Q: I received a stimulus payment on behalf of my deceased relative. Should I cash it? A: According to the IRS FAQ page on its website, families who receive a stimulus payment on behalf of a deceased loved one should send the money back to the government. The FAQ specifically states: A Payment made to […]
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I have often posted on the Government’s criminal prosecution of persons promoting abusive tax shelters. There were a number of prosecutions starting around 2005 as the Government focused on major accounting firms, law firms and financial firms and the persons involved with them. One set of the prosecutions related to principals at Ernst & Young, the accounting […]
In United States v. de Forrest (D. Nev. Dkt. # 2:17-cv-03048 Dkt entry 52, Order dated 5/31/20), here (with docket entries here), the court denied the Government’s motion for summary judgment in an FBAR willful penalty collection suit. I don’t think the Order offers anything material to the discussion of FBAR willful penalty matters, except […]
There are reports that the IRS has sent out a “Statement of Work” soliciting assisting from contractors to help with audits involving potential cryptocurrency transactions. See Guinevere Morre, Got Cryptocurrency? Get Ready For An IRS Audi (Forbest Editors’ Pick 5/29/20), here; and IRS Soliciting Contractors to Help Audit Crypto Tax Returns (CryptoTrader.tax blog), here(with a […]
In April 2020, the IRS revised its preclearance form for voluntary disclosure – Form 14457, Voluntary Disclosure Practice Preclearance Request and Application, here. I have not compared the new form with the old, so cannot point out the differences. I do note that the instructions (beginning on p. 6 of the 14 page form) has […]
In United States v. Hamdan (E.D. La. Dkt. 19-60 Order Dated 5/22/20), here, the Court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss most of the counts in their 74-count Superseding Indictment charging (i) the conspiracy by “evading paying federal income and employment taxes” (not clear whether an offense conspiracy or defraud/Klein conspiracy charge or both, but […]
In United States v. Brannum (9th Cir. Unpublished 5/12/20), here, the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded a case because of the prosecutor’s violation of the plea agreement as to the amount of the tax loss. Readers will recall that, in the Sentencing Guidelines’ calculation of the offense level and sentencing range, the principal component in […]
Form W-4, which instructs your employer on how much tax to withhold from your paycheck, received a makeover at the start of 2020. It’s the first major redesign of the form in 33 years, dating all the way back to 1987. The adjustments simplified the form and implemented the tax code changes that went into […]
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In United States v. Schwarzbaum (S.D. Fla. Dkt 18-cv-81147 Order Dtd 5/18/20), here, following through on its earlier opinion holding the calculation of willful FBAR penalties to be arbitrary and capricious, the Court recalculated the willful FBAR penalties. The recalculation resulted in a reduction of the willful penalty for 2007-2009 from $13,729,591.00 to $12,907,952.00, resulting […]
In United States v. Schwarzbaum (S.D. Fla. Dkt 18-cv-81147 Order Dtd 5/18/20), here, following through on its earlier opinion holding the calculation of willful FBAR penalties to be arbitrary and capricious, the Court recalculated the willful FBAR penalties. The recalculation resulted in a reduction of the willful penalty for 2007-2009 from $13,729,591.00 to $12,907,952.00, resulting […]