The $5 million federal gift and estate exemptions will only remain in effect until the last day of 2012. Normally the gift tax exemption is only $1 million dollars. This means that, for a limited time, high net worth individuals can make gifts of up to $5 million without paying federal taxes on the amount. [...]

The Newton Needham Chamber of Commerce LAWYERS’ COUNCIL presents DANGERS AND PITFALLS OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS, DIGITAL COMMUNICATION, AND SOCIAL MEDIA –  FOR LAWYERS AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS What are you and your clients assuming about the current ‘state of the art’ of doing business in our increasingly digital world?  Come and learn about some of the [...]

This article, FBAR Examination, Appeals and Collection Procedure in the Post-Amnesty World by Steven Toscher and Michel R. Stein warns that those who did not take advantage of the IRS’s OVDI program will face increased scrutiny.

There is a new form that tax professionals and individuals with certain foreign financial assets must be aware of, Form 8938 Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets.  The form is intended to report on are foreign bank accounts or any stock or securities issued by someone who is not a US citizen or a contract [...]

Since the beginning of February one Swiss bank (Wegelin & Co.)[1] has been indicted and another Swiss bank (Julius Baer Group) [2] announced that it may face possibly significant financial penalties for allegedly helping some of their American clients evade United States income taxes and FBAR filings.  Also this week, the New York Times reported [...]

Swiss Bank, Julius Baer Group, announced yesterday that it may face financial penalties in the face of allegations that it helped its American clients cheat on their United States taxes (read the article here with the Associated Press). This marks the newest development in the US government’s recent trend of cracking down on possible tax violators. At least [...]

Attorney Morris Robinson was interviewed by CNN Money reporter, Blake Ellis, on February 3 and again on February 6, 2012 for her article about the $100 million family trust Mitt and Ann Romney established for their five sons. Attorney Robinson, a tax expert, identified the type of trust the Romneys’ have created as an “intentionally [...]

Why Romney’s Effective 2010 Income Tax Rate is only 10.7 Percent www.MRobinson.com January 31, 2012 By Attorney Morris N. Robinson, CPA, LL.M. BOSTON. Successful families manage to replicate themselves by transmitting their heritage, values, and wealth to the next generation. The next generation always receives what is left of the family fortune after inflation and [...]

Boston Globe reporter Todd Wallack quoted Attorney Morris N. Robinson, CPA, LL.M., in the conclusion of his article in today’s Boston Globe, January 19, 2012: “Few Americans Pay Full Tax Rate”. Read Attorney Robinson’s quote about Mitt Romney’s income tax payments or click below for the full article. “Romney also probably benefited from an array of [...]

Determining the status of an organization’s employees is often not a straightforward task. The penalties for misclassifying an employee as an Independent Contractor as defined by the IRS can be stiff. Employers who are found to have made this error can be subject to an IRS audit, back employment taxes, penalties and interest for prior [...]