I’ve written on aspects of this topic many times for many years – the state challenges in trying to collect all of the sales and use tax they are due for sales to their in-state consumers and businesses. With the requirement that a vendor only has to collect sales tax if they have a physical presence in the state and e-commerce enabling businesses to have customers everywhere but perhaps only one physical location, states become more dependent on trying to get their in-state consumers to self-assess use tax. States tend to do a poor job educating these folks about their use tax obligation.

It would just be far easier to have all vendors collect. However, that is unlikely to happen, even with federal legislation (such as S. 743, the Marketplace Fairness Act). This legislation Read More

Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana, has released the first in a series of discussion drafts for overhauling the Tax Code, with the first set of proposals focusing on international tax reform.

The proposal details ideas on how to reform international tax rules to spark economic growth, create jobs and make United States businesses more competitive.

Additional tax reform discussion drafts will be released later this week.

Baucus and his counterpart in the House, Rep. Dave Camp, R-Michigan, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, have committed to drafting comprehensive Read More

The United States Department of the Treasury announced today that the United States has signed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with France to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Enacted in 2010, FATCA aims to curtail offshore tax evasion by facilitating the exchange of tax information.

With today’s agreement, 10 FATCA IGAs have been signed to date.

“France has been an enthusiastic supporter of our effort to promote global tax transparency and critical to drafting a model of FATCA implementation,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs Robert B. Stack. “This agreement demonstrates the growing global momentum behind FATCA and strong support from the world’s most important Read More

TaxConnections Blog post

Since 2009, the IRS has offered taxpayers with undisclosed foreign financial accounts the opportunity to “come clean” under its Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI). According to the Internal Revenue Service, more than 38,000 U.S. taxpayers have entered the program. They have paid more than $5.5 billion to resolve issues, with an estimated $5 billion yet to come.

What is OVDI? It is a program of limited duration that offers significant benefits to taxpayers who may have engaged in conduct that could be viewed as criminal. Benefits include immunity from criminal prosecution and avoidance of the full brunt of civil penalties that otherwise could far exceed amounts concealed in offshore accounts. The OVDI program can Read More

France just hopped on the FATCA express November 14, becoming the 10th nation to sign an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the United States. FATCA, as the “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” is commonly called, was enacted in 2010, but has been implemented in stages. It has seen several delays and while many hold hope it will never be finally implemented, all indications are that FATCA’s momentum is unstoppable.

Generally, FATCA requires foreign (non-US) financial institutions (FFI) to sign an agreement with the US government to report information about accounts held by US persons or accounts held by foreign entities in which US persons have a substantial interest. If the FFI Read More

TaxConnections Blog Post

Set the Tax Risk Management Strategy Process and Project Plan

THE INITIAL PLANNING process is facilitated by the Tax Risk Management facilitator in conjunction with the BO/CFO , financial manager, and tax manager. It entails:

• appointing the tax risk management Tax Risk Management strategy participants,

• planning the tax risk management Tax Risk Management strategy session,

• setting the specific tax risk objectives,

• planning the tax risk reduction strategy, Read More

The permanent establishment section in the OECD Model Tax Treaty is a remarkably complete section; it anticipates the work-arounds that most attorney’s would consider to avoid PE status. Case in point: the agent rules.

Remember that a permanent establishment is “a fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried out. In seeing that definition, an attorney would start to think,” what if, instead of a bricks and mortar establishment, we contract with a person?” Well, the treaty has that covered as well.

5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, where a person — other than an Read More

A Practical Guide to Perfecting Your Tax Research Techniques and Achieving Sustainable Tax Return Filing Positions

Introduction

In order to maximize your accounting firm’s overall efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity in connection to researching and resolving a tax issue and determining the sustainability of the tax return filing position, the appropriate tax research processes must be meticulously designed, implemented, and executed. The subsequent five comprehensive steps will guide you in establishing an all-inclusive tax research effort on behalf of your entire client base while properly ascertaining the likelihood of success Read More

Not only does the OCED model treaty provide an in-depth explanation of what a PE is, there is also a section that outlines what a PE isn’t Here is the section in its entirety:

4. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, the term “permanent establishment” shall be deemed not to include:

a) the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise;

b) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery; Read More

TaxConnections Tax Blog - China and Southeast Asia Transfer Pricing Issues

An effective operational offshore company often used is the leasing company. Leasing has been utilized in the acquisition of assets and there is a split benefit gained through a leasing company. Tax benefits accrue in the way of substantial depreciation deductions reducing taxable income to one party, while the other party may also be entitled to amortization benefits. This is a cross-border effect of the virtues of depreciation. (1)

The leasing company in the United States context is governed by the Foreign Base Company Income category of Foreign Personal Holding Company Income. (See TaxConnections/TaxBlogoshere/September 20, 2013/Foreign Corporations and Subpart F Income-Part III). Foreign Personal Holding Company Income consisting of rental income Read More

As many of you who follow me and/or this tax blog know I have been actively tracking a handful of select medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado who have been denied the opportunity to deduct ordinary and necessary business expenses by the IRS when arriving at net income subject to income tax. One of the first things I learned is that this industry is messy in several regards and perhaps left to more courageous practitioners of the United States Tax Code. Along the journey I witnessed first hand what appears to be systematic profiling and haphazard application of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) including threats of US Treasury Circular 230 violations against quality practitioners in search of the truth by overzealous IRS Examiners as they work towards a standard enforcement framework. Being Read More