The Internal Revenue Service disagrees with four major banks over structured transactions done a decade ago with Barclays Plc, which the IRS lacks "Economic Substance." In the first STARS case to go to trial, the U.S. Tax Court ruled that the transactions lacked "economic substance," meaning they were done solely for tax purposes. A judge…
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Americans Renouncing U.S. Citizenship Increased 6X so far in 2013!
Americans renouncing U.S. citizenship increased 6X in the second quarter from a year earlier as the government prepares to introduce tougher asset-disclosure rules. Expatriates giving up their nationality at U.S. embassies climbed to 1,131 in the three months through June from 189 in the year-earlier period, according to Federal Registerfigures published today. That brought the first-half…
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IRS Open Aug. 30 – Furlough Postponed
On April 19, 2013 we posted "IRS Begins Furlough Notice" which discussed that the IRS planned furlough included May 24, June 14, July 5, July 22 and August 30, with another two days possible in August or September. The Internal Revenue Service announced on Aug. 7, 2013 that it will be open on Friday, Aug. 30,…
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Need To Renew Your US Passport … IRS and State Department Begin “Cooperating”!
There are millions of Americans living overseas but only a fraction file United States tax returns and even fewer file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBARs” for short). Back in the 1970’s, Congress passed the Bank Secrecy Act, which requires U.S. taxpayers with aggregate offshore financial assets in excess of $10,000 to report…
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