This feed is published daily with selected new or updated
content from across the Lowtax Network. For a list of Lowtax Network
sites, many of which feature daily news, see
below.
Providing essential tax news and information
for globally mobile artists, contractors, entrepreneurs, professionals,
small businesses, sportspersons and entertainers.
Lowtax Portal:
'Low-tax' business and investment in the top 50 jurisdictions covered in
exceptional detail.
Tax News: Global
tax news, continuously updated through the day.
Investors Offshore:
The independent offshore and alternative investment guide for expatriates
and the globally aware investor.
Law & Tax
News: Daily news and background data on tax and legal developments
for international business.
Offshore-e-com:
A topical guide to offshore e-commerce focused on tax and regulation.
Lowtax Library:
One of the web's largest and most authoritative business and investment
information sources.
US Tax Network:
The resource for free online US taxation information, covering: corporate
tax, individual tax, international tax, expatriates, sales and e-commerce
tax, investment tax.
NEW! Personal
Business Tax Guide: Providing essential tax news and information
on business for contractors, entrepreneurs, professionals, small businesses,
artists, sportspersons and entertainers.
Watchdog Calls For More Scrutiny Of US Farm Income Reporting,
by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) should take additional steps to ensure that
farmers are properly reporting subsidies and other income received from the
Federal Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), according to a new report by the
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
According to the report, released publicly earlier this month, these steps
could increase tax revenues by an estimated USD94m over five years.
The CCC is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
that was created to stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices.
Farmers can pledge some or all of their production to secure a CCC loan and
elect to immediately recognize the loan proceeds as taxable income. The USDA
also sells and exchanges commodity certificates to farmers to help minimize
CCC loan forfeitures and allow commodities to be marketed more freely and competitively.
If a CCC loan is repaid using a commodity certificate and the market value
of the commodity represented by the certificate is less than the loan amount,
a taxable gain may occur.
TIGTA found that, between 2003 and 2005, the IRS received 18,813 Forms 1099-G
with mismatched names or identification numbers reporting income payments of
USD190.8m from the USDA. As a result, TIGTA estimates that 317 farmers may have
avoided paying USD318,000 in taxes, interest and penalties related to unreported
CCC income payments.
In addition, TIGTA reviewed a sample of the 19,465 farmers who used commodity
certificates to repay CCC loans between 2003 and 2005 and found that USD21.1m
in market gains were not properly reported. However, without further investigation
by the IRS, it is not possible to determine by how much these improperly reported
gains affected tax liabilities.
"The IRS is to be commended for initiating the use of information returns
reporting returns reporting the taxable income from repaying amounts borrowed
with commodity certificates," commented J. Russell George, the Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration. "The filing of information returns
is central to the success of the nation's voluntary tax system because it allows
the IRS to more economically and efficiently detect and pursue noncompliant
taxpayers who can create unfair burdens on honest taxpayers and diminish the
public's respect for the tax system."
TIGTA recommended that the IRS work with the USDA to reduce the number of
information returns reporting CCC income payments that contain inaccurate names
and identification numbers.
The IRS was also urged to explore compliance strategies to address potentially
millions of dollars of improperly reported income from CCC loan forfeitures
and suspected cases of underreporting that the IRS does not pursue due to resource
constraints.
One of the web's largest and
most authoritative business and investment information sources. Alongside
topical, daily news on worldwide
tax developments, you can receive weekly newswires or
access up-to-date intelligence
reports on a range of legal, tax and investment subjects.
Our 16 constantly updated
intelligence reports cover every important aspect of 'offshore' and international
tax-planning in depth, including banking secrecy, the EU's savings tax
directive, offshore funds, e-commerce, offshore gaming and transfer pricing.
Reports are available for immediate downloading or as subscription
services with news pages.
Advertising & Marketing
With over 50,000 qualified readers every month our web-sites
offer a number of cost effective, targeted advertising,
sponsorship and marketing opportunities:
Display advertising - from 'skyscrapers' to 'buttons'
Content/article submission and sponsorship
Opt-in email marketing
On-line Services Directory listings
Could your corporate web-site or newsletter benefit
from incorporating regularly updated news and content
tailored to serve your clients' interests? We can provide
a variety of maintenance-free news and content solutions
that can be seamlessly integrated and dynamically delivered:
Click here for a brief introduction
to RSS and instructions on how to get the Tax-News feed.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: THE LOWTAX NETWORK has
taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on
this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage
that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are advised to
take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves to involvement
in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments. All materials
on this site copyright THE LOWTAX NETWORK 1999 to 2010. Contact
us for further information.
TAX-NEWS.COM
Free Tax-News Feed