There are two ways to structure a transaction. One carries a lower tax burden. You decide to use that one. The IRS cannot later force you to use the other one. In the recent case, two brothers combined two tax incentives – one common and one obscure – to...
Month: February 2017
Responding to a Massachusetts Notice of Insufficient Return
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue often works in coordination with the IRS. An audit of a federal tax return may trigger a DOR Notice of Insufficient Return (NIR).How long does the DOR have to audit a return? The general rule allows the state three years from...
Of travel restrictions and back taxes
Travel bans have been in the headlines and certain nationals are seeing their access to the country imperiled. While that ban is on hold pending legal appeals, U.S. citizens may soon find their passports revoked or limited.The proposal that tied travel to tax...
Prison sentence for international tax avoidance scheme
The former professor had invested in a number of startups over the years. Most went bust, but one took off and netted him $80 million when he sold his shares of company stock.In the year he sold the stock, his first mistake was to under report his income and the gain...
Reporting requirements cut into foreign investments returns
U.S. citizens are taxed on worldwide income. To collect on these taxes, the IRS requires annual reports disclosing foreign financial assets. What triggers the reporting requirements? It varies on the type of asset and amount in an account.Consider not only the taxes...