Posts

Timely tax filing is crucial

/in , /by

If a tax refund claim is denied, the taxpayer may file a refund lawsuit, within two years of the date the IRS mails the disallowance notice. In one case, a corporation received a refund that should have included (but didn’t) substantial interest due to the lateness of the refund. The corporation then filed a refund suit to recover the interest, but not within the two-year limit. The U.S. District Court rejected the claim, stating that, outside of the two-year limit, the court lacked jurisdiction.

No leg to stand on

/in , , /by

U.S. citizens must generally file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) if they have an account in a foreign country and meet certain requirements. Failure to file an FBAR can result in penalties as high as the greater of $100,000 or 50% of the unreported balance if the failure was willful. When one taxpayer was hit with an FBAR penalty of $1.36 million, he demanded the IRS provide “clear and convincing evidence” that the failure was willful. The Fifth Circuit ruled he lacked standing to enforce his demand. (3/13/16, 2017-532)