Singer v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2016-48 At the time of his death, Melvin Sacks was legally married to Alvia Sacks but had been estranged from her for 25 years. His “longtime companion” was Lucille Atwell, with whom he jointly owned a brokerage account worth some $2 million. Atwell was the beneficiary of Sacks’ life insurance…
Tag: Taxes
Settlement of gift tax dispute does not waive interest due on unpaid taxes.
Estate of Anthony La Sala v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2016-42 When he was 93, Anthony La Sala created ALS Family LLC to own and manage his wealth. He sold a 99% interest in the company to his daughter when he was 95 for a lifetime annuity of $913,986. In the exchange, the retained 1% was…
The IRS attempts to measure the "tax gap"
For the first time in ten years, the IRS has attempted to measure the “tax gap,” the difference between what taxpayers are paying and what they should be paying under the tax law. The gap hasn’t changed much over the years, according to information from IRS Commissioner Koskinen at an April press conference. The net…
2016 Filing snapshot
In early March the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) took a snapshot of how this year’s filing season is going. The report was released on March 31. Among the observations: 93.9% of returns were filed electronically. Only 4 million returns came in on paper, to that point. 53.5 million refunds, totaling more than…
Taxes come first
George Thompson owed substantial back taxes and penalties to the IRS, over $100,000. He proposed a program of monthly payments of $3,000 to meet his obligation, but the IRS believed that he could pay much more. George’s counsel filed Form 433-A showing monthly income of $27,633 ($331,596 annually) and monthly expenses of $24,416. The difference…
Washington Talk
Deadline deferred. On July 31, 2015, the President signed into law the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015. One minor component of the legislation implemented an idea that had been included in the President’s earlier budget messages: requiring consistent basis reporting for income and estate tax purposes. To this end, executors…