The JCT has submitted a report that describes and analyzes individual income tax, and estate and gift tax provisions included in the proposed FY 2010 budget under the Obama administration. The report details which tax cuts are to be extended...
September 2009 Archives
Sidney R. Thomas, a judge serving on the Ninth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals, has affirmed the Tax Court decision in which the IRS determined that a company cannot defer gain on its like-kind exchange of properties...
The IRS has issued final regulations on the procedure a taxpayer must go through in order to contest an IRS determination of a gift's value in Tax Court. In order to be eligible for such a declaratory judgment, the Tax...
The IRS has submitted corrections to final regulations (T.D. 9546) that provide guidance on the treatment of controlled services transactions under section 482 and the allocation of income from intangible property. See Tax Analysts: "IRS Corrects Final Regs on Treatment of...
Tax Notes has published an article by Philip R. West, a partner in the Washington Office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, in which he proposes ten questions regarding international taxation to the Volcker Tax Reform Panel, working under the Obama...
Tax Notes has published an article by Joann M. Weiner, an adjunct professor at the George Washington University, regarding the need to change the current status-quo of international business taxation. In 1996, the Treasury Department rejected formulary apportionment (FA) because...
Tax Notes has published an article by Daniel N. Shaviro, the Wayne Perry Professor of Taxation at the New York University School of Law, regarding the need for a tighter and tougher system of taxation for the United States. Shaviro...
Tax Notes has published an article by H. David Rosenbloom, an associate at Caplin & Drysdale's Washington office and Visiting Professor and director of the International Tax Program at the New York University Law School. Rosenbloom posits that there...
The Internal Revenue Service today announced a one-time extension of the deadline for special voluntary disclosures by taxpayers with unreported income from hidden offshore accounts. These taxpayers now have until Oct. 15, 2009. Under special provisions issued in March, taxpayers...
Continue reading "IRS Extends Deadline for Disclosing Hidden Offshore Accounts "
Bloomberg and CNBC are reporting that the IRS will delay the September 23rd extended deadline for filing the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (Form TD F 90-22.1, or FBAR) until October 15th. Apparently, this extension, which is...
Continue reading "IRS Reported to Extend FBAR Filing Deadline to October 15"
Tax Notes has published an article by Joe Huddleston, an executive director at the Multistate Tax Commission, regarding the manner in which the United States assesses a multinationals' share of income subject to taxation. In his article, Huddleston opines that...
Tax Notes has published an article by William C. Barrett, Vice President of tax and trade with Applied Materials, regarding the U.S. Corporate tax rate. Barrett argues that while the U.S. and other countries may be on par in terms...
Continue reading "William C. Barrett: "Tax Policy Should Encourage U.S. Investment and Growth""
In a response e-mail, the IRS has issued advice related to estate and gift taxation. In the e-mail, the Service has ruled that any property transferred--including that transferred to a grantor trust-- before an individual's death, is not subject to...
In a response e-mail, the IRS issued advice on a real estate taxation issue. The Service came to the conclusion that the remaining basis in a damaged building and the cost of its demolition are only recoverable as an offset...
Ronald J. Shoemaker, the Manager of Exempt Organizations, Technical Group 2, has issued a letter ruling on behalf of the IRS. In the letter ruling, the Service has concluded that after the death of an initial member of an organization...
In PLR-140012-08, the IRS has reached a decision on the income tax treatment of a taxpayer's real estate interest sale. The Service has found that the section 453(e)(1) with regard to related party provisions do not apply and that section...
Continue reading "PLR-140012-08: "Service Rules on Tax Treatment of Real Estate Interest Sale""
TD 9461 contains final regulations relating to information returns for cancellation of indebtedness by certain entities under section 6050P of the Internal Revenue Code. The final regulations will avoid premature information reporting from certain businesses and will reduce the number...
Continue reading "TD 9461: Information Reporting for Discharges of Indebtedness"
Many taxpayers who purchase a home this year will qualify for an $8,000 federal tax credit. The refundable first-time homebuyer credit is a major tax provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. But time is running out...
Continue reading "Special Edition Tax Tip 2009-10: Ten Facts about the First-Time Homebuyer Credit "
In PLR-153875-08, the Service has determined that income from a trust used to fund healthcare benefits for retired employees created by a state municipality is excludable from the municipality's gross income under section 115. Also, mandatory contributions to the...
Continue reading "PLR-153875-08: "Municipality's Insurance Trust Income is Excludable""
In PLR-100695-09, the Service has found that an application for approval of historic status after the repaired building was placed in service will be treated as timely filed for purposes of claiming the rehabilitation tax credit, under section 47(a)(2)....
Continue reading "PLR-100695-09: "Extension Granted to Apply for Certification of Historic Status""
William J. Holloway, a Circuit Judge on the Tenth Circuit United States Court of Appeals, has rejected the appeal launched on behalf on the Estate of Silvia Gore (the Estate). This case originates from late 2001, where the IRS issued...
