International Tax

Operating on the “DARKNET” Brings a penalty of $209,144,554

OPERATING ON THE “DARKNET” BRINGS A PENALTY OF $209,144,554.

Larry Dean Harmon is a U.S. person residing in Akron, was the creator, administrator, and primary operator of Grams, a darknet website that operated on the onion router (Tor) network and advertised itself as the “Google of the Darkweb”. Grams served as a search engine and content aggregator allowing users to search for illicit goods sold on darknet markets, such as narcotics, illegal firearms, and stolen personally identifiable information (PII).

1. In 2014, Harmon began operating and administrating a convertible virtual currency exchanger called Helix through the Grams darknet .onion site that was the primary administrator and operator of Helix a service linked to and affiliated with Grams. Helix operate

United States Financial Action Task Force – Anti-Money Laundering

United States Financial Action Task Force (FATF) List of Jurisdictions with Strategic Deficiencies in Anti-Money Laundering Introduction: In 2020, the United States’ Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued their advisory to financial institutions of updates to FATF’s list of juris

Legal Requirements for Hemp-Related Business Customers.

Legal Requirements for Hemp-Related Business Customers. Introduction: The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) periodically provides guidance for hemp-related business customers (HRBC). We will also talk about FinCEN conduct towards HRBC as well as how FinCEN collects and gathers informat

Expedited suspension from practice before the IRS

10.82 Expedited suspension (a) When applicable. Whenever the Commissioner, or delegate, determines that a practitioner is described in paragraph (b) of this section, the expedited procedures described in this section may be used to suspend the practitioner from practice before the Internal Revenue Service.

(b) To whom applicable. This section applies to any practitioner who, within 5 years prior to the date that a show-cause order under this section’s expedited suspension procedures is served:

(1) Has had a license to practice as an attorney, certified public accountant, or actuary suspended or revoked for cause (not including failure to pay a professional licensing fee) by any authority or court, agency, body, or board described in § 10.51(a)(10).

(2) Ha

Recovery Rebate Credit/Economic Impact Payment.

For this year, 2020, there are some key items to consider involving credits, deductions, and refunds: Recovery Rebate Credit/Economic Impact Payment. Taxpayers who received an Economic Impact Payment should keep their Notice 1444, Your Economic Impact Payment, with their 2020 tax records. You may be

IRS warns people about a COVID-related text message scam

The IRS is warning people to be aware of a new text message scam.

The thief’s goal is to trick people into revealing bank account information under the guise of receiving the $1,200 Economic Impact Payment.

Here’s how this scam works: People get a text message saying they have “received a direct deposit of $1,200 from COVID-19 TREAS FUND. Further action is required to accept this payment… Continue here to accept this payment …” The text includes a link to a phishing web address.

This fake link appears to come from a state agency or relief organization. It takes people to a fake website that looks like the IRS.gov Get My Payment website. If people visit the fake website and enter thei

Kaepernick’s NFL Settlement Amount

How much did Colin Kaepernick actually receive from his “opting out” of the contract with the San Francisco Giants following the 2016 season and the recent Collective Bargaining Agreement, (CBA), with the NFL.[1] In a recent interview between Kaepernick’s attorney, Mark Geragos and

This Year You are Preparing Your Own Tax Return

So, this year you are preparing your own tax return, no need for a CPAs, Enrolled Agent or Tax Attorney…great! But have you thought about “FBAR” and your 2018 tax return!!! You might ask, do I have to worry about this FBAR quagmire if I have never been outside of the United States? YES

FOREIGN TRUST WITH U.S. TRUSTEE?

FOREIGN TRUST WITH U.S. JURISDICTION?

FRACTIONAL OWNERSHIP OF A FOREIGN ENTITY?

BEWARE!!!

The Tax Season for filing 2018 tax returns is now upon us and the full brunt of the Tax cuts and Job Act (TCJA) will occupy tax compliance by both the Taxpayers and the Tax Preparers. One of the most staggering provisions of the TCJA is the situation where your client owns an interest in a foreign entity directly or indirectly through a tiered-entity-structure, (TES).

The above threshold test will certainly raise eyebrows and compel the additional questioning to determine if you or your client falls into this catch-all provision. A simple example of indirect ownership, TES, is as follows:

The above basic schematic shows how e

Calculate Your 2018 Federal Tax Under the New Law

Hello and Welcome to my first News Letter on Matters That Will, Almost Certainly, Affect You in This New Year, 2019. I know that 2018 was a difficult year and now with the traumatic effect of the U.S. Government Partial Shutdown with the stock markets swings to record lows, we are facing a much high

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