This is a question about international tax laws. Can a U.S. citizen who owns and operates a vessel outside of the U.S. avoid paying U.S. employment taxes for its crewmen by using a foreign legal entity? The court considered this issue in DAF Charters LLC v. Commissioner, 152 T.C. 14, for a single-member LLC formed…
Category: International Tax
International Tax
Whether you’re a foreign business operating in the US or a US company with overseas operations, our international tax experts can help you stay in compliance with tax laws and minimize your tax liability. Give us a call to see how we can help, (713) 909-4906.
Foreign Government Use U.S. Court to Collect From U.S. Person?
If a U.S. person commits tax fraud under the laws of a foreign county, can the foreign country’s tax collector use the U.S. court system to collect from the U.S. person? This is an international tax law issue. The court recently addressed this in In re SKAT Tax Refund Scheme Litigation, No. 18-md-2865 (LAK) (S.D.N.Y.…
U.S. Taxpayer With U.S. Residence & Foreign-Earned Income
There are a number of international tax issues that U.S. citizens and residents who live abroad have to consider. One of these is whether they qualify to exclude their foreign-earned income in computing U.S. income taxes. This exclusion has resulted in a number of tax disputes with the IRS. The Leuenberger v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion…
FBAR Not Limited to $100,000, Willfulness Upheld
There have been a number of recent court cases involving foreign bank accounts or FBAR reporting penalties. This is likely due to the significant amount of the penalty and that many do not fully appreciate the amount of liability they face if caught not complying with the FBAR rules. This is one of the most…
Payments to Foreign Student Studying in U.S. Subject to Tax
We get quite a few questions from students who are in the U.S. on student visas as to whether their research awards are taxable in the U.S. The answer depends in large part on the terms of the applicable tax treaty and whether the awards are compensation for services or pure grants. The recent Dovzhenok…
Airline Pilot Stationed Overseas & the Section 911 Foreign Income Exclusion
U.S. income tax laws can be challenging for U.S. citizens who live outside of the U.S. This is particularly true for airline pilots who accept jobs overseas. The recent Acone v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2017-162, case addresses the challenge of determining whether an airline pilot stationed overseas qualifies for the Section 911 foreign income exclusion.…
Intercompany Receivable Results in Section 956 Inclusion for U.S. Corp.
The Subpart F rules can result in foreign profits being subject to tax in the U.S. In the recent Crestek v. Commissioner, 49 T.C. 5 (2017), the court addresses unpaid advances a controlled foreign corporation made to its U.S. parent. The case shows how easy it is for a U.S. corporation that has an outbound transactions to…
No Tax Due on Foreign Corporation’s Redemption of U.S. Partnership Interest
Many businesses that operate outside of the U.S. want to do business in the U.S. and they want to limit their exposure to U.S. income taxes. To do this, many in-bound investments are structured as U.S. partnerships with the parntership being formed in the U.S. to carry on the business activities in the U.S. This…
U.S. Foreign Tax Credit Not Impacted by Repayment of Foreign Tax Refund
The tax assessment and collection process in most foreign countries is markedly different than the process in the U.S. These differences can present a number of challenges for U.S. citizens who reside in foreign countries. In Sotiropoulos v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2017-75, the court considered one of these challenges, namely, how does one determine whether…
Court Decides Transfer Pricing Buy-in Payment Case
The transfer pricing disputes often involve transfers of property offshore. Taxpayers make these transfers so that the post-transfer profits earned from the offshored property are not subject to tax in the U.S. or, in many cases, not subject to tax in the foreign countries either. The U.S. Tax Court recently decided Amazon Inc. v. Commissioner,…