Blogs

The tax season is the time when the IRS is the busiest. The agency has complained about the lack of staff, but the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administrator (TIGTA) found in its 2013 report that the IRS processed tax returns and issued refunds on time in 2013 in spite of the delay in the... Continue reading →

The TIGTA has reported that the IRS, in spite of the delay in the start of the tax season, processed tax returns and issued refunds on time. At the beginning of 2013, the IRS had to delay the tax filing season because of the enactment of the American Taxpayer Relief Act. This left the IRS... Continue reading →

Starting 2014, foreign financial institutions (FIIs) in countries that have FATCA agreements will be required to report to the IRS. Countries that have FATCA agreements with the United States include France, Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, Mexico, Denmark, Spain and Germany. FFIs in these countries are required to register with the IRS. In an effort to increase... Continue reading →

Americans living abroad will now need to take extra care with their tax responsibilities because the IRS is focused on tax compliance of American taxpayers living overseas, as well as foreign financial institutions (FIIs) in countries with which it has struck a FATCA agreement. Taxpayers living overseas will need to report their income from all... Continue reading →

U.S. citizens are required to report assets in foreign countries to the IRS by law. Noncompliance can result in penalties and/or imprisonment. Any unreported assets in bank accounts or financial entities can lead to trouble with the IRS even if the taxpayer did not intend to break the law.The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)... Continue reading →

The IRS has opened a new online Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) registration system to make it easier for financial institutions to register. Under FATCA, foreign financial institutions are required to report financial accounts held by U.S. taxpayers or foreign entities in which U.S. taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest. This transparency will assist... Continue reading →

To file taxes correctly, taxpayers need to carefully recheck the information on their tax return even if their return was prepared by a professional tax preparer. Small mistakes can lead to rejection of a tax return, or worse, tax debt. To ensure that they file correctly every time, taxpayers should re-check calculations on the return... Continue reading →

The IRS shutdown that lasted for 16 days has impacted all its operations, be it the issuing of the tax refunds, collection actions, or corresponding with taxpayers. During the shutdown, more than 90 percent of IRS employees were not working. Now, the IRS has re-opened all its operations, but the backlog is huge, and it... Continue reading →

The federal shutdown that last for 16-days is continuing to take its toll on the IRS. Apart from tackling the delays caused by the large number of tasks that went unattended during the shutdown, the IRS is also considering the impact the shutdown will have in 2014. The agency has already announced that the 2014... Continue reading →

Even though the IRS has identified small businesses and sole proprietorships as the biggest contributors to tax evasion, unaccounted income and assets in tax havens are another major form of tax evasion that the IRS has started to curb.Many large multi-national corporations and wealthy taxpayers have been using tax havens to illegally and legally avoid... Continue reading →