The IRS has issued a memorandum containing audit guidelines for schemes that are marketed as a means of giving prospective business owners access to accumulated tax-deferred retirement funds without paying distribution taxes in order to fund new business start-up costs. According to the memo, “an attribute common to this design is the assignment of newly created enterprise stock into a qualified plan as consideration for these transferred funds, the valuation of which may be questionable.”

Tags: 401k, rollover

IRS Commissioner Discusses Corporate Taxes with International Tax Conference

by Derek G. Rowley (c) 2009. All Rights Reserved

The Commissioner of the IRS recently spoke out on a number of issues related to corporate taxation. While his remarks were specific to address international corporate tax challenges, they also serve to provide an insight into the approach and philosophy of the IRS toward corporations and corporate taxes in general. This is not a Nevada incorporation specific issue, because his remarks address the IRS approach to a number of common business strategies in the international business arena. However, it is not a real stretch to see how the Service might also address similar domestic business strategies in the future.

Douglas H. Shulman, Commissioner of Internal Revenue addressed the 21st Annual George Washington University International Tax Conference last month in Washington, D.C., and made some interesting remarks about the enforcement priorities of the IRS. He framed his remarks in the context of the present economic challenges, saying that “taxpayers’ attitudes and perceptions about the taxes they pay reflect the changing world around them.”

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Tags: douglas h. shulman, transfer pricing, hybrid structures, withholding taxes, foreign bank accounts