Category Archives: criminal tax law

On October 7, 2020 we posted IRS Has a Backlog of Unopened Mail and is Experiencing Processing Delays, where we discussed that the IRS was experiencing processing delays as it works through its unopened mail backlog and that at one point, due to the suspension of services, the IRS had a backlog of more than 11 million pieces of unopened mail. 

Now according to Commissioner Charles Rettig, who said on Thursday, that the mail backlog won’t be an issue going forward. 

“We Actually are Current, Believe It or Not,” 

Rettig said during a webcast hosted by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. “We’re not too far off of where we would be in the ordinary course.” 

The IRS had to sort through a massive backlog of paper-filed returns and other mail.

                                                                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

A district court has found that the $10,000 non-willful FBAR penalty (for failure to file the FBAR) applies per FBAR form, not per the number of bank, etc. accounts required to be reported on the form. Two district courts have now come to this conclusion. One district court has found the opposite.

Under 31 USC § 5314(a), every U.S. person that has a financial interest in, or signature or other authority over, a financial account, or accounts, in a foreign country must report the account, or accounts, to IRS annually on a FinCEN Report 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (commonly referred to as an FBAR or FBAR form) if the aggregate value of the foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.

One FBAR is used to report multiple foreign financial accounts. (FBAR instructions)

The penalty for violating the FBAR requirement is set forth in 31 USC § 5321(a)(5). The amount of the penalty depends on whether the violation was non-willful or willful.

One district court has held that the penalty for a non-willful FBAR violation relates to each account required to be shown on the FBAR. Thus, IRS could impose the statutory maximum penalty of $10,000 for each of the taxpayer's thirteen accounts that should have been reported on one FBAR. (US v. Boyd, (DC CA 2019) 123 AFTR 2d 2019-1651).

But another district court came to the opposite conclusion. It found that the $10,000 non-willful penalty applies only to the FBAR form itself, not the number of accounts required to be shown on the FBAR. (US v. Bittner  (DC TX 6/29/2020).

In 2010, Mr. Kaufman had 17 foreign accounts, the balance of which, in aggregate, exceeded $10,000. He was required to file an FBAR, but he did not do so.

A court found that his failure was non-willful, and the IRS imposed a penalty of $170,000, i.e., $10,000 for each account.

Mr. Kaufman argued that the penalty should be capped at $10,000, i.e., $10,000 for failure to file one FBAR.

The district court, finding the court's argument in Bittner persuasive, found the non-willful FBAR penalty applies per form, not per account. Thus, the penalty was capped at $10,000.

The district court found the arguments in Boyd unpersuasive. And the court noted that the Boyd decision was not binding on it. Him

 Have an FBAR Penalty Problem?

Read more at: Tax Times blog

On January 4, 2021, we posted So Trump Did Not Win the Election - Is It Time to Expatriate? - Part I, where we discussed that whatever your motives, just because you leave the United States and renounce your citizenship, don't assume you can leave U.S. taxes (or U.S. tax forms and complexity) behind, particularly if you are financially well-off. 

2. Expatriating means really leaving. 

3. The old 10-year window is closed. 

Herein will discuss 7 more, of the 10 things you need to know about Expatriation:

(set forth below and in one subsequent blog posts)

4. Big changes came in 1996. 
Thirty years later, in 1996, after the Forbes story on "The New Refugees" created a stir, Congress tried again. As part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (otherwise known as HIPAA), Congress added a presumption of tax avoidance if an expatriate's five-year average net income tax exceeded $100,000, or if the expatriate's net worth was $500,000 or more (both adjusted each year for inflation). But people could--and with the help of skilled lawyers did--rebut the presumption, and the IRS still had to show tax avoidance in most cases.

5. Tax avoidance is now irrelevant. 
In 2004 (in the American Jobs Creation Act), Congress threw out the tax avoidance motive test altogether, imposing 10 years of U.S. tax on U.S. source gross income and gains on a net basis if you left the country for any reason. However, Congress increased the threshold for determining who was subject to this expatriation tax. An individual was only subject to the expatriation tax if he had an average net annual income tax for the five years preceding expatriation of $124,000, or if he had a net worth of $2 million or more on the date of expatriation. (If you expatriated on or after June 17, 2008, under the new Section 877A, there is a higher net worth threshold--currently $145,000 of annual net income tax for 2010.) 

In some cases, even if you're below these thresholds, you'll get taxed. For example, expatriates must certify their past U.S. tax compliance by filing an IRS Form 8854. Any expatriate who fails to certify compliance with U.S. federal income tax laws for the five taxable years preceding expatriating is subject to the expatriate income tax even if he didn't meet the income tax liability or net worth tests. 
Plus, later U.S. visits can be expensive if you expatriated before June 17, 2008 (and Internal Revenue Code Section 877 applies). In that case if an expatriate comes back to the U.S. for more than 30 days in any year during the 10 years following expatriation, that person is considered a resident of the U.S. for that whole tax year. That means the person would again be subject to U.S. tax on his worldwide income, not just his U.S.-source income. Ouch! 

