In this episode of Tax Notes Talk, Professor Afton Titus of the University of Cape Town explains her view on how the tax initiatives of the OECD and United Nations affect developing nations. Tax Notes Talk is a podcast produced by Tax Notes. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. David D. Stewart: Welcome to the podcast. I’m David Stewart, editor in chief of Tax Notes Today International. This week: the view from the global south. At the end of October the podcast team traveled to Cape Town, South Africa, for the International Fiscal Association Annual Congress. While…

The U.S. Tax Court has affirmed its earlier decision that the IRS lacks authority to assess certain foreign information penalties. The latest decision in Mukhi v. Commissioner came after a flurry of activity involving the IRS’ ability to assess the penalty. Background In Mukhi, the taxpayer established three entities: a foreign corporation and two foreign trusts that held foreign brokerage accounts. That means he was required to file information returns, including Form 3520, Form 3520-A, and Form 5471. In 2014, the taxpayer pleaded guilty to one count of filing false U.S. individual income tax returns and one count of failure…

The IRS is moving forward with issuing tens of thousands of denial/disallowance letters to applicants of the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). The letters come in two flavors – the “105-C letter” which is a notice of disallowance (and a 106-C – partial disallowance); and, a “Form 6577-C letter” – a credit recapture/(“clawback”) letter where IRS recaptures previously allowed credits and assesses them as additional tax. Taxpayers – and their CPAs – need to be eyes open about how to proceed if they receive these letters, especially given that they have tight response requirements. As discussed below, a thorough response from…

In 2024 and 2025, there are seven federal income tax rates and brackets: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. Taxable income and filing status determine which federal tax rates apply to you and how much in taxes you’ll owe that year.The federal tax rates will remain the same through the end of 2025 as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. However, the IRS can adjust income thresholds that inform those tax brackets each year to reflect the rate of inflation. 2024 tax brackets (taxes due April 2025)The 2024 tax brackets apply to income…

In the wake of Kenya’s failed finance bill, several think pieces have asked what went wrong. The Economist detailed how the Kenyan government will have to offer its citizens more services if it wants to increase their taxes. (“The Lessons of Africa’s Tax Revolts,” The Economist (Aug. 15, 2024).) An Africa Center policy position paper partially blamed the debacle on political incompetence and called on President William Ruto to resign. (Naila Aroni, “Kenya’s Finance Bill Protests,” The Africa Center (July 31, 2024).) The Financial Times explained that some Kenyans lay the blame at the feet of the IMF, which had…

When President Elect Trump takes office in January, he will have a Republican-controlled Senate and a slimly Republican-controlled House. Tax changes are on the horizon, and here are some of the ones to watch for. Expiring 2017 tax changes The tax changes Trump rolled out in 2017 are set to expire at the end of 2025, which will mark the first year of his new administration. Trump has proposed making these cuts permanent but with some tweaks as we will see. Unless Congress takes action to extend them, the end of 2025 will bring numerous tax changes—here are just a…

This is a published version of our weekly Forbes Tax Breaks newsletter. You can sign-up to get Tax Breaks in your inbox here. I have a confession to make: I have not yet filed my Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). It is not an act of resistance. It’s sheer procrastination. Anecdotally, I know many colleagues and clients who haven’t yet pulled the trigger. And recently, a FinCEN representative acknowledged that only about 20% of the millions of businesses that need to report have filed. The deadline for most of us? Reporting companies created…

These white-glove services are spreading fast as a way to manage and pass on wealth. By Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes Staff In1882, John D. Rockefeller, the world’s richest man, created the first full-service single-family office in the U.S. to manage and invest his fortune, said to be $1.4 billion ($31 billion in today’s dollars) at his death in 1937. Fast-forward 142 years, and many members of The Forbes 400 have a family office to help them manage their enormous fortunes. But so do thousands of other American families who don’t belong to the billionaire class. At their core, family offices…

The so-called Trump trade capped two years of gains for investors. Now it’s time to buckle up and protect the wealth you have. Edited by Janet Novack and Matt Schifrin, Forbes Staff The last two years of the Biden Administration have been blissful for stock investors. The S&P 500 has gained 60% and the tech stock–heavy Nasdaq 100 has nearly doubled. Bitcoin is up fourfold. But history teaches us that bull markets don’t last forever, and when they fall it can be ruinous to nest eggs and 401(k)s. There are plenty of potential dangers, from interminable wars to intractable budget…

As we head into 2025 with a new administration—and a new Congress—one of the questions on the minds of many taxpayers is what sort of changes might be on the horizon. Key to that question is what might happen to the various provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017. The sweeping legislation made some changes permanent—like corporate tax cuts—but others are set to expire at the end of 2025, thanks to reconciliation (you can read more about that here). So, what cuts and changes, exactly, are scheduled to go? Here’s a look. The Basics Standard deduction.…