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On November 10, 2022 we posted Notice 2017-10 Conservation Easement Penalty Notice Struck Down By Tax Court where we discussed that the IRS violated administrative law in issuing a notice requiring the disclosure of potentially abusive conservation easement transactions under threat of penalty, the U.S. Tax Court ruled on November 9, 2022, striking down the guidance and rejecting penalties the agency sought to impose on four North Carolina partnerships.

Now according to Law360, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed on June 4, 2024 that an Internal Revenue Service notice imposing reporting requirements on potentially abusive conservation easements was invalid because the agency failed to solicit the public feedback required by administrative law.

A three-judge panel affirmed the ruling of an Alabama federal judge who last year sided with the land donation advisory firm Green Rock LLC in invalidating the notice on the grounds that it wasn't put through the Administrative Procedure Act's notice-and-comment procedures.

The panel rejected the government's argument that Internal Revenue Code Section 6011, which governs information tied to reportable tax shelter transactions, had authorized the agency to promulgate guidance without following the APA's public comment requirements.

The panel said no such express exemption exists in the law and that provisions that might provide an exemption "make no explicit reference to notice and comment, the Administrative Procedure Act, or procedural requirements at all."

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

According to Law360, On May 21, the U.S. Department of Justice's proposed rules to move marijuana to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act were published in the Federal Register. Public comments will be solicited for 60 days from that date, and hearings will be scheduled before final rules are adopted.

Despite widespread media reports heralding the "game-changing" nature of this development, the DOJ's proposed rulemaking leaves the cannabis industry with more questions than answers.

The DOJ explicitly warns that (1) "if marijuana is transferred into Schedule III, the manufacture, distribution, dispensing, and possession of marijuana would remain subject to the applicable criminal prohibitions of the CSA [Controlled Substances Act]," and (2) marijuana would remain subject to the limitations within the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

It instead sidesteps the challenging questions and punts by "seeking comment on the practical consequences of rescheduling marijuana." By way of explanation, the DOJ offers:

The industry could also expect better access to commercial banking, new financial services products offered to cannabis companies and new listings on public exchanges. 

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

According to Law360, the Internal Revenue Service approved cybersecurity measures by Argentina in a step that clears the way for the first automatic information exchange under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act between the two countries in September, Argentina's revenue service said on May 20, 2024.

Florencia Misrahi, the Argentina revenue agency's federal administrator, met with banking associations and other organizations in April to prepare them for the upcoming exchanges, the agency said in a news release. Such entities will need to report bank account information, such as U.S. tax identification numbers and account balances, of U.S. citizens holding accounts in Argentina.

The countries reached a FACTA agreement in 2022, Argentina's Federal Administration of Public Income said. FATCA requires foreign financial institutions to report the banking information of U.S. clients as a way to combat tax avoidance and to improve compliance.

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

According to Law360, the husband of a former president of InfoSpace can be held jointly liable for a nearly $40 million tax debt the IRS asserted against a return they filed for the 2000 tax year, the U.S. Tax Court ruled, saying he didn't qualify for so-called innocent spouse relief.

The court agreed with the Internal Revenue Service that Mark Strom, a former cardiac and thoracic surgeon and husband of a former InfoSpace president and COO, Bernee Strom, knew of his wife's exercising of stock options that led to unreported income of $100.5 million. 

Just Knowing About The Understatement,
The Court Said, Torpedoed His Claim For Relief
From Joint And Several Liability.

Bernee Strom received incentive and nonstatutory stock options when tech company InfoSpace hired her in 1998, and she exercised the nonstatutory options in 2000, the decision said. The couple talked with advisers and chose to defer calculation and recognition of most of the income attributable to exercising options in 2000 to the 2021 tax year when the market value of the company's stock was much lower, according to the decision. The plan resulted in more than $100 million in income being left off the Stroms' 2000 return, the court said.

Mark Strom was involved in the exercising of the options and the talks with lawyers and tax consultants to develop "tax-favorable" reporting positions on the 2000 return and approved those positions, according to the decision. Holding Mark Strom jointly liable for the resulting taxes assessed by the IRS is fair because he knew all the facts pertaining to the transactions, the court said.

Internal Revenue Code Section 6015 governs relief from joint and several liability on joint tax returns. Mark Strom sought innocent spouse relief in 2009 and again in 2012, both for the 2000 tax year, the decision said.

 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