TheDirty.com Editor Nik Richie Loses In Tax Court
If you are as evil-minded as I am it might occur to you that a General Partner might stick it to you by “specially allocating” income to you while making it clear, off the record, that there will never be any distributions. If you have a good reason for disagreeing with a K-1, one form of recourse is to file Form 8082 and report what you think is right. Unless you do that not following the K-1 is close to per se negligence.
Panama Papers – Much Foreign Ownership Is Innocent
Form 5471 requires a lot of information about the foreign corporation. In my experience, the challenging part for American accountants is getting the information. Much gets lost in translation. Sometimes it is difficult to determine what kind of an entity it is that your client owns. Sometimes the people overseas controlling the books and records are less than cooperative.
If you are getting involved in overseas transactions of any sort, try to get your advisors on both sides of the border to coordinate things. This is one area where the national accounting firms really shine, but you may find that they are too expensive if you are involved in relatively modest transactions.
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Over and over again courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging one’s affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everybody does so, rich or poor; and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions. To demand more in the name of morals is mere cant.