Recent Accomplishments
(Partial List)
Received a FULL-WAIVER of the OVDP Penalty. Our client was scared into OVDP by an inexperienced self-proclaimed “specialist.” She was facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in FBAR and FATCA penalties. After multiple discussions with the IRS Agent in charge, the IRS Agent agreed to waive the penalty completely.
–Reduced OVDP Penalties by 85% with an OVDP Opt-Out. We took over for another firm that was inexperienced in OVDP and got the clients into a major jam (facing potential mid-six figure penalties). After a year long negotiation with the IRS, we reduced the OVDP penalty to only a fraction of the original penalty, which was lower than what the Streamlined Penalty would have been.
-Significantly reduced an OVDP penalty by working with the IRS to evaluate a less common retirement plan, which the IRS agreed met the requirements under OVDP FAQ 55.
–Successfully Represented a Client to avoid involuntary removal from IRS OVDP when an inexperienced law firm took a client through OVDP but then tried to transition them under Streamlined Procedures, even though the client did not qualify for transition procedures due to the timing of the initial OVDP submission.
–Successfully represented a client who was represented by a firm that submitted a preclearance letter to the IRS for OVDP, even when they were completely non-willfu l (client unintentionally had accounts at multiple “bad banks”). Prior counsel did not understand the “Bad Bank” rules in relation to willful vs. non-willful, and was going to submit client into OVDP when it was not warranted. We were able to work with the IRS and client was approved for Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures.
-We represented a client in an 8-figure disclosure that spanned 7 countries.
-We represented a high-net-worth client to facilitate a complex expatriation with offshore disclosure.
-We represented an overseas family with bringing multiple businesses & personal investments into U.S. tax and offshore compliance .We took over a case from a small firm that unsuccessfully submitted multiple clients to IRS Offshore Disclosure.
-We successfully represented a client in a transitional OVDP situation in which the client initially paid a large penalty under the OVDP. The IRS initially argued that the client would not be due a refund of the penalty for his Offshore Real Estate. After several rounds of negotiations with the IRS and dealing with multiple IRS Agents in different departments, we are proud to say that we were able to convince the IRS to approve a full 100% refund of the client’s penalty, in accordance with advanced transitional OVDP rules that even certain IRS Agents did not fully comprehend.
-We successfully transitioned an applicant out of OVDP (he was previously misguided by another CPA/Attorney to submit into the OVDP Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program) and into the modified streamlined program by proving his actions were non-willful, thereby reducing Offshore Penalties by more than 80%.
-We recently received an IRS “Closing Letter” for a complex OVDP Submission involving over 15 foreign accounts, foreign retirement accounts, and foreign real estate for a client with assets in multiple countries including South Africa, Canada and Germany.
–We successfully represented a client from start-to-finish in a massive OVDP undertaking. The client initially entered the OVDP (prior to the introduction of the IRS streamlined program), and we submitted documentation for accounts and real estate income scattered around the globe in numerous countries. Once the Streamlined Program was introduced (and before we submitted a closing letter) we transitioned the client into the Streamlined Program (which is equivalent to “Opting Out”). Thereafter, we went through numerous rounds of document and information reporting requests with the IRS, which finally resulted in a closing letter. Our client’s OVDP penalty was reduced from high six-figures down to less than 20% of the original penalty amount.
**We have successfully completed several recent disclosures for clients with assets ranging from $50,000 – $10,000,000+ nationwide and in over 80-countries, including several disclosures for clients with assets totaling more than $25,000,000.
-Successfully completed and received IRS acceptance of a comprehensive Streamlined Domestic Offshore submission for high-income earners that included more than 35 PFICs (Passive Foreign Income Company) and hundreds of thousands of dollars of unreported income annually in 3 different countries.
-Successfully completed and received IRS acceptance of a Streamlined Domestic submission for a client with very substantial assets (high 7-figures) in multiple countries.
-Successfully Represented Highly Compensated Earners in a Streamlined Program Disclosure with more than 175 Accounts.
