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Features News Articles and Reports − keeping you up-to-date with local and international tax-related matters.
Fresh IRS warning to taxpayers with seriously delinquent tax debt
Following on from the January 2018 measures introduced under the FAST Act, the IRS released Notice IR-2019-23 on 27 February 2019.
The latest notice is a fresh warning to taxpayers with overdue debt. They are at risk of being unable to obtain, or renew, their US passport.
read moreFuture of Tax in NZ – Comprehensive Report Released
‘Tax avoidance reduces the integrity of the tax system and erodes social capital. It is also fundamentally unfair, because it means that compliant taxpayers must pay more to make up for the lost revenue’.
The Tax Working Group released its Future of Tax Final Report on 21 February 2019,
read moreInternal Revenue Service reopened
The Internal Revenue Service reopened on Monday, January 28, 2019, after a 35-day shutdown.
read moreIRS Status – Lengthy Call Centre Wait Times
The IRS reopened on Monday 28 January. Call centre wait times, including the international calling number, are typically around 2 to 3 hours.
read moreReactivation of IRS functions to begin
Reactivation of IRS functions should, in the absence of any information to the contrary, begin to occur next week. This advice came amid Friday’s news that the US government shutdown was over, at least for three weeks. In order for this to occur, according to the Lapsed Appropriations Contingency Plan (Tax Year 2018 Filing Season), funds will need to be appropriated for the IRS to continue its mission.
read moreLapsed Appropriations Contingency Plan – IRS status update
The 2018 filing season Lapsed Appropriations Contingency Plan (‘plan’) was released by the IRS a few days ago. The plan covers five business days following a lapse in appropriations should it occur during the Tax Year 2018 filing season (January 1 – April 30, 2019). Under the latest plan, more than 50% of the IRS workforce is required to return to work to perform activities classed in the plan as essential.
read moreIRS filing season to commence January 28, 2019
After more than two weeks of hiatus, we have news that the IRS will commence processing 2018 tax returns on January 28, 2019. The IRS, the revenue agency of the US government, currently has 90% of its workforce on leave without pay. Tax Refunds In a departure from the...
read moreContingency Plan for IRS partial shutdown
The IRS has a contingency plan in place, the Lapsed Appropriations Contingency Plan, in preparation for the US government shutdown. The 120-page document details what areas of the IRS will shut down, and what activities will be affected.. Gina Gatchell summarizes the key points.
read moreFirst prosecution under FATCA – Landmark Case
Eight years after the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was enacted as part of the 2010 Hire Act, the Eastern District of New York has prosecuted an executive of Loyal Bank for wilfully circumventing the reporting requirements of FATCA.
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