Are you Feeling Lucky? You may be on the fence as to whether you want to raise your hand and tell the IRS you’ve been moving money around overseas for the past 20 years. You may also be considering rolling the dice and betting that you won’t be caught. Of course, one risk you’re running...
Time is running out to avoid some major penalties and potential criminal liability. We’ve discussed this program in our posts here and here. We’re getting more and more phone calls of people trying to get in before this opportunity ends. There has been no indication from the IRS that there will be a third disclosure initiative....
In concert with the IRS’ Voluntary Disclosure Program discussed here and here, California is also keenly interested in offering some amnesty to taxpayers who “avoided tax bills” if it mean capturing further state tax revenue. However, the program starts today and the deadline of October 31, 2011 to participate in California’s Voluntary Compliance Initiative is quickly approaching. The benefit of avoiding...
Massive layoffs face the San Francisco Superior Court and it appears Clerks and Commissioners will be hit very hard. I first related Ari Burack’s article on the Dire situation forecast for San Francisco Superior Court here. I then passed on the Court’s press release on this matter here. In what is becoming an unexpected series on this...
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. So it goes for offshore accounts. Offshore accounts have had a high place on the IRS’ radar since 2009, with the IRS’ first push for taxpayers to seek amnesty for unreported offshore accounts through voluntary disclosure. Earlier this year, Alec Harrington let you know about...
On July 11, 2011, the governor signed a new law that prohibits second and third mortgage holders from pursuing deficiency judgments after they have agreed to a short sale. This amends California Code of Civil Procedure Section 580e which prohibited the same practice by holders of first mortgages. Deficiency Judgments If a lender forecloses on...
My step-brother Jeff Jones, of Jones & Company and the affiliated Draco Capital Management, publishes a newsletter called The Draconian. I am a fan of his work and I encourage you to check it out. Today he posted an insightful article, Why Do Taxes Matter, focusing on our current economic direction. What I like most about this...
SEE UPDATE AUGUST 31, 2011 HERE SEE UPDATE JULY 26, 2011 HERE As a follow up to my recent blog regarding the crisis facing our courts, check out today’s press release confirming the impact of state budget cuts on San Francisco’s courts and employees. http://www.sfbar.org/forms/court-press/court-cuts-071811.pdf NEWS RELEASE Superior Court of California COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO...
As if moving through the courts wasn’t slow enough already, it looks like things will be getting worse. Clients beware, practitioners be warned. See the article by Ari Burack in the Examiner: Update – See my post on the Court’s July 18, 2011 press release here. Massive layoffs and courtroom closures in San Francisco Superior Court are expected...
What is a Trust Protector? A trust protector is a person who has the authority to direct the actions of the trustee or trustees of an irrevocable trust. A trustee generally has broad sweeping authority to invest funds and distribute income and principal. In contrast, trust protector has limited authority to give instructions to the...
What is a Loss From a Passive Activity Many people think that owning rental property is one of the best ways to hold an appreciating asset while generating losses for tax purposes. This is true in some circumstances, but many investors are in for a rude shock after they purchase the property and attempt to...
Tax issue leads to impasse in debt reduction talks I thought this was an interesting brief overview of the hurdles and hoops that are being negotiated by our representatives during these times of potential national default. Our economy is an interconnected system of weights and pulleys, maps and legends, that increasingly resembles a cacophonous Rube Goldberg machine...
