In a junior-high civics class, the roles seem so settled. The legislative branch makes laws, the executive branch enforces them and the judicial branch interprets them. n practice of course, the interactions of the branches of government are often not so clear. Consider, for example, the current controversy about new […]
There has been a great deal of commotion surrounding the use of offshore bank accounts to shield assets from authorities in the United States. Some of these accounts are used for the purpose of evading income taxes, but there are also many situations where an individual has foreign accounts for […]
For U.S. taxpayers who work abroad, keeping on the right side of regulations poses ongoing headaches and challenges. Some American expatriates have given up their U.S. passports in response. Others have found foreign banks unwilling to deal with them, due to concerns about the compliance burdens of the Foreign Account […]
Litigated cases – involving tax or any other subject – can take a long time to unfold. In this post, we will update you on a long-running Texas case involving tax fraud allegations. The case grew out of a federal investigation into offshore tax shelters set up by two brothers, […]
Under the Bank Secrecy Act, $10,000 is the threshold amount for triggering various reporting requirements for cash transactions. The law is supposed to deter money laundering by big-time drug dealers, organized crime figures or terrorist groups. Far too often, however, federal authorities accuse ordinary citizens of “structuring” their transactions, i.e., […]
Self-employed workers have tax compliance challenges that other taxpayers do not. The underlying reason for this fairly simple: workers who are considered self-employed for tax purposes have to pay their Social Security and Medicare taxes. You don’t have an employer withholding and paying it for you, but instead have to […]
To add onto our prior post this week, we want to discuss the IRS streamlined disclosure program. If you were one of 30,000 to use this program, your legal troubles might not be over. The streamlined program does not come with any guarantee – it only offers a limit amnesty. […]
“Waiting for the other shoe to drop” is a curious expression. It is an idiomatic way of expressing a sense of inevitability. The idea is that when one event in a linked-sequence happens, it’s just a matter of time before the next one follows. This appears to be what’s happening […]
Reports on foreign bank accounts are due today, June 30. But if this is your first time filing you might have questions and concern that you should address first. FinCen Form 114 (FBAR) is electronically filed with the Department of Treasury. While technically there is no extension to the deadline, […]
In the first part of this post, we took note of the provision put in place by Congress to authorize the IRS to revoke or deny passports due to “seriously delinquent” taxes. To be sure, certain requirements must be met. But if they are met, your passport may be at […]