Substantial Variance Doctrine for Informal Tax Refund Claims

Taxpayers often submit refund claims when they discover that they overpaid their taxes. Taxpayers usually do this by submitting a formal refund claim using the IRS’s prescribed forms. But this is not always required. In many cases, taxpayers will submit so-called “informal refund claims” to the IRS during the course of an IRS audit. The……

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Can the IRS Collect When the IRS Owes the Taxpayer?

The federal tax system provides various procedural safeguards to protect taxpayers while ensuring efficient tax collection. These protections become particularly important when taxpayers face immediate collection actions while simultaneously pursuing tax credits or refunds that could eliminate their tax debt. Many businesses have recently found themselves in this situation after filing amended returns to claim……

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IRS Changes Notice Requirement for Listed Transactions

When a taxpayer files a tax return reporting their income, the IRS gains insight into their earnings and can compare this information with similarly situated taxpayers. One might expect that this regular reporting would be sufficient for tax administration purposes. The IRS could simply identify and audit returns showing unusual drops in reported tax. This……

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IRS Cannot Assess Foreign Information Return Penalties

Many businesses today have some international transactions. Many U.S. businesses even have operations in foreign countries–which may include ownership of entities, operations, or just sales. Our tax laws include several provisions that require U.S. taxpayers to report most of these foreign business interests and activities. These filings are mostly made by filing various information returns.……

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