Foreign Accounts Compliance

[caption id="attachment_911" align="alignright" width="249"] Sergei Fedorov/bing[/caption] By Stephen J. Dunn Sergei Fedorov is generally regarded as the greatest defensive forward in the history of the National Hockey League. ...

By Stephen J. Dunn Don’t get me wrong.  I love my country.  The United States is the greatest country on the face of the earth. But the U.S....

By Stephen J. Dunn Filing a tax return which the taxpayer knows materially underreports his tax is unwise.    It can cost the taxpayer far more in assessments of...

By Stephen J. Dunn Over the years many taxpayers have come to me having been scammed by a tax resolution artist.  The cases follow a similar pattern.  Income tax...

By Stephen J. Dunn This is the second of two articles on charitable giving.  The first article questioned the wisdom of leaving property to individuals, and urged instead the making...

By Stephen J. Dunn This is the first article of a two-part series on charitable giving.  This article examines the benefits of charitable giving.  The second article suggests basic due diligence...

By Stephen J. Dunn I often see older people with other peoples’ names on their property as co-owners.  Legally, the ownership is joint tenants with right of survivorship, meaning...

By Stephen J. Dunn This is the third post in a three-part series on estate planning for a married couple.  The first post concerned ethical issues in estate planning for...

This is the second post is a three-part series on estate planning for a married couple.  The first post concerned ethical, legal issues in estate planning for a married couple. ...

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="121"] Current logo using "Dodgers" Script (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption] By Stephen J. Dunn This is the first of three posts on estate planning for a...

By Stephen J. Dunn The Bank Secrecy Act and the Internal Revenue Code both require reporting by United States persons concerning their foreign financial accounts. For purposes of both acts,...

By Stephen J. Dunn A company operates a maid service that cleans residences. The company has always treated its maids as independent contractors rather than employees. The company...

By Stephen J. Dunn To one of my posts warning of the perils of tax resolution schemes, reader Nick Sparagis commented: “Your article discusses what not to do. Can...

By Stephen J. Dunn On receiving his monthly bank statements, a small business owner notices that the United States government has seized the balances of his accounts during...

By Stephen J. Dunn I have represented undocumented aliens (I do not call them “illegal” aliens, as I am unwilling to accept that there is such a thing...

By Stephen J. Dunn Payroll service providers are a big deal for small business─an estimated 41% of American small businesses use them. The services provided by PSPs range...

By Stephen J. Dunn In tax controversies, who represents you can be the ballgame. "Tax controversy" is a term or art meaning a contested matter before the IRS, civil or...

By Stephen J. Dunn Payroll taxes are the bane of small, start-up businesses. Restaurants commonly have problems with them. The taxes are computed and withheld from employees’ wages....

By Stephen J. Dunn FBAR The United States taxes its citizens and its resident aliens on their worldwide income. U.S. taxpayers are required to report their foreign income...

By Stephen J. Dunn I have blogged at length on the perils of filing joint income tax returns, and the difficulty in securing innocent spouse relief from same....

By Stephen J. Dunn Douglas Schulman’s term as Commissioner of Internal Revenue expired November 9. Major challenges at the agency await his yet-unnamed successor. Here are some of...

By Stephen J. Dunn In the throes of our country’s worst economic time since the Great Depression, “tax resolution” firms advertised heavily on television, promising relief which they...

By Stephen J. Dunn We have all heard horror stories of athletes and entertainers victimized by their financial advisors. To help you from being so victimized I offer...

By Stephen J. Dunn Alameda County Superior Court Judge Paul David Seeman was arrested recently and charged with embezzling at least $1.6 million from an elderly neighbor couple....

By Stephen J. Dunn Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin caused a stir recently by moving to Singapore and renouncing his U.S. citizenship. In so doing he halved the income...