Washington D.C. Tax Law Blog

In January of 2012, the IRS began another Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) designed to collect taxes on unreported foreign assets. The OVDP was similar to those that the agency had announced in 2009 and 2011. The program offers individuals a chance to self-report income, which minimizes the potential criminal or civil penalties that they […]

The government recently announced the clampdown on three tax preparers in Prince George’s County, Maryland. By virtue of orders issued by two separate federal judges, a father, a son and the father’s ex-wife have been permanently scrubbed from the roles of individuals who can file tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service on behalf of […]

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., is pondering suggestions from the prosecution and the defense regarding sentencing in the cases of former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, Sandra Jackson. Jackson, who is the son of the elder civil rights activist and politician of the same name, had served as a Democratic congressman from […]

Some call it corporate tax avoidance. Others call it strategic tax planning. Regardless of what one calls it, there’s no doubt that it’s been the focus of a lot of attention here in Washington, D.C. in recent months. But the U.S. isn’t the only country interested in making sure it’s getting its full share of […]

It’s hard to remember when the Internal Revenue Service has been so much in the spotlight of public scrutiny. And it appears that the likelihood is that it is only going to get more intense in the weeks and months ahead. The federal court in Washington, D.C., is beginning to see lawsuits coming through the […]

We who live in the Washington, D.C., area know it is a cosmopolitan place. There are many people who live throughout the District and suburban Maryland and Virginia who are new immigrants or first-generation citizens. Any who work and make a living here have the obligation of filing their yearly income tax returns. But there […]

It’s been a tough week for the current administration in the White House. The State Department is under fire over what some are calling a cover-up over the consulate attack in Libya that left four Americans dead back in September. And the Internal Revenue Service is under the gun for apparently targeting some tax-exempt organizations […]

Some months ago we wrote about the case of wealthy heiress Mary Estelle Curran and how she had become a target of the Internal Revenue Service because of funds held in foreign bank accounts. It’s a story that we suspect a lot of our readers in the Washington, D.C., area found intriguing. Curran pleaded guilty […]

Groundbreaking technology is amazing stuff (when it works). As with anything that is cutting edge, though, new technology often represents a double-edged sword. With all the apparent benefits come the risks that the tech tools will be used for nefarious purposes. And sometimes the good guys misuse the tools as readily as the bad guys. […]

As long as a person has income, the Internal Revenue is likely to have an interest assessing taxes. Interestingly enough, this attitude toward taxation doesn’t necessarily end when a person passes away. If an estate has a continued income stream, then it may also be required to pay taxes on those earnings, since it is […]