Tax Proposal In New York

According to the website of New York Senator Thomas O’Mara he will not support the proposed immigrant tax.
State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C-Big Flats)joined Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt and members of the Senate Republican Conference to respond to a recent proposal by leading state Senate Democrats to impose a “Migrant Tax” on New Yorkers to address the burgeoning migrant crisis statewide.

The Senate GOP penned a letter calling on Senate Democrats to immediately dismiss the proposal.

The letter (see attached copy) reads, in part, “We have seen our local resources drained and not only chaos, but danger unfolding. It is deeply offensive that we would force New Yorkers to continue to foot the bill for the failures of Washington and Albany politicians as this crisis grows, a bill that Mayor Adams has estimated will cost the State of New York $12 billion to house and provide services to migrants over the next three years…New Yorkers have already been forced to shoulder this burden in an already tenuous economy. As members of the Senate Republican Conference, we have consistently stood with the taxpayers of New York State and we urge the Majority to reject any effort to raise taxes.”

O’Mara, the ranking member on the Senate Finance and Government Operations committees, said, “There’s no end in sight to New York’s border crisis and true to form, the only answer from some leading Albany Democrats is to want state and local taxpayers to foot the bill for ongoing chaos. It is a complete failure of leadership and common sense at the state and federal levels, and it just keeps getting worse. Upstate localities have every right to protect their communities from an onslaught of asylum seekers that threaten to overrun local resources, social services, schools, and budgets, to mention nothing of the public health and safety concerns. New York State taxpayers should never be forced to bail these sanctuary city Democrats out of a disaster of their own making.”
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William Byrnes

Anything that improves the employment of tax professionals, I am for. Thus, states with their own tax codes that do not correspond to the federal Internal Revenue Code, at least for my students and alumni, are OK by me. Unless I own a business. Then it’s maddeningly complex, and compliance expensive, to operate in several tax regimes.

Not saying that the CARES Act provisions made good tax policy sense. But unless New York state (and city) has something better to offer, the Covid-19 meltdown does not seem like an opportune time to ‘stick it’ to Congress’ because Congress seems to enact ineffectual tax provisions. Not that the typical New York voter understands or cares about 163(j) relief or NOL. And arguably, most voters do not feel sympathy for the large business and investment partnership vehicles (at least until I remind them that it is their retirement accounts that own the majority of the publicly held businesses and investment vehicles, and thus they’ll be working a little longer than they hoped for).

New York based business in particular may come to understand when the CPA / tax advisor informs that on the federal return Covid-19 stimulus relief is allowable but not so on the NY state return. Some NY based businesses are going to feel that their state didn’t have their backs. Other businesses that are large enough and able because of industry to relocate operations have time a plenty at this moment to think about such relocation. (Texas will be open for business again soon).
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John-Richardson- Investigating the Transition Tax

Individuals Subject to U.S. State Tax Jurisdiction, the Response of New York State

This is the tenth in my series of posts about the Sec. 965 Transition Tax and whether/how it applies to the small business corporations owned by taxpaying residents of other countries (who may also have U.S. citizenship). These small business corporations are in no way “foreign”. They are certainly “local” to the resident of another country who just happens to have the misfortune of being a U.S. citizen.

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Tax Job, Senior Tax Manager - International

Position is responsible for providing technical tax leadership, with an emphasis on international tax. Position is responsible for international tax matters for the Americas consolidated group including preparation and/or review of international portions of the consolidated tax provision, preparation and/or review of international reporting requirements for the US consolidated return and transfer pricing. Transfer pricing responsibilities include managing documentation processes, preparation and review of various analyses, providing guidance to Brand Finance and Operations teams and intensive interaction with HQ transfer pricing team. Responsible for transfer pricing in a complex inbound, multinational group. Position is responsible for ensuring timely compliance and reporting by the international affiliates in the group for both income and transaction taxes. Highly visible position especially regarding transfer pricing. Significant interaction with the business as well as accounting teams.

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A new U.S. District court case has added to the recent upswing in cases tackling the issue of defining “willful” for purposes of applying the more severe penalties for failure to file the FBAR.

