WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today announced it will begin to ramp down the 2014 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) and close the program on Sept. 28, 2018. By alerting taxpayers now, the IRS intends that any U.S. taxpayers with undisclosed foreign financial assets have time to use the OVDP before the program closes.

“Taxpayers have had several years to come into compliance with U.S. tax laws under this program,” said Acting IRS Commissioner David Kautter. “All along, we have been clear that we would close the program at the appropriate time, and we have reached that point. Those who still wish to come forward have time to do so.”

Since the OVDP’s initial launch in 2009, more than 56,000 taxpayers have used one of the programs to comply voluntarily. All told, those taxpayers paid a total of $11.1 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties. The planned end of the current OVDP also reflects advances in third-party reporting and increased awareness of U.S. taxpayers of their offshore tax and reporting obligations.

The number of taxpayer disclosures under the OVDP peaked in 2011, when about 18,000 people came forward. The number steadily declined through the years, falling to only 600 disclosures in 2017.

The current OVDP began in 2014 and is a modified version of the OVDP launched in 2012, which followed voluntary programs offered in 2011 and 2009. The programs have enabled U.S. taxpayers to voluntarily resolve past non-compliance related to unreported foreign financial assets and failure to file foreign information returns.

Tax Enforcement

The IRS notes that it will continue to use tools besides voluntary disclosure to combat offshore tax avoidance, including taxpayer education, Whistleblower leads, civil examination and criminal prosecution. Since 2009, IRS Criminal Investigation has indicted 1,545 taxpayers on criminal violations related to international activities, of which 671 taxpayers were indicted on international criminal tax violations.

“The IRS remains actively engaged in ferreting out the identities of those with undisclosed foreign accounts with the use of information resources and increased data analytics,” said Don Fort, Chief, IRS Criminal Investigation. “Stopping offshore tax noncompliance remains a top priority of the IRS.”

Streamlined Procedures and Other Options

A separate program, the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures, for taxpayers who might not have been aware of their filing obligations, has helped about 65,000 additional taxpayers come into compliance. The Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures will remain in place and available to eligible taxpayers. As with OVDP, the IRS has said it may end the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures at some point.

The implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the ongoing efforts of the IRS and the Department of Justice to ensure compliance by those with U.S. tax obligations have raised awareness of U.S. tax and information reporting obligations with respect to undisclosed foreign financial assets.  Because the circumstances of taxpayers with foreign financial assets vary widely, the IRS will continue offering the following options for addressing previous failures to comply with U.S. tax and information return obligations with respect to those assets:

• IRS-Criminal Investigation Voluntary Disclosure Program;
• Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures;
• Delinquent FBAR submission procedures; and
• Delinquent international information return submission procedures.

Full details of the options available for U.S. taxpayers with undisclosed foreign financial assets can be found on IRS.gov.

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WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today warned that taxpayers should avoid making improper claims for business credits, a common scam used by unscrupulous tax preparers.

Two common credits targeted for abuse by shady return preparers include the research credit and the fuel tax credit. Both credits have legitimate uses, but there are specific criteria that taxpayers need to qualify for these.

As part of the 2018 “Dirty Dozen” tax scams, the IRS reminds taxpayers to watch out for these red flags involving business credits when dealing with return preparers. Remember, the taxpayer is responsible for the information on the tax return long after the scammer is gone.

Each year, the IRS publishes its “Dirty Dozen” list of a variety of common scams that taxpayers may encounter any time. These can especially peak during the tax filing season as people prepare their returns or hire people to help with their taxes.

Research Credit Scams

Section 41 of the Internal Revenue Code provides a credit for increasing research activities, commonly known as the “research credit.” Congress enacted the research credit in 1981 to provide an incentive for American private industry to invest in research and experimentation.

The IRS continues to see significant misuse of the research credit. Improper claims for this credit generally involve a failure to participate in or substantiate qualified research activities and/or a failure to satisfy the requirements related to qualified research expenses.

To qualify for the credit, a taxpayer’s research activities must, among other things, involve a process of experimentation using science with a goal of improving a product or process the taxpayer uses in its business or holds for sale or lease. However, there are certain activities specifically excluded from the credit., including research after commercial production, adaptation of an existing business product or process, foreign research and research funded by the customer. Qualified activities also do not include activities where there is no uncertainty about the taxpayer’s method or capability to achieve a desired result.

The IRS often sees expenses from non-qualified activities included in claims for the research credit. In addition, qualified research expenses include only in-house wages and supply expenses and 65 percent (typically) of payments to contractors. Qualified research expenses do not include expenses without a proven nexus between the claimed expenses and the qualified research activity.

