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We're continuing our discussion from our last post. The subject is filing disclosures of foreign assets to the IRS. The agency recently modified the rules of the offshore voluntary compliance program and added a "streamlined" process for taxpayers opting out of the...
Some people have an ear for languages. They can visit a foreign country and be conversant in a matter of days. For others, foreign languages remain a mystery, if not a misery. Those French, as a friend of ours used to say, have a different word for everything.Tax law...
Back in the day -- please excuse us if we overuse the expression, but a discussion of the movie "The Wolf of Wall Street" reminded us that there are adults out in the world that were born after the "greed is good" 1980s, and that made us strangely nostalgic. But, back...
Sometimes it is important to closely consider whose interests are being promoted in an estate plan. It is obvious, for starters, that the individual or couple engaged in thinking about and implementing a sound and purposeful estate plan are promoting objectives that...
Symbolic but meaningful.That’s the message the Internal Revenue Service is seeking to convey to taxpayers in California and nationally regarding its recently released “Taxpayer Bill of Rights.”Do we really need such a thing?Apparently so, given the...
The Internal Revenue Service's position on digital currency such as Bitcoin continues to evolve. As we discussed previously, the IRS issued a decision in March to categorize Bitcoin as taxable property and not official currency. While Bitcoin essentially functions as...
Estate administration isn't only about distributing assets. The probate process can have major tax implications for heirs and beneficiaries. If a deceased loved one's estate wasn't effectively organized with the use of a will or a trust, then a probate judge's...
When we were talking about IRS audits a few weeks ago, we mentioned that audits are no longer random. The IRS has filters in place that flag tax returns that fall outside of the norm or include information that requires a closer look. One example was a return that...
One of the disadvantages of being a celebrity is that you have no privacy. One of the disadvantages to being a celebrity living in California is that court records are much easier to come by. Divorces are not sealed, for example, except in rare situations. Reporters...
The average American family looks very different than it did in previous generations. Large families with a lot of kids used to be the norm, but many couples now choose to have between one and three children, and some couples decide to forego having kids...
Some figures baffle.Like the speed of light. Like the age and size of the universe. And like estimates pegging the personal fortunes of America's richest families.Consider this imagery relevant to the storied Vanderbilt family for a moment: a pile of money equaling...
"You own this." Those words might sound frightening to a would-be California estate planner, but they are actually meant to promote a feeling of empowerment rather than intimidation. It is no secret that legions of...
Many remarrying California individuals fail to timely consider and update existing estate plans to reflect new realities.Don't be one of them. Many remarrying California individuals fail to timely consider and update existing estate plans to reflect new...
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