Many people believe that television and movie stars live on virtually unlimited incomes. Unfortunately, for some of those entertainers, they act as if that were a true statement, and sometimes run into problems from the taxman. The latest case involves Melissa Gilbert, the star of “Little House on the Prairie,” and the news that thecontinue reading…
Lower penalties for FBAR noncompliance announced by IRS
In recent years, one of the more worrisome tax matters has been FBAR reporting. The Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), which is a required filing for U.S. persons with financial accounts in a foreign country, where they either have an interest in the account or have signatory authority with the account andcontinue reading…
IRS data breach: an important difference
The complexity of cyber security is demonstrated by the recent disclosure of the Internal Revenue Service that 100,000 taxpayers had their tax returns accessed by criminals. This incident was different from previous high-profile breaches of cyber security, such as the hacking of credit card numbers at Target or Home Depot. The criminals technically did notcontinue reading…
Are you certain your payroll taxes are timely paid?
Payroll taxes are one of the more serious side effects of being an employer. The payroll tax is owed by the employer and must be collected and paid to the IRS, but it is treated differently than typical income tax payments by a taxpayer. Because the payroll, or FICA tax, is a component of thecontinue reading…
Compliance is the word
International agreements are difficult to obtain, because often there is no final authority that can step in, like a judge in a legal matter, and order compliance. Disputes around the world, from Israel, Palestine and the West Bank, India, Pakistan and Kashmir, or Greece, Turkey and Cypress, even the U.N. has proved incapable of creatingcontinue reading…