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.…
Category: Tax
Tax
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Retaining Rights With a Charitable Conservation Easement
Conservation easements can result in significant charitable deductions for real estate owners and investors. But can an owner or investor retain rights to the property and still get the charitable deduction? The courts continue to define when this is possible. The Pine Mountain Preserve LLLP v. Commissioner, 151 T.C. 14, case is the latest case…
Appropriate a Book of Business, Capital or Ordinary Gain?
If an investment advisor is terminated by the bank he works for and the bank keeps the advisors book of business, is the bank compensating the investment advisor for the sale of his book of business or is it paying compensation for services? One would seem to produce capital gain and the other ordinary gain.…
IRS Can Collect Father’s Tax Restitution from Son
The rules that allow the IRS to assess and collect criminal restitution as if it is a tax due present some unique questions. In Bontrager v. Commissioner, 151 T.C. 12, the court considered whether the IRS can assess and collect a father’s tax restitution payment as tax restitution against the son. Facts & Procedural History…
Court Clarifies Inventory Capitalization Rules for Producers
There are a few items that are low hanging fruit that make for easy adjustments for IRS auditors. The adjustment for indirect costs is an example of such an adjustment that can be made for any taxpayer that has inventory. The recent Patients Mutual Assistance Collective Corporation v. Commissioner, 151 T.C. No. 11 (2018), case provides…
Early IRA Distribution, Gambling Not a Disability
Early distributions from IRAs are subject to a 10 percent additional tax. The 10 percent additional tax does not apply if the distribution is taken when the IRA owner is disabled. The recent Gillette v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-195, case addresses whether medically-induced compulsive gambling qualifies as a disability. The Facts & Procedural History The taxpayer-wife is a…
Party Like its 2017: Deductible Entertainment Expenses
Entertainment expenses are deductible but the deduction is limited to 50 percent of the amount spent. There have been a number of disputes between taxpayers and the IRS as to what counts as a limited entertainment expense. The law was recently changed such that entertainment expenses are no longer deductible. This change to full disallowance…
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…
Documenting Tax Losses for Worthless Securities
tax loss for a worthless security, taxpayers must document the loss and establish several key elements. These elements include proving the existence of the security, the amount invested in the security, and the occurrence of a fixed and identifiable event that caused the security to become worthless. The recent Giunta v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-180…
Court May Explain How to Allocate Tax Basis to Intangible Assets
If the U.S. government allows a taxpayer to call a liability an asset and then acts to make the asset worthless, can the taxpayer take a tax loss for the loss of the so-called asset? The Citigroup, Inc. v. United States, No. 15-953T (Ct. Cl. 2018) court case addresses this fact pattern. The case gets to one…