TAX CONTROVERSY 360
TAX CONTROVERSY 360
McDermott’s Real-Time Tax Disputes Insights
TAX CONTROVERSY 360
McDermott’s Real-Time Tax Disputes Insights
Uncategorized
Subscribe to Uncategorized's Posts

Tax Court Holds Payment from Qualified Settlement Fund is Includable in Taxpayer’s Gross Income

by | Sep 25, 2017 | , ,

In Ritter v. Commissioner, TC Memo. 2017-185 (September 19, 2017), the Tax Court held that a taxpayer’s receipt of a payment from a section 468B qualified settlement fund (QSF) was includable in gross income for the 2013 taxable year. The QSF was established pursuant to a settlement agreement between a federal banking regulator and the taxpayer’s former mortgage servicer (Bank) in which the Bank agreed to take certain actions to remedy deficiencies and unsafe or unsound practices in (i) the Bank’s residential mortgage servicing and (ii) the Bank’s initiation and handling of foreclosure proceedings. The Bank foreclosed on the taxpayer’s principal residence in 2010 while the taxpayer was in bankruptcy proceedings and protected by federal bankruptcy law. (more…)



read more

Is a Business Tax Reform Game Plan Beginning to Take Shape?

by , and | Sep 22, 2017 |

Substantial tax reform is underway and the business community is intently awaiting details of this activity with the aim of positioning themselves to maximize opportunities and minimize any costs or risks that reform may present. How will a cut in the corporate income tax rate, the potential adoption of a “territorial” dividend exemption system or the elimination or altering of recent regulations impact companies?

Continue Reading



read more

IRS Guidance Says IRS Can Disclose Confidential Taxpayer Information to Whistleblower with Impunity

by and | Sep 20, 2017 | ,

Every taxpayer should be aware of the real risk that its own employees could disclose the taxpayer’s confidential and privileged information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for a whistleblower fee. Pursuant to Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 7623, the IRS is permitted to pay a “whistleblower” who discloses information about a taxpayer who has violated the tax laws. The amount of the payment ranges from 15 to 30 percent of the recovery. We have previously reported about issues pertaining to whistleblowers.

While the flow of information is usually from the whistleblower to the IRS, there is also a risk that the IRS can disclose the taxpayer’s return information to the whistleblower. Code Section 6103(a) deems tax returns and return information as confidential and prohibits the disclosure absent an express statutory exception. Return information is broadly defined and includes the information received by the IRS, from any source, during the course of audit. There are several exceptions to this general rule. For example, Code Section 6103(n) authorizes that tax returns and return information may be shared with the IRS pursuant to a “tax administration contract.” The relevant regulations explain when the IRS may disclose information to a whistleblower and its representative.

A recent memo from the IRS’s Whistleblower Office provides the reasoning behind the IRS decision to enter into a whistleblower contract in order to share the taxpayer’s feeling empowered to share otherwise confidential protected information with whistleblowers. (more…)



read more

Tax Court Announces 2018 Judicial Conference in Chicago on March 26-28, 2018

by and | Sep 19, 2017 | ,

On Friday, September 15, the Tax Court announced that it will be holding its 2018 Judicial Conference in Chicago, Illinois, on the campus of Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law on March 26-28, 2018. The press release provides:

The 2018 Tax Court Judicial Conference will be held in Chicago, Illinois, on the campus of Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law on Monday evening, March 26, 2018, Tuesday, March 27, 2018 (entire day), and Wednesday, March 28, 2018 (half day). The purpose of the judicial conference is to provide attendees with the opportunity to (1) review and discuss issues of material interest regarding the tax litigation process, (2) discuss ways in which the tax litigation process in the Court may be improved, and (3) network with fellow Tax Court practitioners. In addition to the Judges of the United States Tax Court, the Court intends to invite representatives from the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Justice, private practice, low-income taxpayer clinics, academia, Capitol Hill, and other courts. A variety of plenary and breakout sessions will address issues relevant to practice before the Court.

Applications to attend the 2018 Tax Court Judicial Conference will be accepted from September 15, 2017, through November 15, 2017. An application form is available on the Court’s website at https://www.ustaxcourt.gov/judicial_conference_application.pdf. Please note that space is limited, and the Court may not be able to extend an invitation to all those who apply.

