Joseph Siegmann

The New York Times has published an article on the conviction of a father and son for tax evasion. The article explains that the defendants used family members, offshore accounts, and forged documents to conceal the sale of a hotel... Read More

The Bloomberg BusinessWeek has published an article explaining that wealthy individuals are choosing to give large gifts this year to their relative instead of waiting for the property to transfer at their death.  Wealthy individuals are choosing ... Read More

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The FiGuide has published an article discussing some the economic and tax factors you should consider before lending money to a relative.  For example, any loan to a family member should be in writing and include a fair interest rate... Read More

Michael Pancheri (attorney and CEO of Living Trust Network) has published an article discussing the mechanical rules and requirements that a Trustee must follow to properly terminate a beneficiary's interest in a trust when the beneficiary is voluntari... Read More

Forbes has published an article discussing the potential tax ramifications for donations to 501(c)(4) organizations.  At least one attorney has indicated that he believes donations to 501(c)(4) organizations should be treated like gifts and are he... Read More

The Wall Street Journal has published an article discussing the Estate tax and how opponents of it are using it on the campaign trail this election cycle.Posted by Joseph Siegmann, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal. ... Read More

McGuireWoods, LLP has published an article discussing the SEC's proposed definition for "Family Office."  According to McGuireWoods, the Dodd-Frank Act repealed the old exemption from registration for offices with less than 15 clients and it will ... Read More

The New York Times published an article the recent payroll tax reduction which amounted to a $116 billion tax cut to 95% of Americans.  The article looks at polls and interviews with individuals to show that most of the U.S.... Read More

Forbes has published an article discussing the movement among some billionaires to help preserve the estate tax and.or pledge significant portions of their wealth to charities. 800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExp... Read More

In PLR 201042005, the IRS determined that a husband and wife qualified under section 301.9100-3 for an extension of time to make an election under section 2632(c)(1).Posted by Joseph Siegmann, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal.... Read More

In ILM 201042023, the IRS chief counsel advised that a trust may only take a deduction up to the adjusted basis in the property it donates to a charity under section 642(c).  The chief counsel cautioned that there was not... Read More

Tax Notes has published an article by Sam Goldfrab. The article discusses the possibility that President Obama may be willing to extend some aspects of the Bush Tax Cuts so long as the Republicans make concessions on deficit reductions.See Sam... Read More

Tax Notes has published an article by Joseph Disciullo. The article discusses whether tax return preparers should cooperate with the IRS' new program of unannounced tax preparer compliance visits.  See Joseph Disciullo, Practitioner Encourages Coo... Read More

Tax Notes has published an article by Bridget Crawford, professor at the Pace University School Law. The article discusses the uncertainty of the taxation of George Steinbrenner's estate because of his death in 2010 and a clause in his will... Read More

The Tax Court ruled in an October 26 summary opinion that the a taxpayer was only permitted one half of the allowable deductions from a rental property that the taxpayer owned 50% as a joint tenant with his parent.  The... Read More

The Tax Court ruled in an October 26 memorandum opinion that the taxpayer could not be held liable under transferee liability theory under section 6901(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code.  Judge Goeke reviewed relevant New York case law to determi... Read More

Despite likely Republican gains in the Senate and Congress, staffers are unsure of how the election will effect the extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. See Eric Kroh, "'Elections' Impact on Expiring Tax Cuts Unclear," 2010 TNT 209-1... Read More

Both Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance and Coventry First have retained new lobbying firms to watch changes in tax policy on Capitol Hill See Meg Shreve, "'Lobby Lookout: Life Insurance Companies Monitor Tax Policy," 2010 TNT 209-5 (October 29, 2010).... Read More

In PLR 201043041, the IRS determined that the income a CRUT receives from a solely owned foreign corporation is not taxable unrelated business income under sections 511 and 512(a) of the Internal Revenue Code.  In addition, the IRS determined... Read More

Trading Markets has published an article quoting Senator Olympia Snowe's (R-Maine) comments about the state of the US economy.  Senator Snowe specifically pointed to the new requirement that businesses issue 1099s for every purchase over $600... Read More

The New York State Bar Association has published an opinion allowing attorney's to store their clients' confidential information on third party servers provided certain criteria are met.  Among other things the attorney must ensure that the third ... Read More

In Rolfs et ux. v. Commissioner, Judge Gale of the U.S. Tax Court ruled that the IRS, on audit, properly disallowed a charitable deduction a donation of a residence to the local fire department for the sole purpose of burning... Read More

Richard H. Thaler, professor of economics and behavioral science at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, has published an article in the New York Times discussing the policy choices the congress has in addressing the Estate... Read More

ABC News has published an article discussing the proposal from the Co-Chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Reform and Responsibility which offers suggested budget cuts, tax cuts, and removal of tax deductions to reduce the United States def... Read More

The Peterson-Pew Commission, a private advocacy group, has published an document with recommendations on how the United States should balance its budget.  Among the recommendations are capping the national debt at 60% of GDP by 2018, requirin... Read More