-We recently received notification of the IRS Acceptance of a complex Streamlined Offshore Disclosure Program submission for a client with nearly 30 different accounts , which were opened and closed over a 10-year period, including foreign real estate earnings from multiple properties.
-We recently received an IRS “Notice of Completion” for a $10,000,000 Offshore Disclosure Program submission, involving over 20+ foreign accounts, foreign income, foreign assets, multiple PFICs, and other complicated foreign tax assets.
-We recently received notification of the IRS Acceptance of a Streamlined Domestic Offshore Disclosure Program submission for a client with more than 10 undeclared accounts in the U.K. We recently received notification of the IRS Acceptance of a Streamlined Domestic Offshore Disclosure Program submission for a client with 19 undeclared accounts in India.
-We recently received notification of the IRS Acceptance of a Streamlined Domestic Offshore Disclosure Program submission for a client with 8 undeclared accounts in Italy.
-We successfully represented clients who were married and living in different countries and qualified for different offshore disclosure programs.
-The IRS wanted to try to enforce penalties against the U.S. resident spouse, but we were able to prove to the IRS that even though the money was in a joint account, that the money belonged to the non-resident spouse and thus avoided all penalties for BOTH Taxpayers.
-We recently received notification of the IRS Acceptance of a Streamlined Domestic Offshore Disclosure Program submission for a client with 9 undeclared accounts in India.
-We recently received notification of the IRS Acceptance of a Streamlined Domestic Offshore Disclosure Program submission for a client with 11 undeclared accounts in Australian and Zealand. We recently received notification of the IRS Acceptance of a Streamlined Domestic Offshore Disclosure Program submission for a client with 18 undeclared accounts in India.
-We recently received notification of the IRS Acceptance of a Streamlined Domestic Offshore Disclosure Program submission for a client with 10 undeclared accounts in Japan.
-We recently received notification of the IRS Acceptance of a Streamlined Domestic Offshore Disclosure Program submission for a client with multiple accounts, which had several U.S. Taxpayer signatories and more than $1,000,000 of funds in Costa Rica, and secured a full-penalty waiver.
–We recently received notification of the IRS Acceptance of a Streamlined Domestic Offshore Disclosure Program submission for a client with 10 undeclared accounts in France.
–We recently received notification of the IRS Acceptance of a Streamlined Domestic Offshore Disclosure Program submission for a client with 6 undeclared accounts in Hong Kong.
-We recently received notification of the IRS Acceptance of a Streamlined Domestic Offshore Disclosure Program submission for a client with 9 undeclared accounts in China.
–We recently received notification of the IRS Acceptance of a Streamlined Domestic Offshore Disclosure Program submission for a client with 12 undeclared accounts in India.
–Successfully represented a non-willful client through the Streamlined Program, even though he had multiple accounts at “Bad Banks” including accounts in a Tax Haven jurisdiction.
-Received notification that a highly-complex Reasonable Cause submission with Foreign Partnership, Passive Foreign Investment Companies, and multiple accounts in 7 different countries was accepted and no penalties were issued.
-We recently received IRS confirmation that a client’s comprehensive Reasonable Cause submission for numerous undeclared foreign accounts in Asia was accepted by the IRS, and no penalty was issued against the clients for several years of previously incomplete tax filings and undisclosed income.
-Successfully received notification from the IRS of no penalties being issued against a high-income earning family with more than 20+ foreign accounts worldwide, including India and Canada. Based on their specific facts and circumstances, we were able to submit them using the Reasonable Cause option.
-Successfully completed a multi-person comprehensive disclosure matter for a family with submissions involving both Offshore Disclosure and Reasonable Cause applications – and Golding & Golding was able to have the highest penalty amount waived by the IRS under Reasonable Cause.
–Successfully represented a non-willful client through the Streamlined Program, even though he had multiple accounts at “Bad Banks” including accounts in a Tax Haven jurisdiction.
-Our clients reside overseas in a foreign country and are U.S. Citizens traveling on a SOFA passport (Status of Forces Agreement). When they were audited, the IRS argued that the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) taxpayers claimed would be denied but we uncovered a 1972 Revenue Ruling which dealt with the much more stringent “Bona-Fide Resident” test under the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and successfully convinced the IRS that it should apply to the Physical Presence Test as well — saving our clients tens of thousands of dollars in tax liability.
