Fluent in English, Spanish & Italian | 888-882-9243

call us toll free: 888-8TAXAID

Yearly Archives: 2018

Disregarded Entities Are Not Always Disregarded

December 21, 2018

Under the check the box rules, entities owned by one person can often be disregarded for federal tax purposes. Such entities are referred to as "disregarded entities." 

As time has progressed since the passage of the check the box rules, the IRS has created more and more exceptions to the disregarded treatment. The following is a summary of the principal exceptions, but is not intended to be exhaustive. If any readers think we have missed anything major, please feel free to comment to this posting.

  1. Status is modified if the single owner of the entity is a bank. Treas. Regs. Section 301.7701-2(c)(2) (iii). 

  2. Status is modified for certain tax liabilities. Treas. Regs. Section 301.7701-2(c)(2)(iii). These include: (1) federal tax liabilities of the entity with respect to any taxable period for which the entity was not disregarded; (2) federal tax liabilities of any other entity for which the entity is liable; and (3) refunds or credits of federal tax. 

  3. Disregarded status ignored or modified for taxes imposed under Subtitle - Employment Taxes and Collection of Income Tax (Chapters 21, 22, 23, 23A 24, and 25 of the Code) and taxes imposed under Subtitle A including Chapter 2 - Tax on SelffEmployment Income. Treas. Regs. Section 301.7701-2(c) (2) (iv) (A). 

  4. Status is modified for certain excise taxes, as described in Treas.Regs. Section 301.7701-2(c)(2J(v). Although liability for excise taxes isn't dependent on an entity's classification, an entity's classification is relevant for certain tax administration purposes, such as determining the proper location for filing a notice of federal tax lien and the place for hand-carrying a return under Code Section 6091

  5. Conduit financing proposed regulations will treat a disregarded entity as separate from its single member. Code Section 7701 (I).

  6. Special rules will apply in hybrid situations. Hybrid situations are circumstances where an entity is not disregarded in one jurisdiction but is disregarded in another.

  7. Final regulations (TD 9796) that treat domestic disregarded entities wholly owned, directly or indirectly, by foreign persons  as domestic corporations solely for purposes of making them subject to the reporting requirements under Internal Revenue Code, Section 6038A that apply to 25% foreign-owned domestic corporations.

 

Have a Tax Problem?  
 




 

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

Read more at: Tax Times blog

IRS Update Makes Voluntary Disclosures For ALL Domestic & Foreign Disclosures More Expensive

December 21, 2018

The cost of ALL Voluntary Disclosures of previously unreported income or offshore assets to the IRS avoid criminal prosecution, just got more expenses under an updated procedures the revenue agency released on November 29, 2018.
 

IRS deputy commissioner for services and enforcement Kirsten Wielobob issued a memorandum on November 20, 2018 that the IRS posted publicly Thursday, November 28, 2018, which outlines the process for all voluntary disclosures following the closing of the IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program on Sept. 28, 2018. She noted in the memo that the 2014 OVDP began as a modified version of the OVDP that launched in 2012 after earlier programs in 2009 and 2011.

Voluntary disclosure is a long-standing practice of the IRS to provide taxpayers with criminal exposure a means to come into compliance with the law and potentially avoid criminal prosecution. See I.R.M. 9.5.11.9. This memorandum updates that voluntary disclosure practice. Taxpayers who did not commit any tax or tax related crimes and do not need the voluntary disclosure practice to seek protection from potential criminal prosecution can continue to correct past mistakes using the procedures the updated Voluntary Disclosure Program or by filing an amended or past due tax return. When these returns are examined, examiners will follow existing law and guidance governing audits of the issues.
“These programs were designed for taxpayers with exposure to potential criminal liability or substantial civil penalties due to a willful failure to report foreign financial assets and pay all tax due in respect of those assets,” Kirsten Wielobob wrote.

 “They Provided Taxpayers With Such Exposure Potential Protection from Criminal Liability and Terms for Resolving their Civil Tax and Penalty Obligations.”
 
The New Procedures Are Effective for ALL
Disclosures After Sept. 28, 2018.

The penalties have continue to increase, since the original OVDI program began in 2009.
 