We have attended the Tax Court Judicial Conference on several occasions and have spoken on panels at the conference. The material presented is extremely informative and provides a unique opportunity to personally interact with judges and fellow Tax Court practitioners. Applications are being accepted from now through November 15, 2017, either by email or regular mail. If you plan to attend, please send us an email so we can say hello!



read more

More Changes to IRS Appeals, in Response to Taxpayer and Practitioner Concerns

by , and | Sep 18, 2017 | ,

As we have recently discussed, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Appeals has been making a number of changes to their administrative review process in the last few years. While many of these changes have been driven by lack of resources, others—like the standing invitation of Exam into the Appeals process—have the potential to undermine the independence of Appeals, which has historically been a vital component of the taxpayer’s right of redress with the Service.

In this week’s American Bar Association conference in Austin, Texas, IRS Appeals clarified that, for field cases worked by revenue agents, taxpayers may still receive in-person conferences, despite recent pronouncements that phone conferences are the preferred or default method. Conferences in campus cases (or correspondence audit cases) will still be generally handled by telephone, but there will eventually be a move to in-person conferences by request. Campus cases are being treated differently because they are often managed in locations remote from the taxpayer without adequate facilities for in-person meetings. Guidance will be issued to IRS employees regarding these changes.

As Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson noted, these changes are helpful but not enough. In particular, Olson expressed dismay that campus cases were not being included in the change. Roughly 75 to 80 percent of IRS examinations are conducted by correspondence. In these cases, there is a great need for personal contact with the taxpayer, but no single person within the Service is assigned to a case.

Practice Point: The new announcement provides practitioners with additional support for their requests for in-person Appeals conferences. In our experience, an in-person conference is frequently much more productive than one by phone, and practitioners should request these whenever possible.



read more

Form 2848 Power of Attorney – Important Practice Tip

by | Sep 15, 2017 | , ,

Forms 2848 Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative are intended to authorize the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to discuss a taxpayer’s confidential tax matters with a designated representative. Generally, the form requires the taxpayer to identify the tax form number (where applicable), a description of the matter and specify the applicable tax year(s) for the authorization to be valid. If the IRS determines that an issue is beyond the scope outlined in the Form 2848 they will not discuss that item with the representative. It is important to understand how the IRS interprets these restrictions.

Importantly, on September 8, 2017, the IRS released TAM 201736021, dated August 1, 2017, which expresses a narrow view of whether certain civil penalties are related to certain tax returns for purposes of a Form 2848 authorization. The TAM notes that “merely listing ‘civil penalties’ on Line 3 of the Form 2848” may no longer be sufficient authorization if the civil penalty relates to a return that is not otherwise enumerated within the Form 2848. For example, the TAM concluded that a Form 2848 only identifying an income tax return, such as a Form 1120 or Form 1040, would not constitute authorization for the IRS to discuss civil penalties related to international information returns that may have to be filed with the income tax return, such as a Form 5471. Under the IRS’s view, the civil penalty would be related to the Form 5471 but not the Form 1120.

The TAM provided a second example, reaching a similar conclusion regarding the relationship between a Form 1040 and a Form 3520. In short, authorization would not exist for the IRS to discuss with a representative whether an IRC section 6677 civil penalty for failure to file Form 3520 is applicable if the Form 2848 only identifies the Form 1040. This result may be more intuitive since the Form 3520 is not attached to the Form 1040 and is required to be filed separately. However, it is still more demanding than having a broader application of the “civil penalties” designation on the Form 2848.

Practice Point 1: Forms 2848 are generally executed at the outset of a matter when it may not be readily apparent in what direction the audit will progress or what issues the IRS may focus on. While we disagree with the IRS’s position as stated in the TAM, taxpayers and practitioners need to be cognizant of the IRS’s position and may need to revisit their Forms 2848 during the course of an audit.

Practice Point 2: As a general matter, the IRS agent handling an audit will tell the practitioner if the agent believes that a current Form 2848 is not sufficient, but that does not always happen. So it is good practice for taxpayers to send the practitioner any correspondence or notices that they receive from the IRS and not merely rely on the presumption that the IRS also mailed a copy to the practitioner listed on the Form 2848.



read more

Tax Court Rejects IRS Argument that Corporate Taxpayer Failed to File Valid Return

by | Sep 13, 2017 | , ,

The issue of whether a valid tax return has been filed usually comes up in the context of individuals. One common situation involves taxpayers who file so-called zero returns or returns with an altered jurat and protest paying any taxes. Another common situation, which has received substantial attention lately, involves whether a tax return filed after an assessment by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is a “return” for purposes of the Bankruptcy Code. We previously posted on the latter.

