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Monthly Archives: May 2017

Whistleblower Loses Challenge To Docked Reduced Whistleblower Award At Tax Court.

On December 13, 2016 we posted Treasury Releases Their Report On The IRS Whistleblower Program where we discussed that it can take from five to seven years, or more, for  the IRS Whistleblower Office to make a decision about whether to pay an informant for information about individuals or businesses that don't pay all of the tax they owe and that currently, the whistleblower office is processing roughly 1000 claims a month and it has has helped the IRS collect significant amounts of revenue by facilitating whistleblower claims reporting violations of the tax laws that may otherwise go unidentified. 

Now according to Law360, The government sequester struck again, this time in the U.S. Tax Court. when a judge ruled Thursday that a tax whistleblower had signed away his rights to challenge an Internal Revenue Service decision to reduce his $2.9 million award because of the government funding cut.

Normally, decisions to alter or reduce an award would be reviewable in the Tax Court, however Tax Court Judge Albert Lauber wrote that the whistleblower’s agreement with the IRS for his award waived his rights to administrative review of the award after it was reduced because of the government sequester. And Judge Lauber found that there was no reason to overturn the presumption that the agreement between the whistleblower and the IRS was valid.

“On that point, we hold that petitioner is bound by his knowing and explicit waiver of his judicial appeal rights and
hence that he may not contest the award that he accepted,” Judge Lauber wrote.

The whistleblower, whose name has been withheld, originally found that his award was docked by 7.3 percent before he received it in 2014. The IRS justified the reduction by citing the sequester in the Budget Control Act of 2011, which caused much of the government to reduce spending by 10 percent, according to the decision.

The case began in 2008, when the whistleblower provided original information to the IRS that resulted in the agency collecting more than $14 million from an unnamed taxpayer. Following that, the agency determined the whistleblower was entitled to a 22 percent award, or about $2.9 million, in 2013. The whistleblower elected to participate in an accelerated award process, which allowed the disbursement of the award more quickly, but waived the normal appeal process, the decision said.

However, following that determination, the IRS notified the taxpayer that he would receive more than $200,000 less due to the sequester. In subsequent communications with the IRS, the agency stated that it would not accept a partial agreement of the award, such as allowing the $200,000 reduction to be challenged separately, to allow the proceeding to move forward, the court wrote.

The whistleblower challenged the award following its receipt in 2014. However, Judge Lauber noted that the whistleblower entered into his agreement with the IRS fully knowing that he would not have the ability to challenge its decision.

Judge Lauber wrote that “on the basis of the regulations that existed at that time he could not know that he would actually receive an award in the agreed-upon amount until the check was in fact issued to him,” and that the whistleblower sought a different, swifter avenue to receive payment that waived his rights.

“His effort to obtain the benefit of immediate payment while later seeking judicial review directly contravenes the regulatory framework, which provides for payment only after all issues have been finally determined,” the judge wrote.

Ultimately, Judge Lauber held that the whistleblower had established jurisdiction for the appeal, but had waived his rights and granted summary judgment to the IRS.

The Tax Court also held that, where IRS doesn't issue a final determination letter confirming a whistleblower's award, the date that begins the 30-day period for filing a Tax Court appeal of that determination is the date on which IRS mails the whistleblower's check.
 
Want a Reward of Between 15- 30% of
Underpaid IRS Tax Liabilities for
Blowing the Whistle on a Tax Cheat?


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Contact the Tax Lawyers at
Marini & Associates, P.A.
 
for a FREE Tax Consultation
or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).

 

Read more at: Tax Times blog

Tax Court Held That IRS Didn't Accept Taxpayers' Offer When it Cashed Their Check

The Tax Court has held, for a number of reasons, that IRS didn't accept the taxpayers' offer in compromise (OIC) when it cashed their check that accompanied the OIC and then, approximately 100 days later, refunded the taxpayers' payment.

The Court also held that, where a taxpayer is a shareholder in an S corporation, the statute of limitations on assessment with respect to the taxpayer is based on the date of filing of the taxpayer's return, not the S corporation's return. Whitesell, TC Memo 2017-84

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 Need Experienced Tax Help?
 
