Everything Tax Law Blog
Do Criminal Convictions Deter Employment Tax Crimes?
Failing to pay taxes to the government is a crime. This includes failing to pay employment taxes withheld by employers from employee wages. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (“TIGTA”) just released a report suggesting that the government has failed to enforce employment tax crimes. The report argues that the IRS’s lax enforcement results […]
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S Corporation Owner Who Didn’t Receive Distribution Subject to Tax
Taxpayers who own an interest in an S corporation but who are not familiar with the tax rules are often surprised to learn that they have to pay tax on the business profits even if they do not receive distributions from the business. The court recently addressed this fundamental concept in Dalton v. Commissioner, T.C. […]
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Subchapter S Corporation Losses Limited by Tax Basis
One of the benefits of Subchapter S corporations is the ability to have losses flow through from the business’ tax return to the individual shareholder’s tax return. These flow-through losses are limited by the shareholder’s tax basis in the S corporation stock. The court recently addressed this limitation in Tinsley v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion […]
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Forgotten Offer in Compromise Extended IRS Collection Time
Sometimes it is best to wait for the IRS’s collection statute to expire. This is a wait-and-see approach where the taxpayer waits to see if the IRS attempts to collect the tax debt. To succeed, it is important for the taxpayer to not extend the IRS’s collection statute. This issue came to a head in […]
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Bad Credit May Result in Disallowance of Bad Debt Deduction
In Scheurer v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2017-36, the court denied a bad debt deduction for a loan that an unrelated third party would not have made given that the borrower had bad credit. This is one of the factors the courts consider in deciding whether a bad debt deduction is allowable. The case adds to […]
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Check Signing Activity Not Sufficient for Trust Fund Penalty
The IRS will often assert trust fund recovery penalties against anyone who signs checks written on the business checking account. The court addressed this in Shaffran v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2017-35, concluding that some check signing activity alone is not sufficient to impose a trust fund recovery penalty. The case provides some insight as to […]
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Appeals Court Upholds IC-DISC Roth IRA Tax Strategy
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the IC-DISC Roth IRA tax strategy in In Summa Holdings, Inc. v. Commissioner, No. 16-1712 (2017). This tax strategy allows business owners to sidestep the annual Roth IRA contribution limits, thereby allowing the taxpayers to amass sizable amounts in their Roth IRAs to grow tax-free. The case is […]
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Relying on an Attorney for a Tax Filing Deadline is Reasonable Cause
In Estate of Hake v. United States, No. 1:15-CV-1382 (M.D. Pa 2017), the court considered whether relying on an attorney for when a tax return had to be filed, rather than relying on the attorney to file the tax return, was reasonable cause. The case should make it easier to get failure-to-file penalties removed for […]
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Discount Loyalty Programs are Not Trading Stamp Companies
Accrual method taxpayers generally must recognize advance payments in taxable income in the year of receipt, because receipt satisfies the all events test. The trading stamp rules are an exception to this all-events test. These rules apply to businesses that have customer loyalty programs. The rules can result in significant tax deferral as they allow […]
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Planning for Tax Refunds in Bankruptcy
Given that it is tax season, the In re Porter, No. 16-11831-BFK (E.D. Vir. 2017) case serves as a timely reminder that taxpayers who have unpaid tax debts and who are expecting sizeable tax refunds may benefit from timing the filing of their bankruptcy cases. Facts & Procedural History The facts and procedural history are […]
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