The top tax rate on long-term capital gains is currently 15%. That’s why Mitt Romney is spending so much time talking about his tax returns. That revelation has set off a familiar debate about whether that low rate is appropriate. Often overlooked in these discussions, however, is the fact that the days of the 15%…
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Treasury Releases Model Intergovernmental Agreement for Implementing the FATCA
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today published a model intergovernmental agreement (model agreement) to implement the information reporting and withholding tax provisions commonly known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Enacted by Congress in 2010, these provisions target non-compliance by U.S. taxpayers using foreign accountsThe agreement was developed in consultation…
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Retroactivity of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010
The issue of whether to apply a new sentencing law to crimes committed before the enactment of the law has long confounded judges, both because of the recurring failure of legislatures to be clear about their intentions and because of the inherent questions of fairness that arise from the imposition of disparate sentences for the…
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IRS Business Audit Compliance Initiative Projects
The IRS regularly conducts national, regional and local compliance initiative projects (CIPs) to study suspected areas of noncompliance. The IRS uses the data from these projects to develop more comprehensive projects and allocate its audit resources to the areas showing significant noncompliance. This alert details audit initiatives focusing on business taxpayers. The projects listed are…
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