In my post earlier today I quoted from IRS Notice 2021-83 issued on April 9th, which stated that the FBAR filing requirement deadline is still April 15, 2021, and that the Notice made no reference to the automatic extension. However, later that day the IRS quietly updated it to indicate that the automatic extension was still available. There was no acknowledgment that they made an error, they just tried to sneak it in. The bottom line is Taxpayers still have until October 15th to file their FBAR ..read more

UPDATE: You have until October 15th. The Internal Revenue Service issued a notice on April 9th  reminding U.S. citizens, resident aliens and any domestic legal entity that the deadline to file their annual Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) is still April 15, 2021. The extension of the federal income tax filing due date and other tax deadlines for individuals to May 17, 2021, does not affect the FBAR requirement. This could cause many Taxpayers to inadvertently file their FBAR late. The deadline to file the FBAR was changed several years ago to coincide with the deadlin ..read more

PPP Loans are an excellent way for small businesses with Covid-19 related financial issues to obtain a very low (one percent) interest loan from the government. Unfortunately, if you haven’t applied yet the time period for submitting an application expired on June 30th.  The good news is that the Senate and the House have passed a bill which extends the deadline to apply to August 8, 2020. President Trump signed the bill into law on July 4, 2020. While it seems that large businesses are the usual recipients of government money, this program reaches the smallest of businesses. At the time ..read more

Most, if not all, Payroll Protection Program (PPP) borrowers are focused on the question of whether they will be able to have their PPP loan forgiven.  Many questions have arisen, and some but not all, have been answered by the Loan Forgiveness Application and instructions   released by the SBA on Friday, May 15, 2020.  Here are some of the highlights. Annual “cash” payroll costs are capped at $100,000 per employee. While this is not news, the SBA calculates that this amount on a pro-rata basis for the 8 week “Covered Period” is $15,385. If you do the math, that is eq ..read more

Recently, Dennis was interviewed by Bankrate.com on his thoughts on tax implications of a cash-out mortgage refinance.  Below is an excerpt of the quote: “Capital improvements must substantially improve your home,” explains Dennis Brager, a certified tax specialist with Los Angeles-based Brager Tax Law Group. “Kitchen and bathroom remodels, room additions, modifications for an elderly parent would all qualify…” This is in regards to answering how to use your cash-out refinance money so it’s tax-deductible Read full article here   ..read more

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, the IRS has provided relief to taxpayers by extending filing and other deadlines. Now, in an internal memorandum from Fred Schindler the Director of Headquarters Collection (SBSE), the IRS continues to provide relief to taxpayers with tax debt by suspending most tax collection activities. These changes mirror the previous relief provided by the IRS, and restates the relief contained in the People First Initiative.  Our tax litigation attorneys are advising our clients that they can expect enforced tax collection activities to be suspended unless there ..read more

On Tuesday evening our tax lawyers sent out an announcement discussing some of the tax filing and payment implications of the Covid-19 virus. We indicated that Secretary of Treasury Mnuchin had announced payment and filing extensions for the 2019 income tax returns. Mnuchin was quoted as saying “We encourage those Americans who can file their taxes to continue to file their taxes on April 15,” Mnuchin said. “Because for many Americans, you will get tax refunds.” We took that to mean that the filing deadline as well as the payment deadline was extended.  This is the problem with tax guidan ..read more

Some of you may be concerned about the impact of the Coronavirus aka Covid-19 outbreak on your taxes, and those of your clients. The news from the IRS has been slow in coming. On Friday of last week President Trump declared a National Emergency. At the same time, he directed Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to provide relief from “tax deadlines” to Americans who are adversely impacted by the emergency.  This allows the IRS to extend various deadlines for up to a one-year period.  This authority is not, however, self-executing. That is, the IRS must specify exactly which due dates, and for ..read more

In a 2019 U.S. Tax Court case, Palmolive Building Investors, LLC v. Commissioner, 152 T.C. No. 4, (2019) (Palmolive II), the Tax Court held that both penalties determined by the Revenue Agent in a tax audit and additional penalties later determined  by an Appeals Officer in the IRS Independent Office of Appeals met the written approval requirements of I.R.C. § 6751; thus making Palmolive Building Investors, LLC (Palmolive) a two-time loser. Palmolive was initially in Tax Court in 2017 (Palmolive I) over a disallowed charitable deduction for a façade easement.  As the owner of a histo ..read more

Recently, Dennis was interviewed by Fox News on his thoughts on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s move to North America and how it may impact their taxes.  Below is an excerpt of the quote: “Basically speaking, the U.S. has a system of taxation which is different from the vast majority of countries in the world in that in the United States, if you’re a U.S. citizen, it doesn’t matter where you’re living in the world, you pay tax on all of your income wherever you earn it.” He also went on to say, “So if Meghan takes a modeling job in the U.K., she still pays tax in the United States. She’s ..read more