Identity Theft Do’s and Don’ts to Protect Yourself
The IRS concluded its special summer series with important reminders to tax professionals and taxpayers to protect themselves against Identity theft. The reminders for tax professionals and taxpayers to reduce identity theft risk are: Be cautious of email attachments and web links. Do not open a link or attachment that arrives unexpectedly. Many scammers can […]
IRS Relief for Certain Late-Filed International Documents
On 8/11/23, the IRS announced that under the right circumstances, international taxpayers will be able to use a new, fully electronic tool to submit penalty IRS relief requests for a few late-filed forms: a fax (855-582-4842). For now, the new fax option applies to just three types of filings: gain recognition agreements, dual consolidated losses, […]
IRS Digital Assets Proposed Regulations
On 8/29/23, the IRS issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Public Hearing for Digital Assets Proposed Regulations. The IRS Digital Assets Proposed Regulations address information reporting, the determination of amount realized and basis, and backup withholding, for certain digital asset sales and exchanges by requiring brokers, digital asset trading platforms, digital asset […]
OECD CARF and CRS
On 6/8/23, after conducting the first comprehensive review of the CRS in consultation with participating jurisdictions, financial institutions, and other stakeholders, the OECD released the International Standards for Automatic Exchange of Information in Tax Matters CRYPTO‑ASSET REPORTING FRAMEWORK (CARF) AND 2023 UPDATE TO THE COMMON REPORTING STANDARD). This resulted in two outcomes: a new tax […]
Bribery: Avoid the FCPA and the IRS!
The FCPA prohibits an offer, payment, promise or the authorization of a payment of money or anything of value (a/k/a bribery) to a foreign official for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Moreover, it prohibits individuals and businesses from knowingly falsifying books and records, thereby circumventing or failing to implement a system of internal […]
What is Covered under the FCPA?
The FCPA prohibits payment of bribes to foreign officials to assist with obtaining or retaining business. It also requires companies whose securities are listed in the US to make and keep books and records that accurately and fairly reflect their transactions and devise and maintain adequate systems of internal accounting controls. Violations of the FCPA […]
Form 1099-K: Understanding what the IRS wants you to know
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 lowered the threshold for reporting third party network transactions from aggregate payments exceeding $20,000 to aggregate payments exceeding $600 during the calendar year and eliminated the 200-transaction threshold for reporting third party network transactions entirely with respect to Form 1099-K. Although the IRS announced in late 2022 that […]
Offshore Digital Assets Information Exchange Coming!
The Biden Administration General Explanations of the Administration’s Revenue Proposals for Fiscal Year 2024 discusses the proposal for exchange of information reporting by financial institutions and offshore digital asset brokers. The proposal for exchange of information stems from the sentiment that tax evasion using digital assets continues to be a rapidly growing problem. The global […]
GAO highlights Underreporting, Underpayment and Non-filing of Taxes
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is known as the U.S. “congressional watchdog,”. GAO is an independent, non-partisan agency that works for Congress by examining how taxpayer dollars are spent and provides Congress and federal agencies with objective, non-partisan, fact-based information to help the government save money and work more efficiently. On 2/27/23, GAO issued […]
Social Media Tax Advice? Could be bad news!
On 3/20/23, the IRS launched its 2023 “Dirty Dozen” list with new warnings each day about common scams taxpayers (individuals and business) should avoid. Some items on the Dirty Dozen list are new, and some make a return visit. The Dirty Dozen is intended to alert taxpayers and the tax professional community about various scams […]
High Income Filers are “Schematized” by Fraudsters
On 3/31/23, the IRS continued the release of its 2023 annual “Dirty Dozen” List – this time geared towards high income filers by presenting abusive arrangements that involve Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts and Monetized Installment Sales. These tools can be misused by promoters, who can advertise these schemes to attract high income filers. “The IRS […]
FinCEN BOI Guidance
On 3/24/23, FinCEN issued its first set of guidance materials to aid the public in understanding upcoming beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements taking effect on January 1, 2024. BOI refers to identifying information about the individuals who directly or indirectly own or control a company. BOI reporting information reporting will be done directly to […]
