The first step in taxing space starts tomorrow in Sacramento

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Have you ever thought about space travel? Or even being one of the first human colonists to Mars? If you have, you should also be prepared to pay a tax. Seriously. That’s right, with the developments in space exploration, the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) is preparing to develop a tax strategy for space travel and commerce.

Taxation strategy of the final frontier begins tomorrow in Sacramento during an interested parties meeting at the FTB’s mother ship. If you didn’t book your tax space voyage in time, you can still attend by phone by calling (877) 923-3149 at 10:00 a.m. Enter the participant pass code 2233420, followed by the # sign.

The official captain’s log for the meeting is to discuss possible regulatory efforts for the apportionment and allocation of income derived from space transportation activities, including the transportation of people or cargo into and from Space. I didn’t think it would be possible, but even the FTB can make this meeting sound boring.

According the news release issued by the FTB, during the upcoming initial meeting, FTB staff members will solicit input from industry and practitioners on issues that may arise in the application of a regulation on such space activities, including, but not limited to:

– How should space transportation activities be defined in a regulation?

– At what point should aircraft or space vehicles be considered as traveling into space?

– How should unsuccessful missions be treated?

– What apportionment factors should be used to apportion and allocate income from space transportation activities? How many apportionment factors should there be, and how should they be weighted? Launch factor, recovery factor, mileage factor, or some other factor?

– Should a regulatory effort address the potential for “nowhere income,” and if so, how should it be addressed?

– What issues might be encountered with combining space transportation activities with a taxpayer’s other trade or business activities?

– Should a regulatory effort distinguish between transporting cargo and people?

– Any other issues that industry believes FTB staff should consider.

Isn’t this exciting!? I do wonder however if a Foreign Bank and Financial Account Report (FBAR) will be required if life is found on Mars, and a human opens a bank account there? I suppose that’s a federal question and the July meeting, I further suppose, is limited California state tax matters.

New Modesto tax relief announced

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The City of Modesto recently announced details of a new tax relief and cash incentive program to lure businesses to downtown Modesto. The tax breaks apply variably to new businesses and existing businesses.

The new Modesto tax relief program will be available to businesses located on 10th Street between K Street and H Street; 11th Street between K Street and I Street; and J Street between 9th Street and McHenry Avenue.

New Modesto retail businesses will be eligible for a full refund of Modesto City mill taxes and local sales taxes for the first year of business. Existing Modesto retail businesses that extend their hours will be eligible for a refund of Modesto local sales tax only collected during the extended hours for one year.

The City of Modesto is also promoting cash incentives for job creation in the downtown Modesto area for both retail and non-retail businesses. Other incentives are available for new developments and physical improvements. Full details of Modesto’s business and development incentive program are available on the City of Modesto’s website.

With an overall improving economy it’s good to see local government risk a short-term loss in tax revenue for the long-term impact new businesses may bring. Hopefully for Modesto, the gamble pays off.

Tax debt case is the next frontier for free speech regulation

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According to recent news reports, across the pond in Europe, the European Union’s highest court has ruled that people have the right to be forgotten, even on the internet. The case at issue stems from a tax debt once allegedly owed by Attorney Costeja González who wanted the world to forget an article published by La Vanguardia about tax collection efforts taken against him. The tax enforcement efforts included the seizure of his home and resulted in a 1998 Spanish news blurb that was 36 words long specifying that his home was being repossessed to pay off debts. His legal efforts to obtain anonymity have resulted in infamy.

Proof that a tax debt will follow you, the news blurb at issue was a google search result when completing a google search for Mr. González. Apparently microfiche no longer exists in Europe and google lost its battle that search results containing links to the article regarding Mr. González’s tax problems violated his right to privacy and that people have the right to be forgotten. Hopefully the floodgates have not been opened too far to extend to a complete shutdown of the internet. If it does, I’m not shocked to learn that a taxing authority was to blame.  

Beware of the “Turbo Tax audit”

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With advancements in tax software and technology, it’s rare to find tax returns that are filled out by hand; without the assistance of a tax preparer or tax preparation software. These advancements have given rise to a whole market of self-preparation software. The most popular is Turbo Tax, but there are others.

With the popularity of these self-preparation tools and software, have come the aftermath, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax audit. I personally like self-preparation tax software tools, like Turbo Tax, because they have led to business for me in what IRS examiners refer to as a “Turbo Tax Audit”. The key with the do-it-yourself software is whether you, the tax preparer, know what you’re doing because you don’t get the professional representation you didn’t pay for.

The software is advertised as easy to use and typically uses question and answer formats. To prepare your tax return, you answer questions posed by the tax preparation software, and plug in your data, and then your taxes are done. When there is trouble, it’s usually rooted in whether the tax preparer (you), answered the questions correctly for the purposes of the tax return. Because the computer software doesn’t know you or your situation, this is where you need to have some knowledge of taxes in general to ensure that you’re not taken on a path that will lead you to an appointment with my office, and eventually the IRS.

The self-preparation software sometimes offers “audit protection.” However, be sure to read the fine print as to the limitations and conditions of such “protection” should you want it, as there may be circumstances where your audit “insurance” is not covered. And, you’re again in my office or facing the IRS alone.

Billionaire evades prison time for evading millions in taxes.

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Back in September 2013, we reported that your Beanie Babies in the attic may become more valuable because Beanie Baby creator, Ty Warner, was facing charges for evading his federal taxes. Last week Judge Charles Kocoras “sentenced” billionaire (with a “B”) Warner to two-years probation and 500 hours of community service for his tax crimes.

The sentence, or lack-there-of, is actually a bit surprising. The government often seeks harsh punishment in high profile cases knowing that punishing the infamous will have a chilling effect on less substantial, but still costly, tax crimes committed by regular citizens. Judge Kocoras rejected such punishment in this case based on Warner’s “good works” in society.

