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 [...]
The following tale is the first in a two part series relating to a couple of recent decisions from the United States Tax Court. Both decisions center around the often-litigated topic of a taxpayer’s profit-motive and whether those taxpayers should have been the allowed the losses stemming from their breeding businesses. On December 21, 2021, [...]
Appearing in the October of 2021 issue of ALI CLE’s The Practical Lawyer is an article by Kathleen E. (Splett) Pfutzenreuter and Benjamin A. Wagner addressing a variety of tax topics that small and solo firm lawyers should be ready to answer. The tax topics covered include: when to talk to a tax accountant or [...]
For many taxpayers with multiple active business interests, the material participation test can be a significant tax trap. If the elements of that test are not met, the impact could be that the taxpayer is limited in how the income/loss from that business is recognized on their personal tax return. A recent decision in the [...]
For many business taxpayers who have Small Business Administration (SBA) financing that ultimately goes into default, it can be difficult to work with an SBA receiver and operate a business. While understanding that relationship requires an expertise that is outside the scope of this article, a recent Eleventh Circuit Court case confirmed that employment taxes [...]
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had an interesting New Year’s resolution for 2018: more in-person meetings for taxpayers who have a local IRS Revenue Officer assigned to their case. For many taxpayers, particularly those who are unrepresented, this means that an IRS Revenue Officer will be coming to your home or place of business. The [...]