Steps to Properly Claim the Credit

Taxpayers who qualify for the credit may claim up to 20 percent of qualified expenses above a base amount by completing and attaching Form 6765, Credit for Increasing Research Activities, to their tax return. For tax years beginning in 2016, eligible small businesses may use the research credit to offset the alternative minimum tax. Also for tax years beginning in 2016, qualified small businesses may elect to use a portion of the research credit as a payroll tax credit against the employer’s portion of the Social Security tax. Qualified small businesses make this election on Form 6765 and must complete and attach Form 8974, Qualified Small Business Payroll Tax Credit for Increasing Research Activities, to their Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return.

To claim a research credit, taxpayers must evaluate and document their research activities contemporaneously (i.e. over the period of time in which the research occurs) to establish the amount of qualified research expenses paid for each qualified research activity. While taxpayers may estimate some research expenses, taxpayers must have a factual basis for the assumptions used to create the estimates.

Unsupported claims for the research credit may subject taxpayers to penalties. Taxpayers should carefully review reports or studies prepared by third parties to ensure they accurately reflect the taxpayer’s activities. Third parties who are involved in the preparation of improper claims or research credit studies also may be subject to penalties

Fuel Tax Credit Scams

Fraud involving the fuel tax credit is considered a frivolous tax claim and can result in a penalty of $5,000. Furthermore, illegal scams can lead to significant penalties and interest and possible criminal prosecution. IRS Criminal Investigation works closely with the Department of Justice to shutdown scams and prosecute the criminals behind them.

The fuel tax credit is generally limited to off-highway business use or use in farming.  Consequently, the credit is not available to most taxpayers. Still, the IRS routinely finds unscrupulous tax return preparers who have enticed sizable groups of taxpayers to erroneously claim the credit to inflate their refunds.

The federal government taxes gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, alternative fuels and certain other types of fuel. Certain commercial uses of these fuels are nontaxable. Individuals and businesses that purchase fuel for one of those purposes can claim a tax credit by filing Form 4136, Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels.

The tax is on fuels used to power vehicles and equipment on roads and highways. Taxes paid for fuel to power vehicles and equipment used off-road may qualify for the tax credit and may include farm equipment, certain boats, trains and airplanes.

Improper claims for the fuel tax credit generally come in two forms. An individual or business may make an erroneous claim on their otherwise legitimate tax return. It is also possible for an identity thief to claim the credit as part of a broader fraudulent scheme.

The IRS has taken a number of steps to improve compliance processes involving fuel tax credits. IRS compliance systems are preventing a significant number of questionable fuel tax credit claims from being processed. For example, new identity theft screening filters have also improved the IRS’s ability to identify questionable fuel tax credit claims during return processing.

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WASHINGTON — Taxpayers who are looking for a comprehensive guide of 2017 tax benefits and useful tips to help them with their taxes don’t have to go further than IRS Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax.

The IRS has developed the Tax Time Guide, a series of nine news releases to help taxpayers navigate common tax issues as this year’s April 17 deadline nears. This is the third news release in the series.

Publication 17 is a 290-page document packed with basic tax-filing information and tips on what income to report and how to report it, figuring capital gains and losses, claiming dependents, choosing the standard deduction versus itemizing deductions and using IRAs to save for retirement.

Publication 17 features a rundown on tax changes for the 2017 tax year and has details on taking advantage of a wide range of tax-saving opportunities. This includes tax credits such as the American Opportunity Tax Credit for parents and college students, the Additional Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit for low- and moderate-income workers.

Publication 17 has been available free on the IRS web site, IRS.gov, since 1996 and provides thousands of interactive links to help taxpayers quickly find answers to their tax questions.

Besides Publication 17, IRS.gov offers many other helpful resources for taxpayers, such as tax forms and publications for tax year 2017 and prior years. Taxpayers can also download Publication 17 and other tax publications on mobile devices as an eBook at no charge.

Taxpayers can find answers to questions, forms and instructions and easy-to-use tools online at IRS.gov 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No appointment required and no waiting on hold.

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WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today announced that interest rates increased for the calendar quarter beginning April 1, 2018.  The rates will be:

• five (5) percent for overpayments [four (4) percent in the case of a corporation];
• two and one-half (2.5) percent for the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000;
• five (5) percent for underpayments; and
• seven (7) percent for large corporate underpayments.

Under the Internal Revenue Code, the rate of interest is determined on a quarterly basis.  For taxpayers other than corporations, the overpayment and underpayment rate is the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points.

Generally, in the case of a corporation, the underpayment rate is the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points and the overpayment rate is the federal short-term rate plus 2 percentage points. The rate for large corporate underpayments is the federal short-term rate plus 5 percentage points. The rate on the portion of a corporate overpayment of tax exceeding $10,000 for a taxable period is the federal short-term rate plus one-half (0.5) of a percentage point.

The interest rates announced today are computed from the federal short-term rate determined during Jan. 2018 to take effect Feb. 1, 2018, based on daily compounding.

Revenue Ruling 2018-07, announcing the rates of interest, is attached and will appear in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2018-13, dated March 26, 2018.

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