Warner pleaded  guilty to tax evasion and paid a civil penalty of $53.6 million for failing to report$3.2 million in income on a secret Swiss bank account that held as much as $93.6 million in assets. Unfortunately for Warner, he attempted to avoid prosecution and take advantage of one of the government’s many offshore voluntary disclosure amnesty programs, but was denied tax relief. In addition to the civil penalty already paid by Warner, Judge Kocoras fined Warner an additional $100,000.

I was actually looking forward to the tax evasion Beanie Baby. However, now we’ll probably have a reincarnation of the fad, and all its versions, so Warner can pay his fines.

Introducing the tax evasion beanie baby

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This week, the creator of the Beanie Baby toy phenomenon, Ty Warner, was charged with tax evasion. The charges allege that Warner committed tax crimes on his 2002 tax return by failing to report $3.2 million in income on a secret Swiss bank account that held as much as $93.6 million in assets. The federal government alleges that Warner falsely reported his 2002 income as $49.1 million, omitting money he made on his UBS account. He amended his 2002 return in 2007, yet it is alleged that he again understated his tax by $885,300.  In 2009, Warner tried to avoid prosecution by taking advantage of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) amnesty program known as the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program. According to Warner’s tax attorney, the IRS denied amnesty to Warner.

Warner is expected to plead guilty as part of a plea agreement and will pay a civil penalty of $53.6 million for failing to file a required Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). Warner is not the first UBS client to be prosecuted for tax crimes. Since 2009, the United States has prosecuted approximately 70 taxpayers, 30 bankers, lawyers and advisers in a crackdown on offshore tax evasion. I wonder if this is the time to sell those Beanie Babies I have in the attic.

It's Tax Season (Sort of)

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So with the Super Bowl over, and pitchers and catchers reporting next week, these are the signs that tax season is in full swing, right? Wrong; depending on your situation. You still may not be able to file your 2012 tax return and get your refund, or resolve your tax debt.  Based on the last-minute shenanigans in Washington D.C. to avoid falling of the fiscal cliff, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is still preparing their systems to accept the remaining tax forms affected by the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) enacted by Congress on January 2, 2013.

The Internal Revenue Service announced today that taxpayers will be able to start filing two major tax forms next week covering education credits and depreciation. Beginning Sunday, February 10, 2013, the IRS will start processing tax returns that contain Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization. Then, on Thursday, February 14, 2013, the IRS plans to start processing Form 8863, Education Credits. With these updates, almost all taxpayers may start filing their tax returns for 2012. These forms affected the largest groups of taxpayers who weren’t able to file following the abbreviated January 30, 2013, opening of the 2013 tax season.

However, more updates are still required to accommodate all taxpayers and tax forms. The remaining forms affected by the January 2013 legislation are anticipated to be accepted during the first week of March 2013.  A specific date will be announced later by the IRS. So, don’t delay, if you can help it, to get your taxes completed.

 

California Attorney Failed to File Tax Returns – Sentenced to 6 Months in Prison

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California attorney Kevin Mirecki has been sentenced to six months in federal prison after pleading guilty to three counts of failing to file his tax returns and will not obtain tax relief. Mirecki was also ordered to pay more than $225,000 in restitution and fines. Mirecki entered his guilty plea in 2009 and admitted he failed to report more than $1.3 million in income over a three-year period.

Mirecki also founded Genesis Fund Ltd., which investigators say was a foreign-currency Ponzi scheme that bilked at least $80 million from hundreds of investors. Eight people pleaded guilty and another was convicted at trial in connection with the scam.

According to the indictment related to Genesis Fund Ltd., the defendants falsely claimed that investors received monthly returns of four percent, when investments were actually used to make “profit” distributions to defendants and early investors. The defendants promoted the Genesis Fund as having no reporting obligations to the IRS. Bank accounts in the names of trusts and offshore bank accounts were allegedly used to receive distributions from the Genesis Fund that were not reported to the IRS. Some of the defendants allegedly created “disclosed” and “undisclosed” Genesis Fund accounts for themselves and certain fund investors in order to conceal from the IRS all but a small portion of the fund’s distributions. In addition, some Genesis Fund investors were allegedly advised to create nominee offshore corporations and bank accounts to receive distributions from the fund.

The indictment further alleged that to obscure the operations of the fund and to limit scrutiny of its operations by investors and the government, the defendants caused the Genesis Fund to maintain no financial statements or other statements of operation. Additionally, in or about April 2000, to conceal the true nature of its operations from investors and the government, Genesis Fund’s administrative operations were relocated from Anaheim, Calif., to Costa Rica. At about the same time, paper records were moved to Costa Rica and electronic data on computers was destroyed.

Supreme Court Expands Congressional Tax Power

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image via lawprofessors.typepad.com

Tax relief for people who buy certain things? — sure (like real property).  A tax imposed on people who buy certain items? — sure (like cigarettes).  But a tax imposed on people who do not buying something?  That’s definitely new!  Apparently penalizing citizens for not purchasing health insurance now passes constitutional muster as a “tax,” or so says the Supreme Court.

Roberts recast the [health care] mandate as a tax, a rationale that was not in the law or the government’s case. He rewrote the administration’s position, baptized it, and then blessed it. Roberts’ defenders argue that he did so to avoid a constitutional crisis, but he may have created another by judicially re-legislating policy, a policy paid for and enforced by what could be essentially the largest tax increase in American history.

~William J. Bennett, CNN Contributor

 I guess it’s true what they say about the government’s taxing power.  It’s sort of a “catch-all” for federal programs that seem unconstitutional in all other respects.