-We successfully represented an international manufacturing business with annual gross sales exceeding $10 million in a complex EDD audit and resolved the matter with the EDD conceding to only 4 employees of more than 40 total staff members. We were also able to limit the misclassification to “Contract Employee” status in order to limit the impact on future hires. Total outstanding liability was less than .01% of gross sales.
-We represented a former CFO of a multi-million dollar corporation of which the California Board of Equalization (BOE) was threatening to levy more than $1 million of outstanding Sales and Use Tax against him personally (as the former CFO). The BOE usually issues levies against the owners of the corporation and CFO (since the CFO has financial responsibility of the company). After lengthy negotiations, we were able avoid all liability for our client.
-We defended a multi-million-dollar nationwide court reporting company facing EDD misclassification of over 100 Independent Contractors, and successfully convinced the EDD that all staff members were properly classified as Independent Contractors.
-Represented a Movie Production Company with a Multi-Year Audit and achieved two No Change Letters, resulting in zero liability to the client when the IRS was seeking extensive taxes and penalties for a multi-year audit.
-We defended one of California’s largest marijuana collectives in a comprehensive multi-year sales and use tax audit and limited the assessment to just 3% of annual sales (there was a potential 30%+ assessment looming), without any interruption in business and without an observational on-site audit.
-We successfully appealed and overturned an EDD Benefits Determination Ruling that initially held that a Court Reporter was an employee and entitled to unemployment benefits. Not only was there no written independent contractor agreement, but the “employee” had already received several months of unemployment. **Update: Thereafter, both the EDD and Claimant filed appeals with the Unemployment Insurance Board for a “Second-Level” Appeal, but they were both denied.
-We successfully represented a medical group in an EDD Employment Tax Audit facing upwards of $100,000 in penalties and taxes for a potential mis-categorization of doctors as Independent Contractors. Although the proposed notice of assessment held the doctors as employees, once we were retained by the medical group, we were able to negotiate with the EDD, which resulted in the EDD Auditor finding that the doctors were independent contractors and reduced tax liability by nearly 90%.
-We successfully represented a videography company in which all members were initially held be employees but was able to negotiate with the supervisor and have ALL of the employees deemed as Independent Contractors (except for the single shareholder of the LLC).
-We successfully represented a professional services firm with over 150 independent contractors who the EDD considered reclassifying as employees but after comprehensive negotiations, we were able to have all but two (2) independent contractors maintain their IC status (both were officers of the S corporation).
-We represented a real estate investment client who was duped into buying a residential home through a nationwide real estate wholesaler that had an undisclosed IRS lien that was nearly triple the value of the home. The wholesaler was steadfast and refused to refund any of the purchase price. We took swift action against the wholesaler, which resulted in the wholesaler refunding the full purchase price of the property before the close of business that same day, and before the IRS could take any action against our client.
-Our client worked for a Federal Agency overseas and had not filed tax returns for 7 years. He was under the mistaken belief (as many foreign government contractors are) that he was not required to file a tax return, since many times he qualified for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) under either the PPT or BFR test. Making matters worse, this client was stationed in a remote location overseas with very limited internet access and only learned of the IRS Bank Levy after he attempted to use his debit card. He never received a copy of the IRS Bank Levy, and had no other information other than the fact that an IRS Bank Levy had been issued. We were able to act quickly and contact the IRS only days before the bank was scheduled to release the funds to the IRS and successfully negotiated a release of the IRS Levy.
-We were also successful in obtaining an extension to file past tax returns and claim his FEIE.We represented an heir to an estate who was involved in a complex matter with the IRS, wherein the IRS was pursuing recovery for Federal Tax liens against the decedent as well as the estate.
-We quickly responded to the NFTL (Notice of Federal Tax Lien) by pursuing a CDP (Collection Due Process) hearing request and secured a Non-Collectible Status for the decedent (and by default the decedent’s estate) and eliminated IRS recovery against the heir’s portion of the estate.