PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Tax Relief and Possible Retirement Plan Resources for Hurricane Victims
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 44 - A Recipe for Litigation: The Simmering Conflict Surrounding ERC Claims
REFRESH Nonprofit Basics: Navigating the Complex Rules That Describe a Public Charity
Expedited Review of IRS Applications for Recognition of Exempt Status
Nonprofit Quick Tip: State Filings in New Mexico and Utah
Back to Compliance: Reinstating Tax-Exempt Status for a Charity
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - IRS Clarifies Emergency Distributions Tax Exceptions
GILTI Conscience Podcast | Spotlight Series: A Celebration of Pride Month With IRS Veteran De Lon Harris
Nonprofit Quick Tip: State Filings in Oklahoma and Texas
Inflation Reduction Act Tax Trends Begin to Take Shape
Advice for Nonprofit Investment Committees From an Investment Advisor June 3, 2024 Podcast
REFRESH: Loot and Private Foundation Rules – Part 2
IRS Dirty Dozen Warnings on Charitable Scams
US Expatriate Tax Planning - Part 1 - A Podcast with Janathan Allen
Nonprofit Quick Tip: State Filings in North Carolina and South Carolina
Nonprofit Quick Tip: State Filings in Florida and Louisiana
Business Better Podcast Episode: Tax Audits, Investigations, and Global Enforcement - A Conversation with IRS Special Agent Jonathan Schnatz
4 Key Takeaways | Harnessing the Inflation Reduction Act: Driving Investments in Renewable Energy and Carbon Reduction
Nonprofit Basics: Scholarship Grant Program IRS Approval Requirements
Nonprofit Quick Tip: State Filings in Rhode Island and New Hampshire
Conflicting Decisions: In August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held in United States v. Schwarzbaum that a monetary civil penalty imposed for willfully failing to file a foreign bank account report...more
You may recall that earlier this year the IRS launched an initiative to pursue 125,000 “high-income, high-wealth” taxpayers who have not filed taxes since 2017. These were cases where the IRS received third party information...more
For years, FBAR litigants have made the commonsense argument that large willful FBAR penalties, which can exceed the value of the unreported foreign accounts themselves, violate the excessive fines clause of the Eighth...more
How does the IRS define willfulness in unreported or under-reported offshore income? What actions help determine whether a U.S. taxpayer's actions amount to "willful or non-willful" conduct? Why should U.S. taxpayers be...more
Harrington v. Commissioner - In Harrington v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, George S. Harrington (Harrington) challenged tax deficiencies and fraud penalties assessed for tax years 2005 through 2010. Originally...more
Taxpayers recently won a significant victory at the Supreme Court in a penalty case involving a non-willful failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) under the Bank Secrecy Act (the “BSA”)....more
After years of litigation, the United States Supreme Court, in Bittner v. United States, 598 U.S. ____ (2023), determined that the penalty for a non-willful failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts...more
On Feb. 28, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that non-willful penalties related to FBARs apply to each report filed, not on a per-account basis. The 5-4 decision resolved a split between the Fifth and Ninth circuits that focused...more
If you have unreported foreign accounts, you are not alone. Every year, I speak with hundreds of clients with tax non-reporting issues (e.g., FBARs, Form 8938, Form 3520, Form 3520-A, etc.). The good news: the IRS offers...more
In Flint v. United States, 2022 WL 3593826 (Fed. Cl. 2022), the court held that the executors of an estate could not recover a six-figure "Title 26 miscellaneous offshore penalty" (MOP) the decedent paid to the Internal...more
The TIGTA Report dated April 7, 2022 details six recommendations for additional actions needed to address Non-Filing and Non-Reporting Compliance Under FATCA. ...more
The IRS and FBARs - On March 30, 2022, the IRS issued Publication 5569, Report of Foreign Bank & Financial Accounts (FBAR) Reference Guide. The 12-page publication provides helpful information to both taxpayers and tax...more
Las administraciones tributarias pueden utilizar una combinación de medidas de detección, preventivas y correctivas para evaluar y tratar Ley de Cumplimiento Tributario de Cuentas Extranjeras (FATCA) y el incumplimiento del...more
The concept of “willfulness” is an important one in the FBAR civil penalty context. Indeed, a taxpayer’s willful failure to file a timely and accurate FBAR may result in significant penalties: the higher of 50-percent of...more
It’s that time of year again. Various football teams scramble at the end of the regular season for a chance at the playoffs. And with each game’s conclusion spectators get an updated “playoff picture” with respect to where...more
On November 30, 2021, the Fifth Circuit parted ways with the taxpayer friendly decision of the Ninth Circuit that non-willful penalties are capped at $10,000 per FBAR filing instead of the $10,000 per unreported bank account...more
A federal district court in Texas recently took up an interesting FBAR issue: whether civil FBAR penalties survive death? That is, if a taxpayer/account holder dies after the IRS assesses an FBAR penalty against them, do the...more
The IRS’ streamlined filing procedures were first offered by the IRS on September 1, 2012. Since that time, the IRS has made several revisions. A current summary of the IRS’ Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures is...more
IRS is interested in U.S. Taxpayer financial accounts everywhere in the world. If the IRS learns that a Taxpayer has undisclosed reportable accounts or income before a US Taxpayer reports them, the Taxpayer can face serious...more
Many Taxpayers with international entanglements seek the assistance of tax return preparers without U.S. international tax reporting experience. Because US International tax reporting is complicated and often overwhelming...more
Benjamin Franklin once famously wrote in a 1789 letter, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Many recognize the truth in Mr. Franklin’s statement. Some may also believe that certain death...more
I have previously written on the Bittner (E.D. Tex.) case in a prior Insight. Briefly summarized, the taxpayer, Mr. Bittner, was a dual citizen of both Romania and the United States. However, in 1990, he moved back to...more
The IRS Mission Statement states that: “the taxpayer’s role is to understand and meet his or her tax obligations”. Taxpayers fill out their own returns under a “self-assessment voluntary reporting system” because the...more
U.S. Taxpayers (includes a citizen, permanent resident, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust and estate) are required to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) if they have...more
If you have a foreign bank account (or signatory authority on a foreign bank account), you are required to file a Form 114 (commonly called an FBAR) if at any point during the calendar year the combined balance in all of your...more