Category:

tax

The I.R.S. is using AI to Crack Down on Tax Evasion

The Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) issued a press release on September 8, 2023, detailing how the agency plans to use at least part of the $80 million dollar allocation it received from the Inflation Reduction Act last year. I.R.S. Commissioner Danny Werfel plans to use the funds to make compliance enforcement efforts and tax evasion identification more effective and efficient. How does he plan to do this? The overwhelmed and perhaps overworked agency will be using artificial intelligence (AI) programs and features to expedite and assist with redundant processes as well as to audit parties that are too complicated or large for the I.R.S.’s current capabilities.

Should the United States Government Continue Subsidizing the Fossil Fuel Industry?

In his proposed American Jobs Plan, President Biden has stated that if the United States wants to achieve its decarbonization targets and get climate change under control, cutting off government support to the fossil fuel industry is a crucial first step. Eliminating government subsidies for fossil fuels is the most logical step in fighting back against climate change, but Biden is facing an uphill battle to get his American Jobs Plan passed through Congress.

Reining in Tax Havens

Shortly after Bristol Myers Squibb filed to create an offshore subsidiary in Ireland, the IRS took notice. The large drug manufacturer’s actions would now allow them to attribute some of its patent rights and medications to the subsidiary, and therefore subject to a twelve and a half percent Irish corporate tax rate, which is far less than the current twenty one percent rate in the United States. Additionally, while Bristol Myers had maximized the write offs and deductions for their products in the United States, the Irish deductions would now offset the U.S. taxes.

IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program to Shutdown: The End of Amnesty for International Tax Evaders?

The IRS has decided to shutdown its Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) on September 28, 2018.  The program offers amnesty from criminal prosecution and a set penalty structure for those who have previously failed to disclose foreign bank accounts and other foreign assets, including those held through undisclosed foreign entities. Failure to disclose could include failure to file the annual FinCEN Form 114,most commonly referred to as the foreign bank account report or “FBAR”, as well as the failure to report income from such accounts and assets on tax returns and the failure to provide various other foreign information forms and returns.

TAX TALK SERIES: IRS Clarifies Post-TCJA Confusion on Home Equity Interest

On December 20, 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) designed to decrease the taxable rate for corporations and individuals, and significantly limited allowable deductions. Since this change to the Tax Code was one of the largest since the Reagan era, the Internal Revenue Service will need to publish many regulations and advisories in the coming months to better clarify provisions of the TCJA. This multi-part series will explore prominent IRS regulations and advisories as they relate to the TCJA, and what these regulations and advisories mean for both individual and corporate taxpayers. 

TAX TALK SERIES Understanding Notice 1036: IRS Adjusted Withholding Tables to Accommodate New Tax Plan

On December 20, 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) designed to decrease the taxable rate for corporations and individuals, and to limit allowable deductions. Since this change to the Tax Code was one of the largest since the Reagan era, the Internal Revenue Service will need to publish many regulations in the coming months to better clarify provisions of the TCJA. This multi-part series will explore prominent IRS regulations as they relate to the TCJA, and what these regulations mean for both individual and corporate taxpayers.  

The Effect on Compliance of Lowering Corporate Tax Rates is Uncertain

It is commonly accepted that lowering tax rates increases tax compliance and high tax rates encourage tax evasion.  The recent U.S. tax reform bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, was enacted partly due to assumptions that lowered tax rates would increase tax compliance and recover lost revenue.  Here, I examine the theoretical basis for the claim that lowering income taxes increases compliance, as well as the external evidence regarding the extent of increased compliance due to lowering tax rates.

Death and Taxes

As the president and the Republican Party inch closer to finalizing their proposed tax overhaul, one major proposed change is the repeal of the estate tax. The estate tax is a tax on an individual’s right to transfer property upon his or her death, usually to the individual’s surviving relatives or heirs. Currently, estates are taxed at a rate of 40% after the first 5.5 million. While the tax itself only impacts the wealthiest 0.2% of Americans, the inclusion or repeal of the tax in the Republican tax bill will affect Americans of all income brackets.

IRS Suspends Automated Substitute for Return (ASFR) Program

The IRS suspended its Automatic Substitute for Return (ASFR) Program for lack of resources, Tax Analysts  and others report.  The ASFR program has long provided an avenue for the IRS to assess taxes on delinquent filers after requests to file returns were ignored by having its computer system automatically calculate the tax due based on Forms 1099 and other information reports that had been filed with the IRS.  The IRS could then assess the taxes and attempt to collect based on these substitute returns.  However, since deductions were ignored, the tax amounts tended to be inflated, sometimes incredibly so, and significant IRS time was required to respond to contested assessments and collection efforts that were sometimes highly unrealistic.

Appreciating Taxes

After failing to arrive at a consensus on healthcare reform, the Republican party recently passed a blueprint which marked their shift in focus to something less contentious: the American tax code. If the Republicans are successful, compliance with tax regulation in the United States may soon change. An aspect of the code likely to be reformed is how asset appreciation is taxed.