While we all resolve to go to the gym every day and lose weight, we have compiled a list of 2020 New Year’s tax planning resolutions. Beware of 2020 election-year tax uncertainties. It is important
At the end of 2019, Congress passed the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement” (SECURE) Act of 2019. The new law, which represents a major overhaul of the rules for retirement plans and IRAs,
Banks and certain other financial institutions located outside the United States that have U.S. account holders are scrambling to meet a looming IRS deadline. These institutions, known as foreign financial institutions, or FFIs, must achieve
Lifetime gift giving can be an effective estate planning strategy for high net-worth clients. Although the estate tax is imposed on the aggregate of the taxable estate and lifetime taxable gifts, gifting removes the appreciation
In the recent 2019 case U.S. v. Ram Agrawal, a US District Court rejected a taxpayer’s reasonable cause defense against foreign bank account reports (FBARs) penalties. It ruled in favor of the government to
US taxpayers with an ownership interest in unincorporated foreign businesses (such as foreign sole proprietorships, partnerships, and single-member entities that are not separately taxed as corporations) must file a Form 8858 with their regular 1040
Every so often the Internal Revenue Service announces a new “campaign” to increase tax compliance. A campaign usually means additional IRS focus and resources are allocated to the areas where the IRS is trying to
President Trump recently signed the Taxpayer First Act (TFA) of 2019, which for the first time in decades, will dramatically restructure, modernize and (hopefully) improve the Internal Revenue Service. There are several ways the new
Accountable Plans, established under IRS Reg. Section 1.62-2(c)(4), are important tools to help a business optimally classify expenses paid to employees without fear of the payments being treated as taxable compensation. The 2017 law known
The new Post OVDP Compliance enforcement campaign was recently identified through LB&I data analysis and suggestions from IRS employees. IRS employees likely saw that many taxpayers were not properly reporting offshore bank accounts, as a
Last week, the Internal Revenue Service began sending letters to taxpayers with virtual currency transactions that potentially failed to report income and pay the resulting tax from virtual currency transactions or did not report their
The new Loose Filed Forms 5471 targeted enforcement campaign was identified through LB&I data analysis and suggestions from IRS employees. IRS employees likely received many Loose Filed Forms 5471 that were not properly filed, as
