Access Denied Stamp in Red on White Background
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FBAR Penalties and the Treasury Offset Program: Tax Court Affirms IRS’s Denial of CDP Hearing

Introduction: In Jenner v. Commissioner, 163 T.C. 7 (Oct. 22, 2024) (link to opinion), the U.S. Tax Court held that the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) was under no obligation to provide a husband and wife with a collection due process (“CDP”) hearing prior to offsetting Social Security benefit payments under the Treasury Offset Program (TOP)….

D.C. Circuit Upholds Tax Court Decision That John Doe Summons Precluded Qualified Amended Return
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D.C. Circuit Upholds Tax Court Decision That John Doe Summons Precluded Qualified Amended Return

The Lamprecht case is a good reminder of how long and complex the path can be for international taxpayers to correct prior wrongs and come into compliance for federal income tax purposes. On April 23, 2024, in Lamprecht v Commissioner,  ___ F.4th ___ (D.C. Cir. 4/23/24), ( D.C. Circuit Court opinion) the U.S. Court of…

Form 5471
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DC Circuit: Tax Court was Wrong; IRS has the Authority To Assess Form 5471 Penalties

Summary On Friday, May 3, 2024, the U.S. Circuit Court for the D.C. Circuit overturned the Tax Court’s decision in Farhy v. Commissioner, ___ F.4th ___ (D.C. Cir. 5/3/24) (link to opinion) and held that the IRS has authority under § 6038(b) to assess Form 5471 penalties.   The Tax Court previously held that the…

Image of US Tax, Form 3520, Form 3520-A, Gavel Rendering Judgment
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Tax Court Rejects Excessive Fines Clause Argument and Upholds $11 Million Form 3520 and Form 3520-A Penalties

The Mukhi v Commissioner[1] case is another example of just how severe the penalties are for failing to report certain foreign financial activity timely; in this case, it was the failure to report foreign trusts, related trust activity, and ownership of a foreign corporation on Form 3520, Form 3520-A, and Form 5471 in a timely…

Gavel with hourglass in background.
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Failure to File International Information Forms Allows IRS to Assess Taxpayer More Than Five Years Past Normal Statute of Limitations

The Fairbank case demonstrates the power of IRC § 6501(c)(8) to provide the IRS the ability to assess taxpayers many years after the normal statute of limitations is closed if the taxpayer fails to file all required IRS international information reporting forms. In Fairbank v Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2023-19, the IRS argued that, despite the…

Taxpayer Wins District Court Case on Calculation of Non-Willful FBAR Penalties

In U.S. v. Bittner [1](available here: link), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (the “Court”) handed taxpayers a victory by declining to follow the legal analysis in Boyd v U.S.   In doing so the Court rejected the IRS’s interpretation of what constitutes a “violation” for purposes of computing non-willful FBAR penalties…