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Pitt loses appeal in lawsuit against IRS
Lawyer News | 2007/11/06 13:08
A federal appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling that granted a tax refund of more than $2 million to the University of Pittsburgh and about 200 faculty members who took early retirement.

Pitt sued the federal government on behalf of its former employees in 2004, arguing early retirement payments between 1996 and 2001 were not taxable wages because faculty members surrendered tenure as a condition of receiving the money.

A federal district court judge agreed, in part. But the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overruled that decision.

The 2-1 court majority says the faculty received the money for past service - making it wages. Pitt says it's not clear whether it will appeal.



IRS to Improve International Tax Administration
Lawyer News | 2007/10/26 14:08

The Internal Revenue Service intends to improve international tax administration in an effort to reduce the tax gap.

As part of that effort, the IRS said it would increase its outreach to international taxpayers, as well as taxpayers in U.S. territories such as Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, while it beefs up enforcement. "We are challenged by a lack of information reporting on many cross-border transactions," said the IRS in a page recently posted on its Web site.

The IRS intends to strengthen its information reporting and withholding systems, enhance its access to international data, and "ensure adherence to professional standards by tax professionals."

The IRS also wants to improve its cooperation with treaty partners to identify inappropriate tax arbitrage and abusive schemes, and provide greater transparency on cross-border transactions. One goal is to detect financial criminal activity involving offshore entities.

Modernization of technology, staff and business processes will play a role in the effort. The IRS hopes to improve its systems for capturing and using information reported by treaty partners to improve U.S. taxpayer compliance.

The agency intends to identify the workforce skills it needs to address emerging international issues and develop training for its employees so they can get these skills. The IRS will also improve its forms and processing systems, and assess its referral systems and resources to make sure that high-risk issues are dealt with in a timely way.



Small Firms Flock to IRS E-Filing
Lawyer News | 2007/10/26 13:06

The more than 42,000 large corporations that have already "e-filed" this year exceeds the approximately 22,000 that were required to file by the Sept. 17 deadline. Small businesses have no electronic filing requirement. "This is a record-breaking year for electronically filed returns by corporations and businesses," said Acting IRS Commissioner Linda Stiff. "We will continue to work with the business community, tax practitioners and the software industry to improve this important program."

Beginning in 2006, certain corporations that had assets greater than $50 million were required to file their basic tax forms electronically. Approximately 15,500 of them filed their returns electronically last year. Starting in 2007, certain businesses with assets of more than $10 million had to file electronically.

"Corporations of all sizes are seeing the long range advantages of integrating their tax filing in an electronic environment along with their tax and financial accounting," said IRS Treaty Administration Director Elvin Hedgpeth. "While large and mid-size corporations are required to e-file, many small corporations are seeing the advantages of e-filing voluntarily."



IRS Wants Poker Tournament Winnings
Lawyer News | 2007/10/24 14:43

The Internal Revenue Service reiterated its demand for casinos and other poker tournament sponsors to begin reporting winnings of more than $5,000 after March 4, 2008. The IRS and the Treasury Department originally issued guidance on Sept. 4 about the requirement, but the IRS is seeking to publicize it further. For tournaments completed during 2007 and before March 4, 2008, the sponsors are not required to report the winnings to the IRS or withhold tax. Beginning March 4, however, all tournament sponsors need to report winnings of over $5,000, usually on a Form W-2G.

Tournament sponsors who comply with the reporting requirement don't need to withhold taxes on the winnings. If the sponsor does not report the winnings, though, the IRS will enforce the reporting requirement and require the sponsor to pay any tax that should have been withheld from the winner. The withholding amount is normally 25 percent.

Tournament winners must provide their taxpayer identification number or Social Security number to the tournament sponsor. If they don't, the sponsor must withhold 28 percent of the winnings. Taxpayers must also report their winnings on their own to the IRS, as they have been required to do in prior years.



