By Bryan C. Skarlatos and Stephen A. Josey Journal of Tax Practice and Procedure October – November 2019 Edition Tax law is famously complex – a constantly shifting maze of statutes, regulations, IRS publications, and case law. As such, the process of filing tax returns can be an arduous task for the hundreds
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: Michael Sardar Tax Stringer April 2019 Edition Download Publication On March 13, 2018, the IRS announced that it would end its long-running Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (“OVDP”) on September 28, 2018. With the closure of one of the IRS’s most successful compliance enforcement programs, practitioners were anxious for the IRS
By: Sharon L. McCarthy The CPA Journal February 2019 Edition On December 14, 2018, former CPA Marc Berger was sentenced to eight months in prison after a federal jury convicted him on three counts of aiding and abetting tax evasion for a client. Berger’s fall from grace serves as an important
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: 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: Michael Sardar August 2018 Edition The CPA Journal On March 13, the IRS announced that it will close the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP), effective September 28, 2018. In the announcement, the IRS encouraged taxpayers who need to disclose noncompliant and unreported foreign accounts and assets to come forward before
By: Sharon L. McCarthy The CPA Journal May 2018 Edition IRS Notice 2014-21, issued on March 25, 2014, made it clear that the IRS would treat virtual currencies that can be converted into traditional currency as property for federal income tax purposes (Notice 2014-21). This means that gain from the sale and
By Caroline Rule The Tax Lawyer In 1976, in Fisher v. United States, the Supreme Court first recognized the “act of production privilege” as being a necessary component of the Fifth Amendment’s privilege against self-incrimination. A grand jury subpoena or Service summons does not violate the Fifth Amendment just because documents the
By Wendy Abkin, George Abney, and Caroline D. Ciraolo Tax Executive Institute February 2018 TO DISCLOSE OR NOT TO DISCLOSE, THAT IS THE QUESTION Hamlet’s thoughts weighed heavily upon him. Should he suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or take arms against a sea of troubles? For the young Prince
