By Megan L. Brackney Journal of Passthrough Entities May – June 2019 Edition Under the injunction statutes in the Internal Revenue Code, the U.S. government has broad discretion to seek—and the federal courts to order—the injunction of the preparation of false or fraudulent returns, as well as the aiding and abetting
By: Robert S. Fink LexisNexis 38th Ed. 2019 The 38th edition of “Tax Controversies: Audits, Investigations, Trials” has published and is available on Lexis-Nexis. Authored by Kostelanetz & Fink co-founder Robert S. Fink and the attorneys of Kostelanetz & Fink, Tax Controversies is the recognized guide to all stages of tax examination, investigation,
By: Megan L. Brackney The CPA Journal June 2019 Edition Although some are unaware of the fact, taxpayers can recover fees and costs from the government if the IRS has taken an unreasonable position against them. The IRS may be responsible for fees due to unreasonable positions that it took during
By: Michael Sardar The CPA Journal May 2019 Edition The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), signed into law on December 22, 2018, delivered sweeping changes to the federal tax code. These changes brought with them ambiguity and uncertainty, which will likely lead to federal tax audits and disputes on how
By: Bryan C. Skarlatos and Stephen A. Josey Journal of Tax Practice & Procedure February – March 2019 Edition Tax law is so complicated that nearly everyone makes a mistake sooner or later. What should a taxpayer do when he or she learns of a mistake on a previously filed tax return? Of
By: Usman Mohammad The CPA Journal January 2019 Edition On November 20, 2018, the IRS published an Interim Guidance Memo concerning voluntary disclosures, captioned “Updated Voluntary Disclosure Practice” (http://bit.ly/2UHHdLm). The memo sets forth the IRS’s current policy for handling voluntary disclosures (both offshore and domestic) following the closing of the IRS’s
By Megan L. Brackney Journal of Passthrough Entities January – February 2019 Edition The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (the “BBA”) made substantial changes to the audit procedures for passthrough entities. This column discusses how partnerships and individual partners will be able to challenge penalties under the BBA procedures. The BBA
By: Jay Nanavati The CPA Journal December 2018 Edition In modernizing the tax whistleblower statute over the last 12 years, Congress has finally created a simple and enforceable entitlement to substantial compensation for tax whistleblowers. Unfortunately, in practice, the IRS’s whistleblower program still falls short of achieving its potential for improving
By: Caroline Rule The American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Criminal Litigation Committee November 15, 2018 If you are an attorney who practices in the criminal tax area, be aware of 26 U.S.C. § 7216, which makes it a crime for a tax return preparer to make unauthorized use or disclosures
By: Bryan C. Skarlatos & Michael Sardar June – July 2018 Edition Journal of Tax Practice & Procedure Imagine a situation in which Congress passed a statute establishing civil penalties for certain conduct, including the maximum penalty that may be imposed for such conduct, and delegated enforcement of the statute to a federal
