TAX LAWS SEMINAR

Photography by: Bijay Dixit

THE IRS AND YOU

Article by: Manu Shah

The IACCGH annual tax seminar which seeks to educate the community on various tax issues attracted over 130 attendees at India House. Held for the sixth year in a row, the event was moderated by CPA Ajit Thakur and chaired by CPA Swapan Dhairyawan.

President Allen Richards thanked the distinguished panel of CPAs’ and IRS Assistant Special Agent Mark Warren for volunteering their time on a Sunday afternoon and emphasized the Chamber’s commitment of bringing “value to the community” through such events.

Panelist IRS Special Agent Mark Warren noted that the IRS was cracking down on international tax fraud with the help of international tax treaties. CPA Mike Jain anticipated bold tax laws both at the Corporate and Individual level to come into effect under the Trump administration. CPA Kershaw Khumbatta presented different Retirement plans such as Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Simple IRA and the Solo (One person) 401(k) plans. CPA Mahesh Desai highlighted Forms 114 and 8938 that must be filed by taxpayers holding more than $10,000 in an overseas account. The OVPD and the SDOP are two other IRS schemes to voluntarily disclose foreign accounts. Chairperson and CPA Swapan Dhairyawan shed light on the different scams affecting taxpayers such as inflated refund claims, fake charities and identity theft. The phone scam plaguing taxpayers was busted in October 2016. The FAST Act, he stated, could result in denial of a passport for certain tax delinquencies. He emphasized the importance of informing the IRS about address changes and suggested calling the friendly Tax Advocate Service at 877-777-4778 for tax advocacy. Entities, is any way, shape or form to limit liability for businesses was covered by CPA Atul Kothari.