Yearly Archives: 2025

In a News Release, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that several U.S. district courts have authorized the IRS to serve John Doe summonses on various Trident Trust entities. The summoned entities are members of a multinational group of affiliated companies known as the "Trident Trust." Group."

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia entered an order earlier this week authorizing the IRS to serve John Doe summonses on TT (USA) Holdings Inc.; Trident Corporate Services Inc. and Trident Fund Services Inc., entities that are members of a multinational group of affiliated companies generally operating under the trade name “Trident Trust” and collectively referred to as the “Trident Trust Group.”

Separately, on Dec. 18, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota entered an order, unsealed on Jan. 21, authorizing service of a similar John Doe summons on Trident Trust Company (South Dakota) Inc. The United States also previously obtained approval in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for the IRS to serve John Doe summonses on a different affiliate entity of the Trident Trust Group, as well as to third party financial service companies, banks and courier services that may have information about Trident Trust Group’s U.S. taxpayer clients.

The United States is not alleging that any of the entities engaged in wrongdoing. Rather, the IRS uses John Doe summonses to obtain information about possible violations of internal revenue laws by individuals whose identities are unknown. These summonses seek information about U.S. individuals who may have used the Trident Trust Group’s services to underreport their worldwide income and conceal their ownership of certain foreign assets that U.S. individuals are required to report to the U.S. government.

A declaration from an IRS revenue agent that accompanied the petitions alleges that at least nine U.S. taxpayers used Trident Trust Group’s services to avoid compliance with U.S. tax laws. The declaration further alleges that the IRS learned of this noncompliance through the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, a program that allowed U.S. taxpayers to voluntarily disclose foreign accounts or entities used to evade tax in exchange for settling their civil liabilities on fixed terms.

A representative of Trident Trust responded to us that:

“We are aware of the IRS petitions. Each of our trust and corporate services businesses is regulated in the jurisdiction in which it operates and is fully committed to compliance with all applicable regulations. All clients are assessed via a thorough onboarding process.    

“Trident Trust proactively informs the relevant authorities where any compliance process gives rise to concerns.  We also fulfil our obligations in relation to the Automatic Exchange of Information in taxation matters, including FATCA and CRS reporting.”  

 Have an IRS Tax Problem?

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or Toll Free at 888 8TAXAID (888-882-9243)

Read more at: Tax Times blog

On January 13, 2025 we posted, as of December 26, 2024, the Enforcement of BOI Reporting Is Again Temporarily Halted Due To a Nationwide Injunction, where we discussed thatas of december 26, 2024, the enforcement of beneficial ownership information (boy) reporting requirements is temporarily halted due to a nationwide injunction (again).

 On January 24, 2025 FinCEN posted an alert about an order issued in a separate case, Smith v. U.S. Department of the Treasury (135 AFTR 2d 2025-370, DC TX, 1/7/2025). In that case, a federal district court enjoined enforcement of the CTA only as to the named plaintiffs. However, the Smith court stayed the effective date of the beneficial ownership reporting rule pending the outcome of the case, putting the rule on hold as to all reporting entities.

In light of this federal court order, reporting companies are not currently required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN and are not subject to liability if they fail to do so while the order remains in force. 

However, reporting companies may continue to voluntarily submit beneficial ownership information reports. 

Need Help Filing Your BOI Report?

     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

According to Law360,  the Internal Revenue Service will keep using an educational compliance tool called soft letters to prod taxpayers to comply with a centralized partnership audit regime that has recently turned its focus to larger and more complicated entities, an agency official said.

Soft letters, which the agency commonly sends out as a compliance measure in other areas, will be an ongoing effort in a relatively new practice area for pass-through entities within the IRS' Large Business and International Division, according to Clifford R. Scherwinski, director of that practice area. He spoke during the D.C. Bar Tax Conference, held in Washington, D.C., and online.

 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

The Internal Revenue Service announced three pilot programs that will test changes to existing Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) programs. IRS ADR programs are designed to help taxpayers resolve tax disputes earlier and more efficiently.

“The IRS has been revitalizing existing ADR programs as part of IRS transformation efforts in alignment with the IRS Strategic Operating Plan,” said Elizabeth Askey, Chief of the IRS Independent Office of Appeals (Appeals). “We’re committed to providing taxpayers who wish to resolve their issues without litigation a choice of effective and efficient ADR options as early as possible.”

“The IRS has historically made ADR available at various stages of the administrative process. Because ADR can be a quicker, more collaborative and cost-effective approach to case resolution, we have been working to improve ADR functionality and emphasizing its benefits,” said Michael Baillif, Director of Appeals’ ADR Program Management Office. “By increasing awareness, changing and revitalizing existing programs and piloting new approaches, we hope to make our ADR programs, such as Fast Track Settlement and Post-Appeals Mediation, more attractive and accessible for all eligible parties.”

The pilots announced by the IRS focus on Fast Track Settlement (FTS), a program that allows Appeals to mediate disputes between a taxpayer and the IRS while the case is still within the jurisdiction of the examination function, and Post-Appeals Mediation (PAM), a program in which a mediator is introduced to help foster a settlement between Appeals and the taxpayer. Among other things, the pilots:

• Align the Large Business and International (LB&I), Small Business and Self-Employed (SB/SE) and Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) divisions in offering FTS on an issue-by-issue basis. Previously, if a taxpayer had one issue that was ineligible for FTS, the entire case was ineligible. This Announcement increases ADR availability and flexibility by allowing FTS for single issues.
• Provide that requests to participate in FTS and PAM will not be denied without the approval of a first-line executive. This helps ensure a more consistent and deliberate consideration of FTS and PAM requests.
• Clarify that when requests for FTS or PAM are formally denied, taxpayers will receive an explanation for the denial. This facilitates transparency in the ADR process, even when acceptance of a request is not feasible.

Another pilot, Last Chance FTS, is a limited scope SB/SE pilot in which Appeals will call taxpayers or their representatives after a protest is filed in response to a 30-day or equivalent letter to inform taxpayers about the potential application of FTS to their case. This pilot will not impact eligibility for FTS but will simply test the awareness of taxpayers in the pilot group regarding the availability of FTS and measure the extent of participation when taxpayers are reminded of their FTS options immediately prior to the case entering Appeals’ jurisdiction.

A final pilot removes the limitation that participation in FTS would preclude eligibility for PAM. Eliminating this restriction on PAM eligibility encourages the use of ADR options.

The traditional appeals process remains available for all taxpayers.

Additional improvements in various ADR programs are under development and will be rolled out as they are finalized. The IRS remains committed to creating and maintaining a robust set of ADR offerings that allow taxpayers multiple options for successfully resolving their cases.

 Have an IRS Tax Problem?

     Contact the Tax Lawyers at

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