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The temporary regulations provide guidance concerning the requirement that individuals attach a statement to their income tax return on foreign financial assets in which they have an interest. The temporary regulations affect individuals required to file Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, and certain individuals required to file Form 1040-NR, Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return.

The temporary regulations also serve as the text of proposed regulations contained in a cross-reference notice of proposed rulemaking (REG-130302-10). The proposed regulations describe requirements for certain domestic entities to report foreign financial assets in the same manner as an individual.

This document is unpublished, but on 12/19/2011 it is scheduled to be published.

In Norris v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2011-161, the Tax Court found that the service was only able to prove four badges of fraud in regard to William and Sharon Norris's failure to pay taxes on the income from illegal gambling machines in their convenience store in 1996.

William pleaded guilty to tax evasion for 1998, and IRS issued a notice of deficiency claiming the pair failed to report income for 1996 and 1998. While the Tax Court found the couple was collaterally estopped from claiming they intended to evade taxes for 1998, it said the service failed to prove they intended to evade the 1996 taxes, as well.

You've got one chance to get this thing right and you have a do-over within six months, but you've got to file something by Jan. 17, 2012.

No protective election is permitted and no extension of time is permitted.

Form 8939 allows executors to opt out of the estate tax for 2010 decedents and into a carryover basis regime in which executors can allocate a basis increase of $1.3 million to assets passing to any person, and an additional $3 million to assets passing to a surviving spouse.