TAXLITIGATOR Blog

Posted by Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C. Posted on Tuesday, January 09, 2018

If you’re planning a vacation overseas in 2018 and you owe more than $50,000 in taxes, penalties and interest to the IRS, you have another thing coming. Beginning January 2018 the IRS will start implementing Internal Revenue Code section 7345.  That section was enacted in December 2015.  It says “If the Secretary receives certification by […] Read More…

Posted by Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C. Posted on Wednesday, January 03, 2018

The Perils of Civil and Criminal Tax Penalties: What You Need to Know The Knowledge Group   January 11, 2018 – Noon – 1:30 pm (Pacific) On January 11 at Steve Toscher, Curtis Elliott, Jr. and Steve Mather will be hosting a Knowledge Group Webinar “The Perils of Civil and Criminal Tax Penalties: What You Need to Know.” The Internal […] Read More…

Posted by Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C. Posted on Wednesday, December 20, 2017

A question that frequently arises in tax cases is whether a transaction is debt or equity. As Judge Alex Kosinski recently noted in Hewlett-Packard, Inc. v Commissioner, Dkt. 14-73047 (9th Cir., Nov. 14, 2016), https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2017/11/09/14-73047.pdf, it is a “timeless and tiresome question of American tax law”.  In arriving at the answer, which was “we defer to the […] Read More…

Posted by Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C. Posted on Monday, December 18, 2017

As the holidays approach, it is a great time to think about your clients who have had difficulty paying their taxes. Below is a Top 5 list of enforced collection issues to think about this December. Collection Moratorium / Current Compliance – Although it is not an official policy position, during most of December the […] Read More…

Posted by Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C. Posted on Friday, December 15, 2017

A U.S. person with foreign financial accounts worth over $10,000 during the calendar year is required to file a Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR). Failing to file can result in either a “non-willful” or a “willful” penalty under 31 USC §5321(a)(5).  If the failure is non-willful, the person can avoid liability under the reasonable cause […] Read More…

Posted by Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C. Posted on Tuesday, December 12, 2017

A defendant convicted of a tax crime can be ordered by the district court to pay the IRS restitution equal to the amount of the tax loss. As part of the 2010 Firearms Excise Tax Improvement Tax, Congress added sec. 6201(a)(4) to the Internal Revenue Code.  That section authorizes the IRS to “assess and collect […] Read More…

Posted by Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C. Posted on Monday, December 04, 2017

My colleagues and I have spent hours discussing the best way to mail time sensitive documents such as a Tax Court petition, tax return, and refund claim. FedEx or U.S. Postal Service, Certified Mail or Overnight or Personally Stamped Green Card[i] or not.  Consider this the tax lawyer equivalent of Brady or Manning (Brady), The Beatles […] Read More…

Posted by Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C. Posted on Tuesday, November 28, 2017

The California Franchise Tax Board (“FTB”) recently reminded the public that the State of California (“State”) can and will impose penalties for failing to disclose foreign financial accounts and assets.  In State Legal Ruling 2017-02 (October 16,2017), the State considered whether its conformity to federal information filing requirements relating to foreign financial assets imposed by […] Read More…

Posted by Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C. Posted on Tuesday, November 21, 2017

A United States tax lawyer is going to return home after being on an extended vacation in Canada for ten years. But he isn’t returning willingly. When I was at the Department of Justice Tax Division from 1998 through 2005, I spent much of my time shutting down abusive tax schemes through getting courts to […] Read More…

Posted by Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C. Posted on Friday, November 10, 2017

Registration and Hotel information is available at: https://shop.americanbar.org/ebus/ABAEventsCalendar/EventDetails.aspx?productId=281310963 (If the link doesn’t work, search 34th Annual National Institute on Criminal Tax Fraud and the ABA site should come up for you). The Institute conference rooms will be located at the Wynn but rooms can be reserved at either the Wynn or Encore Hotels. Wynn Las […] Read More…

Posted by Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C. Posted on Wednesday, November 08, 2017

Section 5321(a)(5)(A) provides that the Secretary of Treasury “may impose a civil money penalty” on anyone who violates the FBAR reporting requirements.  Originally, the penalty for willful violation was the greater of the amount in the account (not to exceed $100,000) or $25,000. In 2004, Congress amended the FBAR penalty provision to increase the maximum willful […] Read More…

Posted by Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C. Posted on Wednesday, November 08, 2017

BNA Daily Tax Report The IRS, cracking down on failures to report foreign bank accounts, isn’t automatically presuming that failures are  “willful”—a finding that incurs a high penalty. Tax practitioners aren’t fully convinced. “There’s no presumption of willfulness” for not filing a required Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), said Carolyn A. Schenck, […] Read More…