Jacko
estate owes us $702M: IRS - (www.nypost.com) Even
in death, the tax man cometh. The estate of Michael Jackson (right), who died
of an overdose in 2009, owes more than $702 million to the IRS, the LA Times
reports. Executors of Jackson’s estate claim it’s worth $7 million, tax
documents reveal. But the IRS has a much different number: $1.125 billion. The
estate’s tax filings are so off the mark that it could be subjected to a 40
percent penalty for underpayment — double the usual punishment. Shockingly, the
estate claimed Jackson’s part interest in a trust that owns the rights to both
his own songs and those of The Beatles was worth nothing.
Sounding
the Tax Alarm, to Little Applause (IRS Whistleblower Program Mishandled) - (www.nytimes.com) In the meantime, Mr. Insinga, 63, says that
being a known whistle-blower has made it impossible to find a job. He has sued
the I.R.S., asking for documents that he says will prove that his help led to
the recoveries. "Under the law they have to pay 15 percent at a minimum,
but they just don't want to pay it," Mr. Insinga said of the I.R.S.
"They don't want to admit that these tax schemes existed for years under
their nose and they were unable to do anything about it until I provided them
with the smoking gun." ... Practical steps taken by the I.R.S. would
either make it hard for a whistle-blower to qualify for an award or would
reduce the size of a payout. Soon after the law was passed, for example, the
I.R.S. took the position that a whistle-blower could not appeal if the I.R.S.
denied a claim. The tax court rejected that idea, but the I.R.S. has also argued
that no award should be paid when the information supplied by a whistle-blower
prompts a company to pay additional taxes without a fight. It has proposed
rules that would make a reward mandatory only if the whistle-blower was the
sole basis for the recovery of back taxes; it has also changed the calculation
for coming up with the proceeds on which awards would be based by excluding
penalties paid by scofflaws.
Toyota
Has Dealt The Australian Auto Industry A Death Blow - (www.businessinsider.com) Today,
Australia's auto industry was dealt a death blow. In a press release, Toyota Australia
revealed "that it will stop building cars in Australia by the end of 2017
and become a national sales and distribution company." Toyota
Australia's president and CEO, Max Yasuda, and Toyota Motor Corporation
president and CEO, Akio Toyoda, delivered the bad news in person at a press
conference. Mr. Yasuda called it "one of the saddest days in
Toyota's history".
Making the situation worse is the fact that Toyota was the last major automaker
building cars in the country. With Toyota out of the picture, Australia's auto
industry is dead.
Puerto
Rico Closing In on Record Speculative-Grade Muni Offering - (www.bloomberg.com) Puerto
Rico is closing in on what may be a record sale of junk-rated municipal bonds
as the struggling U.S. commonwealth plans to issue debt to allay Wall Street
doubts that it can access capital
markets.
The general-obligation deal will take place by mid-March, Government
Development Bank Chairman David Chafey said today in an interview in San Juan. The sale, through Barclays Plc (BARC), Morgan Stanley and RBC Capital
Markets,
will refinance debt and raise cash, according to the GDB. Officials plan to
borrow $2 billion through bonds, though lawmakers are working on a bill
authorizing as much as $3.5 billion of general obligations, according to
General Assembly Representative Rafael Hernandez.
How
Much Does It Cost to Be Ambassador to Hungary? - (www.bloomberg.com) Watching
John McCain set-up a fellow senator like a bowling pin is a rare Washington
pleasure. Even when he does it in Budapest. A couple of weeks ago, McCain led a
large congressional delegation to the Munich Security Conference -- the Davos
of defense ministers, international arms dealers, oil sheikhs and angry
Ukrainians. Before arriving in Munich, McCain, in the company of a handful of
Senate and House members (and three American journalists, yours truly among
them), made a four-hour visit to Budapest, to meet with Hungary’s wily prime
minister. McCain also decided to hold a press conference with two dozen
Hungarian journalists. I can't prove the following assertion, but I suspect
that McCain decided to meet the press in Budapest mainly so that the delegation
would be asked questions about a woman named Colleen Bell.
No comments:
Post a Comment