Anyone with $10,000 in one or more foreign financial accounts (determined by taking the maximum balance of each account at any time during the year, summing the maximums, and comparing the sum to $10,000) must file Form TD F 90-22.1 (the FBAR). The form must be received on or before June 30th, so that means [...]

There may be some shenanigans happening north of the border. Canada’s Globe and Mail reports that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating officials at Canada Revenue Agency over a a $1 Million alleged kickback scheme. The allegations revolve around an accountant whose firms received a $10 million tax bill. CRA officials told the accountant [...]

Back in 1999, the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (thankfully, they are also known as the Gun Lake Tribe–a much easier mouthful to pronounce) were recognized as an Indian tribe. They asked the Secretary of Interior to acquire property to build a casino near Gun Lake in Wayland Township, Michigan. But there was a thorn [...]

This past week I received the following question: I was playing in the daily Deep Stack tournament at the Rio during the World Series of Poker. With seven players left we decided to chop the prize pool, but Caesar’s [the owner of the Rio Hotel and the World Series of Poker] refused to facilitate the [...]

The California legislature passed yet another Bad Budget™ that used gimmicks and a hoped for tax increase this fall to balance the budget. The budget passed on a party-line vote with no Republican support. Governor Jerry Brown has not yet signed the budget, and it’s possible he’ll use his red pencil (the line-item veto) to [...]

I’ve written about bank secrecy in Liechtenstein before. One Liechtenstein bank, Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG (LLB), has received a “group request” for information. The IRS wants information on accounts with $500,000 or more from 2004 or later. If you happen to be one of those account holders and you have been reporting your foreign account with [...]

Last month I reported on the Nifty Fifty’s chain of restaurants in Philadelphia. As expected, an indictment on tax charges was coming. And it appears that a plea deal did occur, as all five defendants pleaded guilty on Friday to various tax charges. While the two owners face 50 years in prison, it’s likely they’ll [...]

Baseball Hall of Fame member Tony Gwynn has tax troubles. The former San Diego Padre and current head baseball coach at San Diego State University owes more than $400,000 in back taxes according to a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune. Mr. Gwynn has a tax attorney, Mitch Dubick, and, according to the report, working [...]

Joe Kristan has an excellent update that is a must-read for owners of multiple S-Corporations. The Tax Court validated a traditional S-Corporation planning technique: You can distribute basis from one S-Corporation to another. There are some caveats (aren’t there always?), and the paperwork is vital, but this is a technique that can work.

A building needs a sound structure to survive. In the world of tax, structuring is something to be avoided. A used car dealer in Waterloo, Iowa has learned that. The IRS learned of alleged structuring of deposits for Century Finance, a lending arm of Champion Motors in Waterloo. The IRS raided the business. I’m unsure [...]