The process begins with taxpayers requesting “pre-clearance” for participation from the agency’s Criminal Investigation Division, after which civil examiners determine tax liabilities and penalties. The civil penalties, which may be assessed for fraud or the fraudulent failure to file income tax returns, could be higher than what would have been assessed under the old Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program that the IRS ended Sept. 28.
For all cases where CI grants preclearance, taxpayers must then promptly submit to CI all required voluntary disclosure documents using a forthcoming revision of Form 14457. This form will require information related to taxpayer noncompliance, including a narrative providing the facts and circumstances, assets, entities, related parties and any professional advisors involved in the noncompliance.

Once CI has received and preliminarily accepted the taxpayer’s voluntary disclosure, CI will notify the taxpayer of preliminary acceptance by letter and simultaneously forward the voluntary disclosure letter and attachments to the LB&I Austin unit for case preparation before examination. CI will not process tax returns or payments.
 
The updated Voluntary Disclosure Procedures also provide for various outcomes depending upon the extent of taxpayers’ cooperation with the IRS.
 

Civil Penalties For Fraud (IRC 6663) Are To Be Applied To The Tax Year With The Highest Tax Liability, But In The Absence Of An Agreement, They Could Be Applied To A Greater Number Of Years Within The Six-Year Scope.

If the parties are unable to reach an agreement, IRS examiners have the discretion to increase the disclosure period to the full duration of noncompliance and assert maximum penalties with the approval of management.

Do You Have Undeclared Income From
Domestic or Foreign Sources?
 
 
Want to Know Which Remaining IRS Disclosure Program is Right for You? 
 
Contact the Tax Lawyers at 
Marini & Associates, P.A.   
 
 
for a FREE Tax Consultation contact us at:
www.TaxAid.com or www.OVDPLaw.com or
Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888) 882-9243
 

Read more at: Tax Times blog

IRS Issues Additional New Tax Transcript Procedures

December 21, 2018

On August 23, 2018 we posted IRS to Introduce New Tax Transcript as of 9/23/18! where we discussed that the IRS announced in IR-2018-171 that it is moving to better protect taxpayer data, in a new format for individual tax transcripts that will redact personally identifiable information from the Form 1040 series.
 
Now, in a Fact Sheet and accompanying Information Release IR-2018-256, IRS has announced it will be making changes to tax transcript procedures. Among the changes are: a) beginning on Jan. 7, 2019, IRS will honor requests to have taxpayer tax transcripts sent to practitioners' secure mailboxes; and b) IRS will stop its tax transcript faxing service as of Feb. 4, 2019.
 
In IR-2018-256,  the IRS announced that after working with the tax preparation community, the Internal Revenue Service would stop its tax transcript faxing service as of Feb. 4, 2019, and offer a more secure alternative to taxpayers and tax professionals.
 
The IRS worked with the tax preparation community to reach agreement on an alternative that will meet tax practitioners’ needs in e-filing individual tax returns while also enhancing safeguards for taxpayer data.
 
The IRS continues to look for ways to better protect taxpayer information and tax transcripts, which are summaries of individuals’ tax returns. Cybercriminals who obtain tax transcripts use them to file fraudulent returns that are difficult to detect because they closely mirror a legitimate tax return.
 
The halt to faxing transcripts is another step taken by the IRS to protect taxpayer data. In September 2018, the IRS began to mask personally identifiable information for every individual and entity listed on the transcript. See New Tax Transcript and Customer File Number.
 
All financial entries on the transcript remain visible. However, tax practitioners who work to bring taxpayers into compliance by filing prior-year tax returns may need access to employer information that taxpayers no longer have. In those cases, tax practitioners may request an unmasked Wage and Income Transcript. The Wage and Income Transcript can be used for current year tax preparation but it generally is not available until mid-year. 

Alternatives for taxpayers for return preparation

The IRS has multiple ways taxpayers can obtain a copy of their tax transcript other than faxing. Individuals may still call the IRS to obtain a masked tax account transcript and one will be mailed to the last address of record.
 