 
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Read more at: Tax Times blog

Texas Tax Evader Pleads Guilty To Disguising Royalties as Scholarships PaymentsThrough Panama


A resident of College Station, Texas, pleaded guilty on May 26, 2017 to conspiring to defraud the United States by using offshore accounts in Panama to conceal more than $1.3 million in royalty income that she earned from oil wells.

 
According to documents and information provided to the court, Joyce Meads, 73, admitted that she filed false 1997 through 2009 individual income tax returns, omitting more than $1.3 million in royalty income that she received from oil wells. From approximately April 1997 through April 2010, she conspired with offshore promoters to disguise this income, setting up nominee companies in Delaware and Panama in the name of W.G. Holdings Corporation and transferring her interest in the oil wells to the nominee entity in Delaware. Meads’s monthly royalty checks were issued to W.G. Holdings.
 
For approximately a decade, Meads had her royalty checks sent to a Miami post office box where they were picked up, couriered to Panama and deposited into her nominee accounts. Meads repatriated funds by disguising them as scholarships or loans from W.G. Holdings to herself.
 
She later transferred the funds to bank accounts in her own name or her mother’s name. Meads admitted that she caused a tax loss of more than $250,000.
 
Two of the promoters who assisted Meads, Marc Harris of The Harris Organization, Republic of Panama, and Boyce Griffin of Offshore Management Alliance Ltd., Republic of Panama, have also been convicted of conspiracy and other charges and were previously sentenced to prison.
 
“As Today’s Plea Makes Clear - The Days of Safely Hiding Your Money Offshore Are Over!"
 
The Department continues to work with its law enforcement partners to find and hold accountable those who seek to evade paying their fair share of taxes.”
 
Sentencing is Scheduled for Aug. 4, 2017.  Meads Faces a Statutory Maximum Sentence of
  • 5 Years in Prison,
  • a Period of Supervised Release,
  • Restitution and
  • Monetary Penalties.
 
Still Have Undeclared Income from Offshore Banks or Offshore Promoters?
 

 
  
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Source

 

Read more at: Tax Times blog

Last Chance To Come Clean … Automatic Exchange of Information Reporting Is Imminent!

On May 23, 2017 we posted May 31st Is Deadline For CRS Reporting where we listed the 50 Jurisdictions which will begin to exchange information in 2017.

Now HMRC has reminded financial institutions that the deadline for reporting their clients' accounts under the Automatic Exchange of Information rules falls in less than a week's time.

Returns must be submitted by May 31, 2017, including reportable accounts for the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories agreement, and the first year for the OECD's Common Reporting Standards.

Overview

Automatic Exchange of Information agreements are made between the UK and other countries. These agreements allow the exchange of information between tax authorities of different countries about financial accounts and investments to help stop tax evasion.

List of countries who have agreed to share information.

 
Financial institutions, for example, banks, building societies, insurance companies, investment companies, will provide information on non-UK residents with financial accounts and investments in the UK to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
HMRC will share this information with the relevant countries. Information for financial institutions.
 
HMRC will receive information from other countries about UK residents with financial accounts and investments overseas.

The UK Has Automatic Exchange of Information
Agreements Under 4 Regimes.

1. United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

  • The agreement between the UK and USA requires UK financial institutions to report to HMRC on US customers that hold accounts with them. 

2. Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories

  • The agreement between the UK and its Crown Dependencies and UK Overseas Territories to report on those who are tax residents in one territory and hold accounts in the other. (US Taxpayers?) 

3. Common Reporting Standard

  • The standard for all automatic exchange of financial information. 

4. Directive on Administrative Co-operation

  • The Directive which applies the Common Reporting Standards throughout the European Union.
Further Information and Guidance

 

All references to Automatic Exchange of Information include United States Foreign Account Tax Compliance (FATCA), Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories and the Common Reporting Standard.

Returns submitted after the deadline (May 31, 2017) or the filing of an incorrect return, may result in penalties being charged.

Still Have Undeclared Income from Banks or
 Companies Located in One of These Countries?
 

 
  
Enjoy Your Freedom?
 
 
Want to Know if the OVDP Program is Right for You?
 
Contact the Tax Lawyers at 
Marini& Associates, P.A.  
 
 
for a FREE Tax Consultation
Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888) 882-9243





 

Read more at: Tax Times blog

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