It is not illegal for U.S. citizens to have foreign bank accounts. There are many legitimate reasons for a U.S. taxpayer to maintain a foreign bank account, including confidentiality, portfolio hedging and asset protection. However, U.S. taxpayers who have offshore or foreign accounts must adhere to certain requirements. They must […]
The IRS announced on Monday that it had started accepting and processing returns. You are probably starting to get appointments from early filer – refund clients. Preparing tax returns with Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) refunds comes with delays this year. The IRS has taken a multi prong approach to […]
The earned income tax credit (EITC) is supposed to help people with low income, especially those with children, by providing a refundable tax credit. In recent years, however, the IRS has stepped up audits of returns that claim the EITC, after critics contended that the credit was awarded too freely. […]
As 2016 came to an end, you may have missed an announcement from the US Department of Justice. The Swiss Bank Program that started in the summer of 2013 has officially been completed. The Program provided an opportunity for Swiss banks to work with the DOJ to limit their exposure […]
It’s no secret that IRS service has suffered in recent years as the agency’s budget has been cut and cut again by Congress. In her annual report to Congress, the National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson, marshals the numbers to show just how far the IRS’s headcount has fallen. The decline […]
Like other fields of human activity, tax law has its own specialized vocabulary. Sometimes the words used have very particularized meanings that require some explanation to make sense. Consider the term “border adjustments.” The term is in play because the U.S. House of Representatives is considering a plan that would, […]
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is cracking down on fraudulent tax preparer services. The federal agency initiated 252 investigations in 2016 alone, searching out any individual or business that it believes was conducting fraudulent practices while preparing taxes. 72.8 percent of these investigations resulted in incarceration. Although these efforts are […]
FinCEN. It sounds like something out of a Hollywood plot line about a secret government agency running clandestine missions that are kept out of the purview of the general public. Is the truth that far from reality? FinCEN is not an unknown entity. United States taxpayers with foreign accounts are […]
Those who prepare income tax returns — CPAs, tax attorneys, Enrolled Agents and non-enrolled tax return preparers — often find themselves the subject of a civil audit or even worse a criminal investigation relating to their tax preparation work. At Brown, PC, we have extensive experience representing tax preparers. Our […]
As a tax preparer, you know you’re in a competitive business. You have to price your services right to make it work financially. But if you cut corners on compliance, you can get into real trouble with the IRS. One way this can happen is with failing to meet the […]