For faster service, taxpayers may go to IRS.gov for Get Transcript Online, verify their identities and create an account. They can then view or download a copy of their tax transcript immediately. Or they can go to IRS.gov for Get Transcript by Mail and request a transcript be mailed to their last address of record. Taxpayers also may call 800-908-9946 for automated service to order a transcript by mail.

Alternatives for tax professionals for return preparation

Starting Jan. 7, 2019, tax professionals who contact the Practitioner Priority Service number may, with proper authorization, have an unmasked Wage and Income Transcript deposited in their e-Services secure mailbox.
 
Tax practitioners must meet certain requirements in order to use the secure mailbox option. Those requirements are outlined in Fact Sheet 2018-20, Steps for Tax Professionals to Obtain Wage and Income Transcripts Needed for Tax Preparation. Practitioners also should review Fact Sheet 2018-21, IRS Offers Tips to Tax Professionals to Reduce CAF Number Errors, Better Protect Data from Cyberthieves.
 
The Wage and Income Transcript provides information limited to the Forms W-2, 1099 and other income documents sent to the IRS. It does not include general tax transcript information. The Wage and Income Transcript will give tax practitioners the employer information needed to file tax returns electronically.
 
Tax professionals also may request that an unmasked Wage and Income Transcript be sent to the client’s address of record. Alternatively, taxpayers may request an unmasked transcript for tax preparation, and it will be mailed to their address of record.

Faxing and business tax transcripts

The Feb. 4, 2019, discontinuation of the faxing service also applies to business tax transcripts as well as individual tax transcripts. However, business tax transcripts are not masked. At the request of business taxpayers, the transcript will be mailed to the address of record. Tax professionals may obtain a business tax transcript through the e-Service Transcript Delivery System.                                                                                                                                 
 
Practitioners who want to access both the SOR and TDS must create an e-Services account and submit an e-File application, if one is not on file. Unenrolled practitioners also must e-file five or more returns annually to access TDS. An e-File application requires a background check and may take up to 45 days to complete so plan accordingly.
 
Have a Tax Problem?

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

 
 
 
 

Read more at: Tax Times blog

IRS Issues Rules On Share Sales By Foreign Partners

December 20, 2018

According to Law360, the U.S. Department of Treasury on December 20, 2018 proposed rules to treat income from the sale of a foreigner's interest in a U.S. partnership as taxable U.S.-sourced income, overturning a U.S. Tax Court decision that mandated the opposite result.

Section 864(c)(8) of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act effectively re-establishes that the sale of a foreigner’s interest in a partnership owning U.S. trade or business assets is effectively connected income, a portion of which is taxable by U.S. authorities. That result was consistent with the Internal Revenue Service's position in a 1991 revenue ruling and contradicted the result in the 2017 Tax Court case Grecian Magnesite v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

The Tax Court had found the Greek mining firm was not liable for tax on $4 million of interest in a Pennsylvania magnesite company because the business was conducted through its foreign offices and thus was foreign-sourced.

The TCJA explicitly defined such income as U.S.-sourced, so long as the partner would have received a share of the gain had the overall partnership been sold.


The regulations specified the rule would only apply to partnership gain otherwise recognized in the code, although the law allows Treasury to go further. The tax code normally does not recognize gain or loss in a partnership from the contribution of property in exchange for interest.

Treasury solicited comments from stakeholders about whether to broaden the rules.

"The Treasury Department and the IRS recognize, however, that certain nonrecognition transactions may have the effect of reducing gain or loss that would be taken into account for U.S. federal income tax purposes," the department said in the regulations' preamble.

The proposed regulations also conform to double taxation treaties that might also cover partnerships held by a foreign entity, specifying that permanent-establishment clauses would not prevent the application of the section. But the regulations also stated assets exempted from taxation by tax treaties as a permanent establishment, such as ships or aircraft, would also not be taken into account for the determination of a partnership gain or loss.

Have an IRS Tax Problem? 
 
   
Contact the Tax Lawyers at 
Marini & Associates, P.A. 
 
 
for a FREE Tax HELP contact us at:
www.TaxAid.com or www.OVDPLaw.com or
Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888) 882-9243
 





 

Read more at: Tax Times blog

Live Help