Federal watchdogs are demonstrating their renewed focus on the illegal use of offshore bank accounts, as the Department of Justice (DOJ) says it is zeroing in on potential tax evaders. 

The purpose of Form 8865 is to report the information required under IRC section 6038 (reporting with respect to controlled foreign partnerships). This form also reports transfers to foreign partnerships and acquisitions, depositions, and changes in interest in foreign partnerships.

Admission charges to a place of amusement—such as baseball games, museums, and beaches—are subject to New York State sales tax. There is, however, an exemption under New York Tax Law section 1105(f)(1) on admission charges to a theater or place of assembly for “dramatic or musical arts performances.” 

The letters to the editor below are comments from readers in response to Daniel Mazzola’s opinion piece, “Why the Estate Tax Should Concern Us All,” which appeared in the October 2016 TaxStringer.

In the classic children’s movie The Princess Bride, Billy Crystal plays a miracle-performing medicine man. When the hero of the story is brought to him, Crystal’s character says that he is “mostly dead.” That is an apt description of fundamental tax reform’s current state. 

During the week of Aug. 7, presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump revealed their respective tax policies in major speeches to partisan audiences. While the presentations contained such jargon as marginal rates, inversions, and expenditures, the programs can be summarized as follows: Corporate America—along with the wealthy—will bear the brunt of Mrs. Clinton’s progressive agenda in the form of higher taxes, while these two groups would see their taxes reduced under a Trump regime. This is the choice Americans face in November.

On Aug. 2, 2016, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS issued proposed regulations under IRC Section 2704 (the “Proposed Regulations”) that, if enacted in its present form, might significantly curtail the ability of taxpayers to claim valuation discounts for both lack of control and lack of marketability in family-controlled entities. 

This article covers recent updates and developments in the New York State and City tax areas.