In U.S. v. Garrity, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56888 (D. Conn. 2018), a United States District Court of Connecticut judge ordered that in moving to the next phase of trial, the IRS must prove the elements of its FBAR penalty claim only by a preponderance of the evidence, and the IRS can satisfy its burden to prove willfulness by evidencing reckless conduct by the taxpayer. Read More

The IRS has published the 2017 version of its annual IRS Data Book, which contains statistical information about the IRS and taxpayer activities during the previous year. The IRS Data Book helps illustrate the breadth and complexity of the U.S. tax system. According to the Data Book, during fiscal year 2017 (Oct. 1, 2016 to Sept. 30, 2017), the IRS collected overall more than US$ 3.4 trillion from taxpayers, processed more than 245 million tax returns and other forms, and issued more than $436 billion in tax refunds.

The IRS also audited almost 1.1 million tax returns during fiscal year 2017.  Almost 90% of the audited returns were individual income tax returns. While the percentage of overall returns audited was relatively low at 0.5% overall, the percentages were significantly higher for two types of taxpayers – wealthy individuals and individuals filing international returns. Read More

A levy is a legal seizure of your property to satisfy a tax debt. Refusal to pay the tax will have the following result. The IRS will usually issue a levy after they assess the tax and send a tax bill or a Notice and Demand for Payment.

If you still refuse to pay, then the IRS will issue a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing at least 30 days before the levy. The IRS may give you this notice in person, leave it at your home or business, or send it to your last known address by certified or registered mail with return receipt request. Read More

Of all the income tax provisions in Trump’s major tax reform legislation, the so-called “transition tax” is perhaps the most unusual in its scope and breadth. For many U.S. persons owning foreign companies that trigger the transition tax, a certain degree of panic set in at the beginning of this year, because the transition tax statute (IRC Section 965), if read strictly, seems to give a hard deadline of April 15 for paying the first portion of the tax under the statute’s payment installment plan. Read More

As with many numbers in the U.S. tax code (for example, the foreign earned income exclusion maximum amount), FBAR penalties increase periodically due to inflation.

Recently, the IRS announced that FBAR penalties for noncompliance would be increased for penalties assessed after January 15, 2017. A brief summary of the FBAR requirement and the new penalty amounts are the subjects of this blog.

The FBAR Requirement – A Quick Background Read More

With its ruling n. 975 issued on January 18, 2018 Italy’s Supreme Court held that the transfer of an asset (real estate property) to an irrevocable trust falls outside the scope of Italy’s registration, cadastral and mortgage taxes (transfer taxes), charged at the aggregate rate of 10 percent, on the theory that it is a transitory step before the final transfer of the property to the beneficiaries of the trust actually occurs, at which time the transfer taxes should apply.

The ruling is consistent with a previous decision of the Supreme Court on the same issue, that is, ruling n. 21614 of October 26, 2016 (which we also commented upon on this blog). Read More

Are you a non-US person with a US LLC? Then you need to be aware of the major new US reporting requirement for foreign-owned LLCs. The deadline is coming up soon.

Previously, foreign-owned single-member LLCs enjoyed an exemption from US tax reporting requirements. Starting with the 2017 tax year however LLCs that are wholly owned by foreign persons and did not elect to be treated as corporations for tax purposes, are subject to new IRS reporting requirements. Read More

In today’s age of “digital nomads,” the idea of working remotely overseas continues to grow in popularity. New programs, such as Remote Year, have further facilitated overseas commuting by organizing year-long trips for employees and freelancers to live in multiple cities abroad. Participants, for example, travel in groups to live in multiple cities throughout Europe, Asia and South America, for one month each over a year period.

Working abroad presents a number of unique U.S. income tax issues and opportunities for the digital nomad.  One main issue is qualification for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (“FEIE”), which allows U.S. citizens living abroad to exclude their foreign earned income from U.S. federal taxation. Another important issue is a digital nomad’s potential liability for state and local taxation even during their time living and working abroad. Read More