Ex-Gov. Kirk settles IRS back-taxes suit
Lawyer News | 2007/10/24 12:41
Months after protesting that he was a political whipping boy for the IRS, former Gov. Claude Kirk has agreed to settle his dispute with the federal government over $320,000 in unpaid taxes. In papers filed in U.S. District Court this week, the 81-year-old agreed to settle the lawsuit by allowing the federal government to put a $320,374 lien on his home in Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach. The roughly 2,000-square-foot, three-bedroom home with a pool has a market value of $264,000, according to the Palm Beach County property appraiser.

Reached Tuesday, Kirk declined to say why he and his wife, Erika, 73, decided to settle the suit rather than fight the IRS in a trial scheduled for next month.

"Let's let it lie for the moment," he said. "It's a long story, but an interesting one."

In a lawsuit filed in March, the IRS claimed Kirk put the home in his wife's name to avoid paying taxes dating to 1995.

In depositions, the couple insisted that she owns the house. However, government attorneys pointed out that on tax returns in 2001, 2002 and 2003 he deducted about $8,000 each year in mortgage interest.

While acknowledging he signed the returns, he insisted: "It's my wife's home, and that is it."

During an August deposition, he said he has been harassed by the IRS since he left the governor's office in 1971, having sealed his place in history as the state's first Republican governor since Reconstruction and the most flamboyant chief executive of either party - ever.

"I left the governor's office broke, b-r-o-k-e, because if you don't steal, it's not a very good job," he told government attorneys. "And I've been harassed by the IRS ever since. They had a system, started with the Carter administration, saying, 'Oh-oh, anybody who has been a politician has got money.' They've been rattling the cage forever."

He declined to say how much he made annually or exactly what he does for a living. He bristled when IRS attorneys attempted to question him about his 2001 tax return that reported $183,540 in earnings.

"I try to have people pay me for advice," he said. "Some of them take that advice and some don't pay me. It's not an easy business. I have no assets. I came out of being governor broke, and it hasn't changed."

The IRS declined comment on the settlement that must be approved by U.S. District Court Judge Donald Middlebrooks.



Dallas businessman pleads guilty to tax charge
Lawyer News | 2007/10/23 11:58

Bruce Alexander Brown, the former owner of an employee leasing business, Excell Personnel, Inc., has pled guilty in federal court to one count of willful failure to account for and pay over nearly $300,000 in payroll taxes owed, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper, of the Northern District of Texas. Brown, who according to an 11-count indictment returned in April that charged him with various tax offenses, is a Dallas resident.  As part of the plea agreement with the government, Brown acknowledged that he has outstanding obligations owed to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for taxes owed by his company, Excell Personnel, Inc., as well as for his personal income taxes.  He faces a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution.  Sentencing is set for January 16, 2008, before U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade.

According to documents filed in Court, from 1996 through at least 2003, Brown was the owner and sole stockholder of Excell Personnel, Inc., which “leased” employees to companies that did not want to directly hire their own workers.  Excell would locate, hire and train employees, and then provide them to the businesses that were Excell’s customers. 

The customers did not directly pay the employees that Excell provided, but rather paid a fee to Excell that included the gross wages that would be owed to the employees for their labor, plus an administrative fee from which Excell received its profit and out of which Excell was obligated to pay indirect costs of the employees and Excell’s overhead expenses. 

Excell, in turn, paid the employees their wages, making deductions for the required withholding of income taxes, Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes and Medicare taxes that were required to be paid to the United States.

Brown admitted that he was aware of the legal obligations and that he knowingly and deliberately chose not to pay over to the IRS the required withholding taxes, social security taxes and Medicare taxes.  During the fourth quarter of 2002, Brown, on behalf of Excell, wilfully failed to pay over to the IRS approximately $297,384.41 in federal income taxes withheld as well as all FICA and Medicare taxes due and owed to the U.S.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip C. Umphres.



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