Category: Houston

There are some areas of law where principles of equity and good faith play a big role. By and large, tax law does not adopt these principles. The CreditGUARD v. Commissioner, 149 T.C. 17 (2017) case provides an example. The case addresses whether the IRS is entitled to interest on a corporate tax liability when…

In Martin v. Commissioner, 149 T.C. 12 (2017), the court concluded that S corporation shareholders can avoid self-employment taxes by holding their farming operations in their S corporation. While the court case considered farming operations, its holding is not limited to farming operations. The case provides authority shareholders may cite in support of similar but…

It is common for the IRS to make various demands on businesses that are undergoing employment tax audits or businesess that are trying to deal with employment tax collection issues. One common demand is that the taxpayer immediately start complying with the employment tax laws. But what if the taxpayer cannot comply, perhaps due to…

It wasn’t long ago that the IRS was completely in the dark as to what information taxpayers and others were reporting to foreign governments. The IRS would never show up on U.S. audit with information obtained from foreign governments. We do see this on audits occasionally, but it is still a rare occurrence. A recent…

Tax losses for worthless debts often trigger IRS audits. On audit, it is common practice for the IRS to disallow the losses based on the debt not being worthless, the amount of the loss not being correct, and that the taxpayer took the loss in the wrong tax year. Taxpayers can take steps to limit…

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.…

The Dewees v. United States, 16-cv-01579 (D.D.C. 2017) case is a good reminder that late-filed Forms 5471 should include reasonable cause statements. These statements can be submitted under the IRS’s Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures to avoid penalties being assessed. The Facts and Circumstances in Dewees Dewees is a U.S. citizen who lived in…