The IRS is targeting high-income taxpayers who have not complied with their tax obligations. As part of a larger effort to ensure compliance and fairness, the Internal Revenue Service said on February 19th that it will step up efforts to visit high-income taxpayers who have failed to timely file one or more of their tax returns. The IRS has recently hired additional enforcement personnel, […]

…While these terms do not roll off the tongue, they present the in-the-know investor with a wonderful opportunity. Created as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, a QOZ is an economically distressed community in the United States where new investments get preferential tax treatment. The QOFs, in turn, are investment structures […]

The article below was written by USTAXFS Tax Director, Andrew Aldridge, in January 2020. It was first published in and is copyrighted by, Taxation magazine. The recent announcement by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to step back from their ‘senior’ royal status has brought back into focus that the duchess is a US citizen. When […]

The Federal tax return filing thresholds were updated for the 2018 tax year, with the most significant change being for individuals filing as “Married Filing Separately.” The income tax return filing threshold was reduced from $4,050 in 2017 to just $5 for 2018. However, Publication 54 – Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens […]

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), enacted in December 2017, increased the life-time exclusion amount of transfers subject to Estate/Gift tax from $5 million to $10 million. Adjusted for inflation, this amount is $11.4 million in 2019. The TCJA also provides that this higher amount will revert to its pre-TCJA amount after 2025. The […]

While there has been no official change to the current FBAR penalty rules we laid out in 2015, it should be noted there was a recent court case which has reached an unfavorable result for taxpayers with regard to potential FBAR non-willful penalties. In an April 2019 California District Court case (U.S. vs Boyd), the […]

The US tax year ends on 31 December 2019. As always, the final months of the year provide an opportunity to focus on 2019 year-end tax planning opportunities available to optimize US tax for the 2019 tax year. Effective year-end tax planning starts with understanding both current circumstances and subsequent year issues that may affect a […]