U.S. taxpayers with qualifying foreign financial accounts must complete and file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) on an annual basis. Failure to do so can lead to civil or criminal penalties, and it can lead to scrutiny of taxpayers’ other filings as well. The Internal Revenue Service recently published some tips for FBAR compliance in 2021, which Washington D.C. international tax lawyer Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, discusses below:Read More

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) wants taxpayers to be aware of tax scams—and it wants taxpayers to avoid these scams if at all possible. But, while the IRS can issue warnings, what it cannot do in many cases is distinguish between scam victims and taxpayers who have knowingly submitted fraudulent returns. As a result, victims of tax scams will run into trouble with the IRS in many cases. In this article, Washington D.C. tax attorney Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, explains what you need to know if you submitted a false return as the result of falling victim to a tax scam.Read More

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has begun to focus its resources on identifying tax havens in Puerto Rico. As Washington D.C. tax attorney Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, explains, this has potentially significant implications for U.S. taxpayers who transfer their business to Puerto Rico seeking tax advantages. Kevin E. Thorn warns, that such transfers have triggered many IRS tax audits already, and more may be on the way in the future.Read More

In a recently-released Memorandum, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Office of Chief Counsel stated the agency’s position that certain transactions involving Bitcoin, Ether and Litecoin do not qualify as like-kind exchanges under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code. As Washington D.C. tax attorney Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group, explains, this has potentially significant implications for U.S. taxpayers who invest in the cryptocurrency market.Read More

Many U.S. taxpayers who own financial assets overseas owe reporting obligations to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). While there are reporting thresholds and not all financial assets qualify as “foreign financial assets” under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), taxpayers cannot simply assume that they fall outside of FATCA’s requirements. The penalties for non-compliance are steep, and criminal prosecution is a possibility in some cases. Here, Washington D.C. tax lawyer Kevin E. Thorn, Managing Partner of Thorn Law Group,  explains when taxpayers need to file IRS Form 8938 in order to comply with FATCA.Read More