Continue reading "William J. Holloway: "Affirmation of Tax Court Decision""
In PLR-151406-08, the Service has allowed an estate to sever a marital trust into generation-skipping transfer tax-exempt and non-exempt trusts, in order to make a reverse qualified terminable interest property election for the GSTT exempt trust, and to appropriate the...
Continue reading "PLR-151406-08: "Extension Granted to Server Trust, Make Reverse QTIP Election""
In PLR-152218-08, the Service has concluded that the proposed regulation of a trust will not affect the generation-skipping tax-exempt status, will not result in a gift by the grantor or trust beneficiaries for federal gift tax purposes, and will not...
In PLR-127027-08, the Service has decreed that the use of a proposed trust termination and distribution of trust assets under a settlement agreement will not subject any parts or distributions of the trust to the generation-skipping transfer tax and will...
In PLR-152630-08, the Service has determined that a taxpayer may exclude the entire net gain from a sale of a personal residence from his or her income if the property was owned and used as the taxpayer's principal residence for...
Continue reading "PLR-152630-08: Gain from Sale of Principal Residence Excludable From Income"
In a redacted IRS Legal Memorandum, the IRS has addressed the obligation to disclose participation in a listed transaction. The transaction in question is a tax-avoidance arrangement known as a distressed asset trust transaction, where a tax-indifferent foreign party shifts...
Taxpayers who buy new motor vehicles this year may be entitled to a special tax deduction for the sales or excise taxes on those purchases when they file their 2009 federal tax returns next year. This tax break is part...
Continue reading "Nine Facts about the New Vehicle Sales and Excise Tax Deduction"
REG-127270-06 contains proposed regulations relating to the exclusion from gross income for amounts received on account of personal physical injuries or physical sickness. The proposed regulations reflect amendments under the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996. The proposed regulations...
A federal judge in San Francisco has issued permanent injunctions barring four individuals from promoting what a government lawsuit describes as a complex tax-fraud scheme involving several entities located around the globe, the Justice Department announced today. U.S. District...
Continue reading "California Court Bars Four Men from Promoting Alleged Stock-Loan Tax Fraud Scheme"
In an article captioned "Wall Street Pursues Profit in Bundles of Life Insurance," the NY Times discusses the market for life settlements.Posted by Lewis J. Saret, General Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal....
REG-136563-07 contains proposed regulations that provide rules relating to the disclosure of listed transactions and transactions of interest with respect to the generation-skipping transfer tax under section 6011 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), conforming amendments under sections 6111 and...
The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) staff has released its descriptions of the business tax provisions, oil and gas provisions, international provisions, and individual tax provisions (including estate and gift taxes) that were included in the fiscal 2010 budget package...
Jack Porter, Certified Public Accountant of McLean, Virginia, has written a letter to the IRS seeking to clarify certain issues regarding FBAR filing. On behalf of his clients, he asks the IRS to conform the due dates of tax payers'...
Continue reading "CPA Jack Porter: "Confirming FBAR Deadlines and Addresses with the IRS""
The Treasury Department, acting on behalf of the IRS, has submitted various forms and regulations to the Office of Budget and Management, and office under the Executive Office of the President. The IRS is seeking the approval of OMB to...
Continue reading "IRS Submits Forms and Regs for Office of Budget and Management Review"
The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Idaho, has published a memorandum opinion by Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, Terry L. Myers. Judge Myers has decided against the debtors, Stephan Dorral Miller and his wife, Catherine Lynn Miller. The...
Wegelin & Co., a Swiss private bank, is advising its clients to exit all direct US investments. Wegelin's report is located here. It argues that changes in US tax policy make US investments dangerous for non-US persons and that the...
Continue reading "Swiss Private Bank Advises Its Clients to Exit All Direct Investment in US"
Steve Akers, Associate Fiduciary Counsel, Bessemer Trust, provides the following summary of Keller v. U.S., Civil Action No. V-02-62 (S.D. Tex. August 20, 2009).40 Million Taxpayer Victory; Partnership Recognized Although Not Formally Funded Before Decedent's Death; 47.5% Discount Allowed For...
The Tax Policy Center has issued an August report in conjunction with the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institute stating that the federal tax distribution will undoubtedly change from 2009 to 2012 for a variety of reasons, including the expiration...
Continue reading "Report by the Tax Policy Center: "The Distribution of Federal Taxes, 2009-2012""
Tax Court Memorandum by Joseph Robert Goeke: "Frank Sawyer Trust of May 1992 et al. v. Commissioner"
The United States Tax Court has publish a memorandum opinion by Judge Joseph Robert Goeke, a US Tax Court Judge, entitled "Frank Sawyer Trust of May 1992 et al. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue". The Tax Court has declared in...
The United States Tax Court has published a memorandum opinion by Judge Thomas B. Wells, a judge serving on the United States Tax Court, entitled "Suzanne J. Pierre v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue". Judge Wells concluded that Ms. Pierre is...
Continue reading "Tax Court Memorandum by Thomas B. Wells: "Suzanne J. Pierre v. Commissioner""