Finally: IRS Reminds Those with Foreign Assets of U.S. Tax Obligations

- By : Parag Patel

…or abroad with tax questions can use the online IRS Tax Map to get answers. An International Tax Topic Index page was added recently. The IRS Tax Map assembles or…

Pennsylvania’s 2010 Tax Amnesty Program

- By : Parag Patel

…an amnesty return online with the PA Department of Revenue; 2. file all delinquent tax returns; and 3. pay all delinquent taxes plus 50 percent of the interest due. For…

Make Sure You have Filed FATCA Compliance Certifications

- By : Parag Patel

We have recently published the below article in Money Life, a weekly online finance magazine. https://www.moneylife.in/article/make-sure-you-have-filed-fatca-compliance-certifications/56190.html Many Indian banks and financial institutions have in recent years been requesting customers to…

New Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures (SDOP) is a Game Changer

- By : Parag Patel

…– A statement that FBARs are being filed online via the FinCen web portal. In summary, taxpayers with undisclosed offshore accounts (including current OVDI/OVDP participants and silent disclosers) should fully…

Tax-free Disaster Relief Payment Program

- By : Parag Patel

…educational materials, subscriptions to online educational resources, etc.; Expenses associated with working from home, including home office set-up costs, computer, internet, printer, and cell phone costs, and even increased utility…

Internal Revenue Service again issues annual reminder to US persons to report foreign accounts and foreign income

- By : Parag Patel

…preparers. International taxpayers will find the online IRS Tax Map and the International Tax Topic Index to be valuable sources of answers. The IRS also has videos to assist international…

Dormant foreign corporations not subject to complicated Form 5471 filing requirements

- By : Parag Patel

…correct many Form 5471 errors. If you have any further questions about your reporting requirements on this, or any other offshore reporting form, contact us online to schedule a free…

Solution: Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures

- By : Parag Patel

…as FATCA continues to go fully online (and the cooperating bank list grows), the cost and risk of doing nothing has gone up exponentially. In summary, taxpayers with undisclosed offshore…

Unfiled FBAR Penalties Survive Death

- By : Parag Patel

Do FBAR penalties survive death? According to a new court ruling, the answer is clearly yes (unfortunately). In United States v. Gill, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12203 (S.D. Tex. 6/30/21),…

New US-Malta Agreement Targets Pension Planning by US Taxpayers

- By : Parag Patel

…in these arrangements. These taxpayers should consult an independent tax advisor prior to filing their 2021 tax returns and take appropriate corrective actions on prior filings. The IRS also cautions…

The IRS Needs Help

- By : Parag Patel

…everything at the IRS, which was having issues with customer service long before the pandemic. According to the report, during the 2021 filing season, the IRS received 167 million telephone…

IRS gives widespread penalty relief: ACTION REQUIRED

- By : Parag Patel

…that were filed on or before August 1, 2020, or (2) 2020 returns that were filed on or before August 1, 2021 The penalty relief does not apply to any…

Parag Patel Esq. presents new tax law changes at Broward Chapter of The Florida Society of Enrolled Agents (FSEABC) Webinar

- By : Parag Patel

…emphasis on coverage and analysis of expected 2021 tax legislation. Join tax attorney Parag Patel Esq. as he provides an update on the recent changes you need to navigate through…

Tax Strategies to Explore Now

- By : Parag Patel

…present in each state. While the full results of the United States election will not be known until early January, we recommend clients think about tax strategies for 2021 now….

National Taxpayer Advocate Fights for FTA Penalty Relief from the IRS

- By : Parag Patel

…three years. However, FTA is generally provided only if a taxpayer requests FTA or reasonable cause relief. In 2021, the IRS granted FTA to about 200,000 taxpayers requesting relief from…

Maryland Retail Store Owner Guilty of Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion

- By : Parag Patel

…greater than the amount reported.  In September 2021, U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced co-defendant Saurabh Chawla to 66 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised…

National Taxpayer Advocate calls IRS Penalties Draconian and Inefficient

- By : Parag Patel

National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins recently issued her 2023 Annual Report to Congress. By law, the Advocate’s report is required to identify the 10 most serious problems taxpayers are experiencing…

Now is the time to explore a Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT)

- By : Parag Patel

…million per person or $23.16 million for a married couple. For example, if a President-elect Biden and Democrat-controlled Congress passed tax legislation in 2021 that lowered the exemption to $3.5…

IRS Enforcement Campaign Targets High-Income Non-Filers

- By : Parag Patel

…2017 through 2021. The IRS expects this initiative to yield significant recovery of unpaid taxes, along with associated penalties and interest. This effort aligns with the IRS’ broader focus on…

Tax preparer sentenced to prison for fraudulent deductions on federal income tax returns

- By : Parag Patel

…ran a tax preparation business with hundreds of clients, offering his services primarily to African immigrants. At the 3-day trial in September 2021, prosecutors showed how Mpouli falsely increased deductions…

US Supreme Court to Rule on FBAR Penalties Case

- By : Parag Patel

…accounts should have been assessed with penalties for each year of non-reporting, not for each account. The Fifth Circuit’s November decision contrasted with a March 2021 Ninth Circuit ruling that…

Parag Patel Esq. Speaks at NJCPA Seminar on”Employee Retention Credit Audit Issues: Surviving IRS Scrutiny”

- By : Parag Patel

…employees during the COVID pandemic. With credits offered of $5,000 per employee in 2020 and increased to $7,000 per quarter for the first three quarters of 2021, the ERC provided…

Money Laundering 101

- By : Parag Patel

…information, frequent transactions under the bank’s reporting limit, etc. In 2021, the US Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) was enacted to expand coordination and information sharing among agencies and financial institutions…

Payment Apps like Venmo and Paypal Now Subject to Tax Reporting

- By : Parag Patel

Third-party peer-to-peer cash apps like Venmo, Paypal, Zelle, and Cash App have become popular and have become essential to everyday life. Under a little-publicized provision in the 2021 American Rescue…

What Client Tax Advisors Should Do About the New Corporate Transparency Act

- By : Parag Patel

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), introduced as part of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act and amending the Bank Secrecy Act, aims to enhance transparency in business ownership structures to…

New Favorable Court Decision: One penalty (not multiple) applies for late FBAR filing

- By : Parag Patel

2021). Read the Ninth Circuit’s decision [PDF 891 KB] that includes a dissent. Background The U.S. taxpayer (an individual) did not timely file an FBAR disclosing her foreign financial accounts…

IRS Targets Puerto Rican Residency Transactions

- By : Parag Patel

…sources outside of Puerto Rico. Due to concerns regarding potential abuses of the Puerto Rico Act 2022, in January 2021, the IRS included Puerto Rico Act 2022 in its compliance…