Case 1

Lisa Brown is the CEO of a software company. Ralph Benson has been preparing Lisas annual tax returns for several years, and he provides other consulting services for her company. He is a CPA. This year Lisa brought Ralph a large envelope filled with receipts and documents relating to her taxes. While reviewing the documents, Ralph came across something new. It was a deposit receipt in the amount of $72,000 from a foreign trust. The receipt was signed by an attorney and contained a note saying that the deposit was for a trust account for the benefit of Lisa Brown. Ralph asked Lisa to explain the origin of the receipt.

Lisa told Ralph to ignore the receipt and pretend he had never seen it. Ralph wonders if Lisa is trying to avoid reporting income from the trust and avoid paying taxes on the income. He also knows that the existence of a foreign trust must be reported on her tax return.

Write a response to the following:

1. How should Ralph handle this situation?
   1. Should he immediately withdraw from the engagement without discussing it further?
   2. Should he tell Lisa that she must report the foreign trust and any related income?
   3. Should he report the incident to the IRS or other authorities and continue to consult for her company?