Category: Tax

The IRS is quick to impose penalties. Many penalties are automatically imposed by the IRS’s computers. Even on audit, the IRS’s leadsheets direct IRS auditors to consider penalties before closing the audits. Most penalties can be abated if the taxpayer can establish reasonable cause. This is a facts and circumstances analysis. The courts have accepted…Continue…

The things we take for granted these days. If you are younger than me, you may not realize it but there was a significant change that happened in the 1990s. Personal computers were just starting to actually be useful in the workplace. The ability to type and use a 10-day calculator were sought after job…Continue…

It is very difficult to run a business and to do so in full compliance with all of our laws. Having worked with thousands of business owners, the message is the same. Something always seems to give. If the business focuses on the operational side of the business to comply with industry regulations or to……

It is very difficult to run a business and to do so in full compliance with all of our laws. Having worked with thousands of business owners, the message is the same. Something always seems to give. If the business focuses on the operational side of the business to comply with industry regulations or to…Continue…

Taxes are computed based on accounting records. Accounting records are often complied by bookkeepers who have no tax training or experience. The bookkeepers may not intend to provide tax advice. Their work product may be used to prepare tax returns, however. The tax return preparer may move the numbers from the bookkeeper’s profit and loss……

Payroll tax disputes can be more difficult to resolve with the IRS than some other types of taxes. This is largely due to the IRS’s notice of deficiency process. The IRS’s notice of deficiency is the final notice the IRS sends before it assesses or records a tax as being due. The notice is required…Continue…

The process for reporting taxes can be more difficult than discerning whether a tax provision applies. This complexity stems from the level of information is required to be reported. The IRS reporting requirements continue increase every year. The IRS’s decision to require partnership tax capital accounts is an example. Why is that information required and…Continue…

There are ways to structure transactions to avoid income taxes. Creative taxpayers and tax attorneys have used qualified retirement accounts for this purpose (the tax savings from ESOPs is an example). One has to be careful when structuring transactions involving these qualified plans. Given the flexibility in the rules and the absence of financial advisors,…Continue…

Just about every business starts out with losses. This is the nature of start-ups. The activity will either gain traction and produce income and possibly a profit or, eventually, the activity end. This is basic economics and capitalism at work. The U.S. economy is based on these concepts, allowing would-be entrepreneurs the opportunity and motive…Continue…

The IRS refocused its efforts on international tax issues about ten years ago. This effort has yielded scores of transfer pricing, foreign tax credit, and similar tax disputes. While not as prominent as transfer pricing and foreign tax credit disputes, the IRS has also focused on U.S.-sourced income that is not reported. The IRS has…Continue…