Annual Benefits Forum: How To Be an ERISA Superhero
Labor & Employment Podcast Series, Biden’s First 100 Days: A Check-In for Employers.
Podcast: Texas v. United States of America
Taxpayers who made payments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that included underpayment interest and/or failure-to-file/pay penalties that accrued during all or part of the period between January 20, 2020, through July...more
Could your motion picture agreement, recording agreement, or sports contract be a non-qualified deferred compensation arrangement? You may think it unlikely, but a non-qualified deferred compensation arrangement refers to any...more
There are two recent taxpayer-friendly updates of note in the international tax filing arena. First, Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) Commissioner Danny Werfel recently announced that the IRS is ending its automatic...more
Even global icons like Beyoncé, among the wealthiest entertainers on the planet, are not immune to IRS scrutiny. Recently, Queen Bey found herself entangled in a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over an alleged...more
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) recently announced a tax amnesty program for non-filers and those with outstanding tax liabilities. From November 1 to December 30, 2024, most penalties for eligible taxpayers who...more
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts will offer a limited tax amnesty for certain “eligible taxpayers” from Nov. 1 through Dec. 30. “Eligible taxpayers” can forward and bring their tax liabilities up to date and receive a...more
On April 15, the IRS released Notice 2024-33 (the “Notice”), offering limited relief from tax penalties for underpaying estimated income taxes arising from a corporation’s alternative minimum tax (“AMT”). The AMT imposes a...more
Introduction – What Is Tax Penalty Abatement? Audits can be an incredibly frustrating ordeal. From initial contact with tax authorities to digging up old financial records to possibly increasing tax liability, there are...more
The IRS expects to send out over 125,000 collection letters to high-income taxpayers who did not file one or more federal income tax returns between 2017 and 2021. As part of the new collection initiative, approximately...more
United States citizens and residents are often not aware of the myriad of foreign information return filing obligations that exist under federal tax laws. For example, buried within the Code are reporting obligations...more
A hearing is scheduled for September 11, 2023 for interested persons and organizations to provide testimony on proposed regulations on the timing and approval process for penalties. Section 6751(b) provides that...more
An investment management firm founded and owned by legendary investor (and New York Mets owner) Steve Cohen on August 11 filed a petition in Tax Court contesting an IRS audit adjustment in the amount of $344,063,484 for tax...more
A taxpayer against whom the IRS determines—not "assesses" but "determines"—a tax deficiency must decide whether to make a remittance to the IRS and if so, whether the remittance is to be treated as a "deposit" or as a...more
The U.S. Tax Court (USTC) on April 3, 2023, issued its opinion in Alon Farhy v. Commissioner, which held that the IRS lacks authority to assess certain foreign-related information return penalties pursuant to Section...more
The recent Tax Court decision in Farhy demonstrates that clever and novel arguments can carry the day in complex tax litigation matters. In that case, the taxpayer stipulated that he: (1) had Form 5471 filing obligations...more
In a prior post, I discussed the dangers of playing Battleship with the IRS. Recently, taxpayers made a move and scored a hit with the Tax Court’s recently issued decision in Alon Farhy v. Commissioner, 160 T.C. No. 6 (April...more
In Short - The Background: Most Brazilian companies face tax underpayment assessments in light of a complicated tax regime. The Lula government is planning to significantly expand government expenditures and thus needs to...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
Annual Survey of Income and Expenses – ASIE-2022 - Pursuant to the Nassau County Administrative Code, Section 6-30, the Nassau County Department of Assessment (“the Assessor”) is requiring the submission of 2022 financial...more
Summary: In this non-precedential opinion (see section 7463(b)), the Tax Court addresses whether or not to uphold an accuracy-related penalty assessed to taxpayer, Ashenafi Getachew Mulu (Mulu). Mulu hired David...more
2023 started California off with weather that escapes recent memory. Rain, snow, and surf seemed unrelenting for the first two weeks of January. While this spell of winter storms has brought snow to our slopes and refilled...more
Taxpayer and petitioner, Joseph Decrescenzo (“Petitioner”) belatedly filed returns of income for seven years at issue (2007-2013). The IRS determined various differing deficiencies as to the years at issue and notified...more
Summary: During 2016, Ryan Mining (Mining) was employed by Tasco, Inc. (Tasco), and it issued him Form W–2, Wage and Tax Statement, reporting wages of $116,000, no federal income tax withheld, Social Security tax withheld of...more
Short Summary: After an examination by a Revenue Agent, the IRS issued to the taxpayers a notice of determination of income tax deficiencies, a tax addition, and an accuracy-related penalty. In closing the examination, the...more