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Buckle Your Seat Belts – Major Changes to International Taxation Currently Pending in Congress.
By on November 27, 2017
As of the date of this article, the U.S. Congress is considering two different legislative proposals that would cause significant changes to the U.S. income taxation of international business activities and investments. The U.S. House of Representatives passed on November 16, 2017, H.R. 1, the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" (the "House Proposal") while the Senate Finance Committee passed, on that same date, its own proposal (the "Senate Proposal"). The Senate and House proposals are generally consistent regarding the nature of the changes that would be made to the U.S. income tax laws affecting international transactions, but there are subtle differences that will need to be resolved as the legislative process moves forward to achieve passage of final legislation. This article does not attempt to summarize every change to the U.S. international tax laws that would result under the pending House and Senate proposals. Rather, this article summarizes five categories of international tax reforms under the pending proposals that would be broadly applicable and thus are important to monitor as the legislative process advances. In addition, this article does not discuss every nuance or detail relating to the pending proposals discussed herein. Instead, this article is intended to provide a high level overview of the pending proposals so that readers will be alerted and can look further into the proposals potentially impacting them.
IRS Issuing "Soft Letters" to Taxpayers Suspected of Under-Reporting their Offshore Activities
By on November 16, 2017
IRS officials are making it known that the IRS is losing patience with taxpayers who have not come forward to fully report their offshore activities. Not only is the IRS doubling down on its efforts to audit taxpayers who withdrew or were denied entry into the IRS' Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, the IRS recently announced a program whereby they will be sending not-so-subtle "soft" letters to taxpayers encouraging them to disclose (or else).
IRS Announces 11 New Enforcement Campaigns: Swiss Account Holders Beware
By on November 6, 2017
On November 3rd, the IRS announced the rollout of 11 Large Business and International (LB&I) enforcement campaigns. The 11 new campaigns are in addition to the 13 LB&I enforcement campaigns introduced by the IRS in January 2017