk has some fat ass tax liens. As you've probably heard, the mean ol' IRS shut down the Anti-Gym earlier this month, forcing hundreds of self-hating exercise masochists out into the "fatty lazy" world. But while many media outlets have taken great joy in chipping away at the colossal ego kno ... More >>

A Colorado immigration story hits page one of the New York Times

Yesterday's New York Times switched the national spotlight onto a fascinating story based in Greeley. "Paying Taxes, and Fearing Deportation" focuses on Amalia's Translation and Tax Services, a business that has prepared tax returns for a mostly Hispanic clientele since the '90s. Last October, the ... More >>

Identity Crisis

Having your Social Security number stolen makes for a taxing situation.

IRS Making Local Escorts Hot and Bothered

Fate of the Union

Tax Evasion

How to live like a rock star -- and pay taxes like one, too.

Tax Rhyme

Pennies for Peace

Letters to the Editor

From the week of 3/1/2007

The Magic Number

Illegal immigrants are using stolen identities to work. But whose are they?

The Beatdown

Elevators, Frappuccinos, and things that go bump in the night.

Cable Guy

Bill Daniels made a fortune bringing cable to the West. But would he agree with how his legacy is being spent?

Wisdom of the Ages

Best Free Service for Casino Workers

IRS Tax Preparation Workshops

Letters to the Editor

From the week of July 6

Justice Delayed

With the right defendant pulling the strings, Colorado's domestic-violence system can be tied into knots. A victim's story.

Thrills for the week

Mouthing Off

Free Willie

A gospel album on a Denver record label is the latest step in the rehabilitation of Willie Nelson's career.

Many Happy Returns

A LOAN AGAIN, NATURALLY

A CASH-FLUSH CITY AGENCY MEASURES SUCCESS--AND CONTROVERSY--ONE INVESTMENT AT A TIME.

A PAIN IN THE NECK