On December 15, 2011, the IRS released updated information regarding Form 8938, a new information reporting form for certain U.S. taxpayers who own specified foreign assets: Certain U.S. taxpayers holding specified foreign financial assets with an aggregate value exceeding $50,000 will be required to report information about those assets on new Form 8938, which will be attached to the taxpayer's annual income tax return.
Foreign Financial Asset Reporting
On September 19, 2011, the Secretary of Labor signed a memorandum of understanding with the Internal Revenue Service that will improve the efforts of the Department of Labor to end the business practice of misclassifying employees as independent contractors:
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/whd/WHD20111373.htm. To the business owners this means one thing: If you are treating your workers as independent contractors, now is time to determine whether all your workers are properly classified as contractors. You may face substantial fines and penalties if your workers are reclassified into employees.
On September 21, 2011, only a couple of days after DOL and the IRS signed this memorandum, the Internal Revenue Service launched its new "Voluntary Classification Settlement Program" to encourage employers to get into compliance with the worker classification issues:
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=246203,00.html. Please note that the IRS has no requirement to keep your information in confidence from the state agencies, such as L&I and ESD. If you would like more information, please call our office.
Call 866-418-3175 for a Free Initial Phone Consultation at a Tacoma, Washington, IRS Tax Problem Law Firm. We invite you to contact us today by phone or contact our Washington tax debt attorney by email, to discuss your case with our experienced Seattle tax law attorney. Find out how we can help. It is not necessary for you to travel to our office; our interview and any subsequent work can be done entirely over the phone or through videoconferencing or email.