The Washington Post has published an article that Democractic supporters are criticizing President Obama being willing to extend the Bush Tax Cuts for taxpayers making over $250,000 per year.Posted by Joseph Siegmann, Associate Editor, Wealth Stra... Read More

The Wall Street Journal has published an article discussing the Internal Revenue Service's new unit called the "Global High Wealth Industry Group".  The Global High Wealth Industry Group is comprised of very experienced IRS auditors and will focus... Read More

The IRS has published the applicable federal rates for December 2010.Posted by Joseph Siegmann, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal. ... Read More

Congressman David Camp (R-MI) has published an article discussing his views regarding U.S. tax policy.  Congressman Camp would like to repeal many of President Obama's tax hikes and extend the Bush Tax cuts, among other things.Posted by Josep... Read More

United for a Fair Economy has released a press release stating that only 100 of the approximately 5,500 estate tax returns filed for 2009 had a majority of their assets tied up in small businesses.  The press release goes on... Read More

The Tax Court has approved a method of valuing discounts using both the estimated future value and the projected long term capital gain.For more information, please see the article, "New Guidance on Valuation Discounts for Built-In LTCG Tax," on the... Read More

In Private Letter Ruling 201046004, the IRS ruled that a distribution of property to the surviving spouse pursuant to a property settlement agreement among the decedent's heirs will be treated as a distribution from the decedent to the spouse for... Read More

Reuters has published an article quoting Chief Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf as saying that any permanent tax cuts or spending increases may provide short term economic relief but would cause long term negative economic effects.Posted by&nbs... Read More

Bloomberg has published an article reporting that the DOJ has indicted a Californian man with filing false tax returns and conspiracy to defraud the IRS for hiding assets in a UBS bank account from 1992 to 2008.Posted by Joseph Siegmann, Associate... Read More

In 76 F.R. 1105, the IRS has proposed revisions to the regulations under section 6049 that will alter the reporting requirements for interest on deposits "maintained at U.S. offices of certain financial institutions and paid to nonresident alien indiv... Read More

The Senate Democratic Policy and Communications Committee published a report stating that the repeal of health care reform and the permanent extension of tax cuts for high income individuals, estate tax reduction, and a 20% gross income tax deduct... Read More

In PLR 201101001, the IRS ruled that an agreement, created after significant litigation, among a decedent's great grandchildren to distribute trust assets based on a "sophisticated algorithm taken to thirteen decimal places" would not cause trust distr... Read More

In Linton v. United States, No. 09-35681 (9th Cir. 2011), the Ninth Circuit held that the district court's summary judgment for the government denying the refund to the taxpayer for gift taxes paid was improper.  Specifically, the Ninth Circuit he... Read More

In PLR 201103003, the IRS ruled when the taxpayer hired an accountant to prepare the 706 estate tax return and the accountant filed the 706 "without regard to the alternate valuation election" that the taxpayer had complied with the requirements... Read More

In PLR 201103016, the IRS ruled that when the taxpayer hired a CPA firm to prepare the 709 GST tax return and the CPA firm "failed to allocate Donor's available GST exemption" to the trust that the taxpayer had acted... Read More

Tax Notes has published an article by Bridget Crawford, professor of law and the associate dean for research and faculty development at Pace University School of Law. The article reviews the 10 most downloaded articles related to estate and gift... Read More

Tax Notes has published an article reporting that Catherine Hughes, an IRS attorney, stated that guidance is coming for 2010 estate and basis allocation issues as well as several related issues.See Sam Young, "Guidance for Administration of 2010 E... Read More

H.R. 177 would repeal Subtitle B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which relates to the estate, gift, and gst.Posted by Joseph Siegmann, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal.... Read More

In PLR 201104003, the IRS has ruled that for a trust created before September 25, 1985 (that has not had any contributions after that date) the conversion of the trust of the trust into a unitrust will not cause the... Read More

In PLR 201104012, the IRS ruled that when the taxpayer reasonably relies on an accounting firm and a law firm and the accounting firm fails to file the 709 form to allocate the GST exemption in year 1 and the... Read More

In Chief Counsel Advice 201104040, the IRS has advised that a "taxpayer who completes construction and occupies a new home on land with a previous home that the taxpayer owned and used for the required time can qualify for the... Read More

Representative Rob Woodall introduced H.R. 25 which would abolish the IRS, repeal the income, estate and gift, and other taxes. It would replace the repealed taxes with a national sales tax.Posted by Joseph Siegmann, Associate Editor, Wealth Strat... Read More

The IRS has released FAQs for the 2011 Voluntary Disclosure Program for offshore accounts.  The FAQs provide significantly more guidance than the FAQs that were provided for the 2009 Voluntary Disclosure.Posted by Joseph Siegmann, Associate E... Read More

In Combs v. U.S., the district court ruled, among other things, that when the IRS levies an IOLTA account on the basis that the principals of the law firm are using the account as a personal bank account the law... Read More

The Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants, in an open letter to the IRS, has requested that the IRS publish new interim guidelines regarding the trust and administration expenses apply to the 2% floor in section 67(e).  The IRS had... Read More

Tax Notes has published an article interviewing John L. Buckley, a former Democratic tax counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee.  In the article Mr. Buckley discusses his 37 years of experience on the Hill and whether the believes... Read More

Tax Notes has published an article by John Bogdanski, Douglas K. Newell FacultyScholar and a professor of law at Lewis & Clark Law School.  The article discusses the Second Circuit's ruling Estate of Stewart regarding section 2036(a).  Ge... Read More

In a speech before the closing session of Winning the Future Forum on Small Business in Cleveland, President Obama discusses recent tax cuts and potential tax cuts that would boost small business.Posted by Joseph Siegmann, Associate Editor, Wealth... Read More

In PLR 20110810, the IRS ruled that when the taxpayer reasonably relied on an accountant to allocate the GSTT exemption between the taxpayer and spouse on the Form 709 and fails to do so the taxpayer was permitted an additional... Read More

In PLR 201108037, the IRS ruled where a charity owns an office building and uses part of the building as its offices and leases to unrelated parties the rest of the office building there would be no unrelated business income... Read More

The Insured Retirement Institute has published a report showing that a majority of investors in tax deferred annuities make less than $75,000 on an annualized basis.  In addition, the report analyzes why the tax deferral aspects are so important t... Read More

In comments from the floor of the Senate, Senator Grassley discussed the tax patent provisions of the Patent Reform Bill.  Senator Grassley clarified that the Bill was only intended to ban the patenting of tax strategies and nothing related to... Read More

Small business representatives in remarks to Congressional committees discussed how the continual changes to the tax code has made it difficult and expensive for small business owners to make long-term business plans.  Posted by Joseph Siegma... Read More

Fox news is reporting that the DOJ and the defendant have made an agreement whereby the defendant will pay $2.1 million in fines and have 3 years of probation for filing false income tax returns.  The defendant had placed money... Read More

The IRS has released a memorandum explaining the penalty framework for the new Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative ("OVDI").  With some exceptions, the any taxpayer electing to use the OVDI will be subject to all accuracy-related penalties an... Read More

Tax Analysts has published an article analyzing who receives the most benefit from the home mortgage deduction.  The article compares wealthy zip codes to poor zip codes and compares the average home mortgage deduction in each zip code.  The ... Read More

The Department of Justice just released a press release explaining that Mr. Edward Gurary has pled guilty to "filing flase personal income tax returns for the years 2004 through 2008". Mr Gurary has agreed to pay $300,000 in fines, surrender... Read More

James Galbraith (professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and at the Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin) testified before the Senate Finance Committee that a "shift of the tax burden away from labor, onto... Read More

The Senate has passed the American Invents Act, which, among other provisions, bans the patenting of tax strategies.Posted by Joseph Siegmann, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal.... Read More

In Estate of Sylvia Riese et al. v. Commissioner, the Tax Court (judge Vasquez) that even though the QPRT had terminated and the decedent had not paid rent for six months before suddenly dying, there was sufficient evidence of an... Read More

Representative Michael Burgess (R-Texas) has introduced H.R. 1040.  The Bill would allow taxpayers to opt to pay a flat tax instead of an income tax.  The Bill is currently being reviewed by the House Ways and Means and Rules Committees.Poste... Read More

The Tax Policy Center has published a report discussing how President Obama's tax policies would affect the deficit.  President Obama's recommendations would reduce the deficit by approximately $700 billion over 10 years.  However, that would... Read More

Congressman John Lewis (D-Georgia) introduced H.R. 1191 on March 17, 2011.  The Bill would require that income, estate, and gift taxes paid by conscientious objectors would not be allowed to be spend on military programs.  The Bill is current... Read More

Congressman Devin Nunes (R-California) introduced H.R. 1147 on March 17, 2011.  The Bill would permit taxpayers to claim a deduction for certain types of payments that reduce debt on commercial real estate.  The Bill is currently under review... Read More

The IRS has announced that Form 8939 is not due on April 18, 2011 (the deadline for the decedents last tax return) and should not be filed with their final 1040 tax return.  The IRS has not released the new... Read More

The IRS has re-issued the "Interim Guidance on Return Prepare Penalties for Estate and Gift Tax Penalty Cases."  The interim guidance is now set to expire on October 1, 2011.Posted by Joseph Siegmann, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journ... Read More

Robert Frank's article "Millionaires Control 39% of the World's Wealth" published in the Wall Street Journal details how the very wealthy are slowly accumulating a greater and greater percentage of the world's wealth in what Mr. Frank describes as a... Read More

Forbes has published an article describing bizarre bequests made by the rich and famous.  For example, Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, requested that his ashes be scattered into space (his ashes were sent up with a satellite and scattered... Read More