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According to Law360, a woman who operates a New Zealand winery must pay $238,000 in penalties and an extra $105,000 in interest and fees for failing to report her New Zealand financial accounts to the U.S. government, the Ninth Circuit ruled.

Timberly Hughes, who represented herself, failed to show that a district court erred in determining that she willfully failed to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts, the Ninth Circuit said in its opinion. However, the panel overturned the lower court's decision that the U.S. could not calculate interest from the date of the Internal Revenue Service's notification letter to her. While the letter contained an inaccurate calculation of the penalty, which the IRS later corrected, it put Hughes on notice that she failed to report, the panel said.

The California federal district court had held in March 2023 that Hughes was liable for $238,000 for failing to file FBARs in 2012 and 2013 for bank accounts in New Zealand, but it declined to add over $15,000 in interest and over $90,000 in late payment fees. The IRS originally sent Hughes a demand letter in 2016 with an incorrect amount. A second demand letter recalculated the amount but set interest and late fees from the original date. The district court said the government failed to show why the date of the erroneous letter should still be used for calculating interest and fees. Both sides appealed.

Hughes argued that the lower court conflated negligence with recklessness in determining that she willfully failed to file. If recklessness were sufficient to find willfulness, then nearly every violation of the FBAR rules could be deemed willful, she said in court documents.

The Ninth Circuit disagreed. Other circuits have clearly held that recklessness requires proof of something more than negligence, it said. It requires a finding that the filer ought to have known there was a grave risk that the filing requirement was not met, the panel said. 

Have an FBAR Penalty Problem?  

 

 

 Contact the Tax Lawyers at 

Marini& Associates, P.A. 

 

 

for a FREE Tax Consultation at: 

www.TaxAid.com or www.OVDPLaw.com 
or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888) 882-9243

Read more at: Tax Times blog

The IRS released IR 2024-223, 8/23/2024 which reports and highlighting significant improvements made in the second year of funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. The report showcases advancements in taxpayer service, technology upgrades, and compliance efforts. Other achievements include increased electronic filing and scanning capabilities, enhanced efforts to disrupt tax scams, and focusing on tax compliance for certain individuals and businesses. 

The IRS ramped up efforts to pursue high-income, high-wealth individuals who failed to pay tax bills, collecting over $1 billion so far. A new initiative focused on high-income non-filers, targeting over 125,000 instances of unfiled returns since 2017. The IRS' Strategic Operating Plan mentioned that the increased areas of enforcement includes areas where audit coverage declined, including employment taxes.

Prior to the Inflation Reduction Act, more than a decade of budget cuts prevented IRS from keeping pace with the increasingly complicated set of devices that aggressive taxpayers use to hide their income and evade paying their share. The IRS is now taking swift and aggressive action to close this gap.

• The IRS ramped up efforts to pursue high-income, high-wealth individuals who failed to pay a tax bill. These high-end collection cases are concentrated among taxpayers with more than $1 million in income and more than $250,000 in recognized tax debt. Out of a total of 1,600 of these cases, the IRS has assigned 1,500 to revenue officers, with over $1 billion collected so far.
• 
  

  The IRS announced a new effort focused on high-income individuals who have failed to file federal income tax returns in more than 125,000 instances since 2017. Non-filers receive IRS
  compliance letters alerting them that the IRS is aware of their missing return and encouraging them to file or contact the IRS. The new initiative involves more than 25,000 people with more than $1 million in income, and over 100,000 people with incomes between $400,000 and $1 million between tax years 2017 and 2021.

  

• Other elements of the agency’s renewed compliance focus include:
• Abusive use of partnerships. Last month, the IRS announced a new series of steps to combat abusive partnership transactions that allow aggressive taxpayers to avoid paying what they owe.
• Activities involving large corporations and partnerships. These efforts include opening examinations of 76 of the largest partnerships in the U.S., representing a cross section of industries including hedge funds, real estate investment partnerships, publicly traded partnerships, large law firms and other industries. Other activities include expanding the large corporate compliance (LCC) program.
• Aircraft use. In February, the IRS announced plans to begin dozens of audits involving personal use of business aircraft. The audits are focused on aircraft usage by large corporations, large partnerships and high-income taxpayers. The IRS are examining whether the use of jets is being properly allocated between business and personal use.

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 the DoJ, a federal grand jury in Denver returned an indictment unsealed on August 23rd 2024, charging a Colorado dentist with six counts of tax evasion for his use of an illegal tax shelter.

According to the indictment, since 2014, Ryan Ulibarri, owned and operated Ulibarri Family Dentistry in Fort Collins. In 2016, Ulibarri allegedly purchased a tax shelter for $50,000. 

From 2017 Through 2022, Ulibarri Allegedly Used This Tax Shelter To Conceal From The IRS Over $3.5 Million In Income.

• To effectuate the tax shelter, Ulibarri allegedly signed trust instruments purporting to create three trusts and a private foundation and opened bank accounts in the name of each entity. 
• He also allegedly re-structured his dental practice so that the majority of it was purportedly owned by one of the trusts. 
• Ulibarri allegedly transferred nearly all the funds he earned from his dental practice to the bank accounts for the trusts and foundations he created. 
• He allegedly used those funds to pay personal expenses, such as the mortgage on his home and his credit card bills. 
• Finally, he allegedly filed false tax returns for himself and the trusts that assigned the income he earned and controlled from his practice to the trusts. 

In total, Ulibarri is alleged to have caused a tax loss to the IRS of over $1 million. 

If Convicted, Ulibarri Faces A Maximum Penalty of
Five (5) Years In Prison For Each Count Of Tax Evasion (Collectively 30 Years).

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Have An Abusive Trust?

Marini & Associates, P.A. 

Read more at: Tax Times blog

U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is fighting for Georgians facing unfair tax penalties due to mail delays. 

Sen. Ossoff launched an inquiry with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) after receiving reports from Georgia constituents that they are being charged penalties and interest fees on late or missing filings and payments that they mailed to the IRS via USPS. 

As part of his inquiry, Sen. Ossoff is urging the IRS to waive penalties and interest fees incurred directly as a result of USPS delays.

Sen. Ossoff also urged the IRS to adjust taxpayer accounts in a timely manner so that interest and penalties do not accumulate and cause additional distress and confusion, and to escalate the processing of tax refunds for paper filers who have been impacted by USPS delays in Georgia. 

“Constituents have notified my office they are being charged penalties and interest fees on late or missing filings and payments that they mailed to the IRS via USPS,” Sen. Ossoff wrote to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel. “These tax filings are not arriving by statutory deadlines due to ongoing USPS performance issues and some filings even remain unaccounted for. Additionally, many of my constituents continue to experience financial hardship as a result of tax refund processing delays arising from ongoing problems with USPS management in Georgia.” 

For months, Sen. Ossoff has remained focused on applying maximum pressure on USPS leadership and conducting vigorous oversight of the USPS to resolve challenges Georgia families and businesses continue facing. 

In July, Sen. Ossoff met in Washington, D.C. with USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to continue pressing for improved mail delivery service for Georgia families and businesses. 

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