This 30-day rule does, however, have an exception for any days (up to a 30-day limit) that the individual performed personal services in the U.S. for an employer (who is not related). This exception only applies if that individual either had certain ties with other countries or was physically present in the U.S. for 30 days or less for each year in the 10-year period on the date of expatriation or termination of residency. 

6. There are special rules for long-term residents. 
It's easy to define who is or is not a U.S. citizen, but the term "long-term resident" isn't quite so clear. A long-term resident is a non-U.S. citizen who is a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. in at least eight years during the 15-year period before that person's residency ends. A "lawful permanent resident" means a green card holder. However, a person is not treated as a lawful permanent resident for purposes of this eight-year test in a year in which that person is treated as a resident of a foreign country under a tax treaty, and does not waive the treaty benefits applicable to the residents of that country. Caution: holding a green card for even one day during a year will taint the whole year. 

7. There's an exit tax for expatriations on or after June 17, 2008. 
The Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008 (generally known as the Heroes Act) changed the method of taxation for those who became expatriates on or after June 17, 2008, adding even more complexity and usually higher U.S. taxes. If you are a U.S. citizen or long-term resident who expatriates on or after June 17, 2008, you will be deemed (for tax purposes) to have sold all of your worldwide property for its fair market value the day before you leave the U.S.! All that gain is subject to U.S. tax at the capital gains rate. Plus, all your gain is taken into account without regard to any ameliorative tax provisions in the Internal Revenue Code. 
Put differently, you get all of the bad parts of the tax code, and none of the good. That would include, for example, the inability to benefit from the $250,000 per person ($500,000 per couple) exclusion from gain on a principal residence (Section 121 of the Internal Revenue Code) and many other rules. The exit tax is like an estate tax, in the sense that everything that would be part of your estate will be subject to income tax on unrealized gains as of the day before you expatriate, as if you sold all your assets the day before leaving. In effect this is Congress' way of making sure your assets don't escape the estate tax entirely through expatriation. 

"Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

Need Advise on Expatriation? 

 

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

• Did your CFC have a lot post 1986 Retained Earnings at the end 2017, which caused it to have a transition tax under IRC section 965? 
• Is your CFCs business not doing so well since 2017, as a result of Covid and other economic factors? 

Consider Making An Offer In Compromise 

For IRC Section 965 Transition Tax.

The IRS recentlyreleased guidance on includingtransition tax liabilities under IRC Section965 for settlement under its offerin compromise program. Section 7122 of the Internal Revenue Code authorizes the settlement of Title 26 liabilities, penalties, and interest. Since the transition tax on untaxedforeign earnings is a Title 26 tax, it can be included in a settlement offer.

Under The New Guidelines of IRM 5.8.4.23.7 (09-24-2020)
“IRC §965 (Transition Tax) Liabilities,” if the §965 Liability
Has Been Assessed and No Election Was Made
Under IRC §965(H), the Tax May Be Included in the Offer.

Under the right factual circumstances, an Offer In Compromise may provide an opportunity for settling transition taxes under Section 965. 

Since an Offer In Compromise based on Doubt As To Collectability will only be accepted where a taxpayer does not have the ability to pay the tax, you must examine the taxpayer’s financial situation, not just their CFC's financial situation, and consider a taxpayer’s assets, the equity and liability of those assets, the gross income and expenses of that taxpayer. This inquiry includes the valuation of any businesses, business assets, including any foreign businesses or foreign assets of the taxpayer. 

As with any Offer in Compromise, the taxpayer must be compliant with their all of their tax filings including FBARs, FACTA requirements, payroll, return filing requirements, and any estimated payments that may be due. 

Furthermore, since the Offer in Compromise program only settles Title 26 tax, penalties, and interest, you must consider the timing of the offer in compromise settlement proposal and whether the taxpayer is liable for any FBAR penalties or restitution, as neither FBAR penalties nor restitution can be settled as part of an offer in compromise. 

For tax years involving civil tax liabilities and criminal restitution, offers can include the civil tax liabilities, but not the restitution-based assessment. If there are restitution assessments, FBAR penalties, or other non-title 26  liabilities, it  is  usually in the taxpayer’s best interest to pay off or otherwise resolve those liabilities through installment payment arrangements before submitting an offer in compromise to settle Title 26 liabilities since the payment of the other liabilities will decrease the taxpayer’s available equity in assets and potentially increase a taxpayer’s allowable expenses such that a lower settlement amount may be obtained for the taxpayer through the offer in compromise program.

Have IRS Tax Problems?

 Contact the Tax Lawyers at
Marini & Associates, P.A. 

Sources

Fla Bar Tax Section Bulletin - Fall 2020

Read more at: Tax Times blog