The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington has upheld FBAR penalties of $10,000 for tax years 2005 through 2008, but admonished the IRS for what it said was “arbitrary” and “capricious” conduct. As a result, the court ordered that any additional interest or late payment penalties are […]
Author: Lawrence Brown
How employers should classify workers for tax purposes remains a highly troublesome issue. Indeed, with more and more businesses increasing the use of contract workers, classification issues are as pressing as ever. We’ve been following these issues regularly in this blog. For example, in our January 15 post, we wrote […]
As the U.S. government’s much publicized crackdown on Swiss banks continues, they may be turning their focus to Southeast Asia, where a Singaporean asset-management firm has fallen under criminal investigation. The firm is suspected of accepting transfers from U.S. taxpayers who were forced to shut down their undeclared Swiss accounts […]
The oft-repeated saying about the inevitability of death and taxes is a commonplace in our culture. There is no corresponding quotation for marriage and taxes. But marriage does carry significant tax implications. We’ve occasionally touched on those in this blog, such as the issue of how same-sex marriage recognition impacts […]
The federal tax code is voluminous. There are seemingly innumerable, highly detailed sections that taxpayers and tax professionals can run afoul of. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and other recent laws have only added to the sprawling complexity of the tax code and the burden of complying with […]
One of the themes of this blog is that even if you have tax debt, you still have options. In some cases, it may be possible to work out an offer in compromise (OIC) to settle your delinquent taxes for less than the full amount owed. In other cases, payment […]
One of the threads we are following in this blog is the IRS whistleblower program. Whistleblowers are people who alert the IRS to non-compliant taxpayers. Typically, in a whistleblower scenario, this taxpayer will be the whistleblower’s employer. The law allows for financial awards for whistleblowers who meet certain criteria. But […]
Many Texans have been through calamitous weather conditions in recent months. Floods, tornadoes and storms have hit hard, causing extensive damage. If you are one of the people who suffered storm damage, how will that affect your taxes? In this post, we will take note of some tips from the […]
California’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) recently held that an Uber driver is an employee, rather than an independent contractor, in a decision that could have far-reaching ramifications for the popular and quickly expanding app-based car service. Uber has appealed the ruling. There are many advantages to a business […]
In the first part of this post, we began discussing how federal regulators use non-prosecution agreements (NPAs) and deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) to resolve various legal compliance concerns. In the tax community, this has particularly been the case with offshore accounts. Indeed, for nearly two years, the Tax Division of […]