This post focuses on the uncommon situation where the IRS disputes whether a corporate taxpayer filed a valid return. As we have previously discussed, in the widely cited Beard v. Commissioner, 82 TC 766 (1984), the Tax Court defined a four-part test (the Beard Test) for determining whether a document constitutes a “return.” To be a return, a document must: (1) provide sufficient data to calculate tax liability; (2) purport to be a return; (3) be an honest and reasonable attempt to satisfy the requirements of the tax law; and (4) be executed by the taxpayer under penalties of perjury. This test applies to all types of taxpayers, and its application to corporate taxpayers was recently highlighted in New Capital Fire, Inc. v. Commissioner, TC Memo. 2017-177.

In New Capital Fire, Capital Fire Insurance Co. (Old Capital) merged into New Capital Fire, Inc. (New Capital), with New Capital surviving, on December 4, 2002. The merger was designed to be a tax-free reorganization under Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 368(a)(1)(F). Old Capital did not file a tax return for any part of 2002 and New Capital filed a tax return for 2002 which included a pro forma Form 1120-PC, US Property and Casualty Insurance Company Income Tax Return, for Old Capital’s 2002 tax year. The IRS issued Old Capital a notice of deficiency in 2012 determining that Old Capital was required to file a return for the short tax year ending December 4, 2002, because the merger failed to meet to reorganization rules. (more…)



read more

IRS Extends Permanent Invitation to Exam to Attend Appeals Conferences

by and | Sep 8, 2017 | , ,

On May 1, 2017, the IRS issued FAQs concerning its recent practice of inviting IRS Examination Agents (Exam) into the Appeals discussion. The FAQs make clear that Exam will now be routinely invited to Appeals conferences. The release premises this procedural shift on perceived efficiencies of having Exam stay during the taxpayer’s rebuttal presentation. The FAQs explain, however, that settlement discussions with the taxpayer will be held without Exam present. This is an important clarification, and the FAQs explain that this new process is different from Rapid Appeals.

Practice Point: It is clear that diminishing resources have put substantial pressure on the Appeals process. In several recent Appeals sessions, Exam has been invited to stay for our clients’ rebuttal to Exam’s presentation. After the taxpayers’ presentation, Appeal tries to elicit a back-and-forth communication between the taxpayer and Exam, putatively to ensure that all of the relevant facts are developed and agreed upon. Exam typically has counsel at these Opening Conferences, which tends to make Exam more of an advocate as opposed to the traditional developer of the facts and of the IRS’s audit position. This two-way communication seems to be an attempt to morph the Appeals session into some type of mini-mediation akin to a FastTrack session. Taxpayers therefore must take care to plan their settlement strategy, as the line between development of the facts and discussion of the hazards can be blurry. While in some cases it might be useful to negotiate in the presence of the Exam team, we have found that more progress typically is made when Exam leaves the room.



read more

Motion Practice – Moving for Summary Adjudication

by | Sep 6, 2017 | , ,

Summary judgment is a common practice in all courts, including courts hearing tax disputes. Summary judgment is intended to expedite litigation and avoid unnecessary and expensive trials. Full or partial summary judgment is appropriate where there is no genuine issue of material fact and a decision may be rendered as a matter of law on the issue presented. Summary judgment can be obtained by a party upon the filing of a motion if the pleadings and other evidence in the record, including any affidavits or declarations in support of or against the motion, demonstrate that no factual dispute exists. Each court has its own particular rules on motions for summary judgment, but all are grounded on the essential requirement that the pertinent facts not be in dispute. The party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of showing that no genuine issues exists as to any material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, with all factual materials and inferences drawn from them considered in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. To defeat a motion for summary judgment, the nonmoving party must do more than merely allege or deny facts; it must set forth specific facts showing a genuine dispute for trial. Thus, facts that are not properly supported or that are irrelevant or unnecessary will not be counted.

The decision of whether to file a motion for summary judgment must be carefully made. In some cases the decision may be fairly straightforward because both sides agree on the pertinent facts and the issue is purely legal. However, in other cases, the factual record may not be as clear and the parties may differ on which facts are material and which properly remain in dispute. Further, a motion for summary judgment by one party may result in a cross-motion for summary judgment by the other party. Thus, the party initially moving for summary judgment needs to be confident that it will not need additional facts or supporting information from witnesses before seeking summary adjudication. (more…)



read more

BLOG EDITORS

Kevin Spencer

Evan Walters

STAY CONNECTED

Subscribe

TOPICS

ARCHIVES

jd supra readers choice top firm 2023 badge