United States | TaxConnections

24 Jan 2020

Global Tax Chiefs Undertake Unprecedented Multi-Country Day Of Action To Tackle International Tax Evasion

A globally coordinated day of action to put a stop to the suspected facilitation of offshore tax evasion has been undertaken this week across the United Kingdom (UK), United States (US), Canada, Australia and the Netherlands.

The action occurred as part of a series of investigations in multiple countries into an international financial institution located in Central America, whose products and services are believed to be facilitating money laundering and tax evasion for customers across the globe.

It is believed that through this institution a number of clients may be using a sophisticated system to conceal and transfer wealth anonymously to evade their tax obligations and launder the proceeds of crime.

Written by Kat Jennings | Posted in Australia • Canada • International Tax Evasion • J5 • Netherlands • United Kingdom • United States

24 Jan 2018

What You Need To Know About Renouncing U.S. Citizenship

The U.S. citizenship comes with all the arduous requirements and liabilities, hence why more people than ever started to question whether the benefits outweigh the costs. Thought of renouncing a U.S. citizenship may pass through your mind if you are already a dual citizen, have no ties with the U.S. and don’t want to carry the U.S. tax burden anymore. Some people fall into the category of “Accidental Americans” and they have never even considered themselves being Americans, so it’s the only way to free themselves from the IRS and stop playing their tax game. Read More

Written by Olivier Wagner | Posted in Canada • Citizenship • United States

07 Dec 2017

President Trump’s Tax Proposals

Both the House and Senate have passed their versions of President Trump’s tax bill, and there are many similarities, including the limiting of itemized deductions to mortgage interest, charitable contributions, and property taxes (up to $10,000), and the doubling of the estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions from $5.6 million to $112 million in 2018. These versions also differ in a number of ways. These differences will have to be resolved through a legislative conference committee. Some differences should be easy to reconcile, but resolving others is expected to take time and effort. Read More

Written by Lisa Nason | Posted in Donald Trump Tax Plan • United States

06 Dec 2017

South Carolina to Amazon: Collect Sales Tax Now

States are continuing to come up with ways to collect sales tax from online sellers (specifically Amazon’s third-party sellers). South Carolina recently filed a motion in court to force Amazon to collect these taxes and fees on behalf of its third-party sellers.

As it is now, Amazon collects sales tax on items purchased directly from them, but the retail giant does not collect it on sales made on the site by a third party. South Carolina is claiming it could lose more than $500 million in sales tax if Amazon doesn’t begin collecting them now, and is asking the court to require the retailer to charge sales tax and put it into a trust or escrow-type account until the case is settled. Read More

Written by Monika Miles | Posted in Sales And Use Tax • United States

06 Dec 2017

FinCEN Issues $8 Million Penalty on California Card Club for Willful Violation of Anti-Money Laundering Controls

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced an $8 million civil money penalty against Artichoke Joe’s, a California corporation, doing business as Artichoke Joe’s Casino (AJC). AJC, one of the largest card clubs in California, willfully violated U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) laws from October 2009 to November 2017. During this 8-year period, AJC failed to implement and maintain an effective AML program, and failed to detect, deter, and timely report many suspicious transactions. Read More

Written by William Byrnes | Posted in FinCEN • United States

05 Dec 2017

Tax Reform Links and Examples

UPDATED 12/2/17: Tax reform is moving along. The House Ways and Means Committee introduced its bill – H.R. 1, on November 2 and the House passed it on November 16. The Senate Finance Committee released its proposal on November 9 and passed it on November 16. Late on 12/1/17, the Senate passed a bill that made numerous amendments to the bill passed by the Senate (see the list of amendments in this JCT document). Now the House and Senate need to create a conference committee to work out the differences among the bills and that version will go back to House and Senate for votes. Or, perhaps the House will just pass the Senate version, but I don’t think so. I think there are some items the House doesn’t like such as the corporate rate reduction not starting until 2019.

Written by Annette Nellen | Posted in Senate • Tax Reform • United States

05 Dec 2017

FinCEN Further Restricts North Korea’s Access to the U.S. Financial System and Warns U.S. Financial Institutions of North Korean Schemes

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act that severs Bank of Dandong, a Chinese bank that acts as a conduit for illicit North Korean financial activity, from the U.S. financial system. FinCEN also issued today an advisory to further alert financial institutions to schemes commonly used by North Korea to evade U.S. and United Nations (UN) sanctions, launder funds, and finance the North Korean regime’s weapons programs.

Written by William Byrnes | Posted in Financial Institutions • FinCEN • International • Treasury Regulations • United States

30 Nov 2017

How To File Taxes With A 1099 Tax Form

If you’re a 1099 worker, your tax life is very different than that of employees. It’s vitally important to understand how to file your taxes when you’re a 1099 worker, or you can end up in big trouble with the IRS.

Written by Advertorial | Posted in 1099 • Advertorial • MILEIQ • United States

24 Nov 2017

Corporate Tax Executive Compensation in 2017 – The Real Story

When you spend years acquiring compensation data on corporate tax executives you learn a lot! TaxConnections conducts a compensation study every two years given the enormity of the project. This requires an extraordinary amount of effort to compile information, match up technical responsibilities for specialized tax roles, organize the information by geographical regions, and make sense of a wide range of equity programs. We conduct compensation studies in order to help corporate management teams attract the tax talent they need. These studies are not money-makers given the great deal of time it takes to prepare them. It is difficult to obtain salary information as people must trust you in order to get the real story! We must also organize it in a fashion that makes sense when you step out of the realm of base plus bonus and into the realm of equity and perks which are as vast as the sea. What you need to know is the real story behind corporate tax compensation if you want to successfully retain and keep the very best tax talent on the market..

Written by Kat Jennings | Posted in Corporate • International • Tax Management • Tax Reform • United States

23 Nov 2017

What Are the Implications for Partnerships and Partnership Taxation Under the Republican Proposals for Tax Reform?

Charles Lincoln, Esq. (LL.M. International Tax) authors this article analyzing from an international tax law perspective, what might be the effects of the new proposed partnership rules in the US?

Partnerships are a complex combination of sole proprietorship rules, corporate rules, and financial accounting rules—the tax consequences are outlined primarily in Subchapter K of the US Internal Revenue Code.[1] Partnerships often involve individuals and individuals with corporations acting as partners engaging in business. However, when comparing the US approach to partnerships, there can be differences—especially in the concept of opaque and flow entity through taxation. Opaque is when the profits are taxed at the corporate entity level and flow through is when the profits are taxed at the individual level.

Written by William Byrnes | Posted in International • Tax Reform • United States

23 Nov 2017

Michigan in the Spotlight: History, Business Climate, Tax Incentives and Credits

This month takes us to the Wolverine State of Michigan. The origins of this name are obscure, but may be derived from a busy trade in Wolverine furs during the 18^thCentury.

Its largest city, Detroit, is famed as the seat of the U.S. auto industry, which inspired Diego Riviera’s murals at the Detroit institute of Arts. Also in Detroit is Hitsville U.S.A., the original headquarters of the Motown Record Company. Michigan is home to many great musicians including The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Bob Seger, Kid Rock and Alice Cooper.

Written by Monika Miles | Posted in Tax Credit • Tax Incentives • United States