Foreign Accounts Compliance

By Stephen J. Dunn The United States taxes its citizens and resident aliens on their worldwide income. U.S. law prevents double taxation by allowing a credit for foreign...

By Stephen J. Dunn By now many people have received a Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt, concerning discharge of indebtedness income allegedly realized by them in 2011. If you...

By Stephen J. Dunn The filing of a joint income tax return has the legal effect of an irrevocable election by each spouse to be jointly and severally liable for tax reported,...

By Stephen J. Dunn You fail to file your income tax returns, for whatever reason. Maybe you were busy and overlooked your tax returns. Or perhaps you did...

By Stephen J. Dunn The United States taxes its citizens and resident aliens on their worldwide income, allowing income tax which they must pay to foreign jurisdictions as...

By Stephen J. Dunn Frank McCourt and Jamie McCourt met as undergraduates at Georgetown University. They were married in 1979. Frank entered the real estate business in Boston....

By Stephen J. Dunn At a recent debate in Iowa, candidate Newt Gingrich backed a plan to allow undocumented aliens who have been living in this country for...

By Stephen J. Dunn A marital agreement specifies how a couple’s property shall be divided upon their divorce or the death of one of them. The purpose of...

By Stephen J. Dunn Many a cash-strapped company fails to deposit its payroll taxes. Unlike other creditors, Federal and state taxing authorities are not at the company’s door...

By Stephen J. Dunn A client recently came to me after his company had undergone an excruciating IRS audit. He was represented in the audit by one of...

By Stephen J. Dunn Misclassification of employees as independent contractors for tax purposes is a widespread problem. Employers do it to avoid matching Social Security tax and Medicare...

By Stephen J. Dunn Your chances of a tax audit are up. The IRS increased the ranks of Revenue Agents by 3% in 2009 and by 7% in...

By Stephen J. Dunn Does your business use an outside payroll service?  Are you thinking of using one? Payroll service companies perform an important function assisting employers comply...

By Stephen J. Dunn Own a small business?  Do you run personal expenses through the business?   A recent Tennessee case shows where this practice can lead. A Federal...

By Stephen J. Dunn Certain factions of the consumer bankruptcy bar reacted violently to my recent post, Consumer Bankruptcies Do More Harm Than Good, as I suspect they will...

By Stephen J. Dunn A theme that returns to me again and again is that consumer bankruptcies do more harm than good. In a chapter 7 bankruptcy case,...

By Stephen J. Dunn Forbes reports that estate planning attorneys have seen their work dry up in the wake of the December, 2010 estate tax relief legislation. That legislation...

By Stephen J. Dunn If you receive a collection notice concerning an account that is unfamiliar to you, you should not ignore it.  Someone may have stolen your...

Your  Majesty: An American of Irish descent, I welcome your visit to Ireland.  It is the first Royal visit to Ireland since Ireland gained its independence in 1921. ...

By Stephen J. Dunn It is important that you manage your credit reports.    Your credit reports determine whether you can access credit, and the terms on which you...

By Stephen J. Dunn The Founding Fathers never knew an income tax.  They created a country of limited government.   We did not have a Federal income tax until...

By Stephen J. Dunn As the tax filing deadline fast approaches, you should pause before signing a joint income tax return.  You are not liable for income tax...

By Stephen J. Dunn U.S. tax law taxes U.S. citizens and resident aliens on their worldwide income.  Many U.S. taxpayers have attempted to evade U.S. income tax by...

By Stephen J. Dunn In 25 years of law practice I have done estate planning for hundreds of people.  Every one of them has wanted a health care...

By Stephen J. Dunn The just-enacted Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Authorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 makes great strides against the Federal estate tax burden that otherwise...