Following disclosures by UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld, the IRS launched an aggressive enforcement campaign against undeclared offshore income and financial accounts in 2009. Over time, it has offered a series of compliance programs to give taxpayers with undeclared offshore accounts the opportunity to make voluntary disclosures regarding offshore income and accounts in exchange for fixed civil penalties and the assurance that criminal penalties would not be ... Keep Reading »
Statute of Limitations and International Reporting Obligations – Be Sure to Close the Door!
When it comes to federal tax matters, an important aspect of risk management includes making sure that the statute of limitations on tax assessments will expire. This is particularly important for tax years where there is a potentially contentious issue or debatable reporting position taken on the treatment of a material item. However, increasing reporting burdens imposed on international activities coupled with exceptions to the statute of limitations heighten the ... Keep Reading »
District Court Doesn’t Apply Economic Substance Doctrine to Transaction Where Taxpayer’s Sole Motive Was Tax Avoidance
Judge Schiltz of the U.S. District Court of Minnesota recently issued an opinion in Wells Fargo & Co. v. United States, that qualifies as a key development in the law of economic substance. Taxpayers have battled the government for decades over the precise contours of the judicially-created doctrine often advanced by the government and employed by the courts to deny tax benefits of particular transactions that comply with the strict terms of the Tax Code, but which ... Keep Reading »