Among the many ways that Congress uses tax laws to influence taxpayers’ spending, encouraging donations to charitable causes is perhaps the least controversial. Section 170 of Title 26 of U.S. Code, for example, has outlined Internal Revenue Service (IRS) policy on charitable contributions and gifts for decades. For many taxpayers, such donations include small payments [...]
On April 2, 2024, Senate File (SF) 4742, as a companion to House File (HF) 4934, was subject to a hearing before the Minnesota House of Representatives. HF 4934, like SF 4725, would amend Minnesota Statutes 2022, sections 270C.07, subdivision 1 and 270.33, to ensure that the Commissioner of Revenue (Commissioner) is bound by Minnesota [...]
On Thursday, March 21, 2024, the Minnesota Senate Tax Committee had a hearing regarding Chair Ann Rest’s bill, Senate File (SF) 4725, which amends Minnesota Statutes 2022, sections 270C.07, subdivision 1 and 270C.33 to ensure that the Commissioner of Revenue is bound by Minnesota Tax Court decisions in situations where the Commissioner opts not to [...]
The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) is a refundable tax credit for certain eligible business and tax-exempt organizations that had employees and were affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ERC Voluntary Disclosure Program is meant to help employers pay back the money they received after incorrectly filing for ERC claims. Businesses who incorrectly claimed the ERC [...]
Despite the relative rarity of an individual taxpayer’s file being brought to United States Tax Court or even audited, many taxpayers nevertheless fear the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) coming after them. This is not without good reason. Responding to an IRS audit alone can be time consuming and involves obtaining and compiling numerous documents. That [...]
In June 2016, William Canada, Jr. took the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to bankruptcy court and won. Mr. Canada successfully challenged the IRS’s claim for a $40 million penalty, pursuant to IRC §6707, for failing to report tax shelter transactions under IRC §6111. Per IRC §6707, the IRS imposes a penalty on anyone who fails [...]
On April 20, 2017, the United States Tax Court (Court) held in favor the petitioners, John C. Trimmer and Susan Trimmer (together, the Trimmers) against the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, regarding the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS’s) authority to consider a hardship waiver and the notion that the IRS’s authority on the hardship waiver is not [...]
Until relatively recently, the number of individuals who bought and sold cryptocurrencies (crypto) and other digital assets was fairly small. Over the last few years, however, that number has continued to grow exponentially. As a result, there has been an increasing number of calls for government regulation on how individuals’ and businesses’ actions on crypto [...]
On March 9, 2022, President Biden signed an executive order setting out his administration’s strategy regarding digital assets: Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets (Executive Order). The Executive Order is broadly concerned with protecting investors and consumers, guarding against illicit activity, and ensuring financial stability, both in the U.S. and in global [...]
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), like any self-respecting bureaucracy, sometimes makes mistakes. When those mistakes occurs, a taxpayer can make a “qualified offer,” which might lead to a settlement and obviate the need for a drawn out court battle. If the case nevertheless goes to Tax Court, and the taxpayer prevails in their case, they [...]