Last week, two Congressmen introduced The Tax Compromise Improvement Act of 2009, new legislation intended to encourage taxpayers to settle their tax debts by submitting Offers In Compromise (OIC) to the IRS. Current law mandates a nonrefundable 20% down payment be submitted with each OIC application. A mandatory non-refundable fee,…
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued FAQs related to its offshore tax amnesty. As I have previously documented on March 23rd, the IRS announced a “tax amnesty” for owners of Swiss and other offshore accounts who failed to file TDF 90-22.1 (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Account) a/k/a…
Reuters has reported that the IRS is set to serve summonses on foreign banks to obtain the names of U.S. citizens who may have committed tax fraud and buried the proceeds in Swiss or other offshore bank accounts. As I have previously blogged, the IRS is already involved in tax…
According to a report on Reuters, UK, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said New York State investigators are looking for more cases like the one in which London-headquartered Llyods agreed in January to forfeit $350 million to the United States and New York in connection with faking records related to…
FBARs (TD F 90-22.1 Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Account) must be filed by U.S. Citizens and residents who have signatory authority over, or a financial interest in a foreign bank account, or other financial account located in a foreign country. This is a topic that I have previously…
According to a report in the New York Times by Lynnley Browning, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced in a press release that is has applied for permission to serve a John Doe Summons on First Data Corporation. First Data is a leading processor of credit card payments. The…
Tax litigation in the United States Tax Court (Tax Court) would be affected by proposed changes to the Tax Court’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (Tax Court’s Rules). Several of the changes are intended to conform the Tax Court’s Rules with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which govern tax…
One of the factors that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) takes into account in determining whether or not to grant innocent spouse relief, pursuant to the equitable innocent spouse provisions of Internal Revenue Code (IRC) 6015(f), is whether or not the requesting spouse will suffer economic hardship. Rev. Proc. 2003-61,…
Over the last few days I have blogged about the IRS “tax amnesty,” or settlement initiative, for owners of offshore bank accounts who make a voluntary disclosure to the IRS concerning the existence of those offshore bank accounts. It is because the potential tax penalties are so severe that the…
On April Fool’s Day, with no apparent sense of irony, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) filed a criminal tax complaint against Steven Michael Rubinstein, an accountant, but apparently not a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), charging him with one count of filing a false tax return pursuant to Internal Revenue Code…