Month: May 2018

In cases of tax evasion, cynics will point out that courts adjudicating the law are often less concerned with providing justice, and more concerned with making an example out of the accused. The government’s prosecution of Ty Warner – the international billionaire, creator of “Beanie Babies”, and philanthropist – is an example of the court providing unreasonably harsh treatment to a public figure, for the sake of admonishing the public to pay their taxes.

The IRS rules by fear and intimidation. Because of this, tens of thousands of US expatriates who learned they were in non-compliance and took the steps to rectify the situation. However, there are countless US expats who would love to be in tax compliance, but simply can’t afford the cost of hiring a firm like ours to help them submit their Streamlined “Foreign” Submission. Once such person is our latest podcast guest, “Julio.” Julio has decided to definitely NOT be in compliance. His reasons are well-known to many US expats, perhaps not so well-known to Congress.

If you are looking for some sort of IRS tax amnesty, there are changes and new proposed changes to the law to consider. With Tax Reform passed in 2017, and a new IRS Tax Relief Act (The Taxpayer First Act of 2018) being proposed, now more than ever it is essential if that you understand how IRS tax settlements actually work. In this article we will review the various IRS initiatives, answer some of the very basic and more advanced questions about how to deal with back taxes, penalties and interest, and the issues that arise from owing the IRS money or larger fears.