C&H Blog

In United States v. Baston, No. 09-50238 (June 21, 2010), the Ninth Circuit decided that district courts may order restitution as a condidtion of supervised release for tax crimes (offenses under Title 26 of the United States Code) under authority granted by the "Supervised Release Statute," 18 U.S.C. Sect. 3583(d).  The Circuit rejected the argument that district courts' resitution orders were limited to those falling under the Victim and Witness Protection Act or the Mandatory Victims Restituion Act (neither of which include restitution for tax crimes).  However, the amount of the resitution must be directly related to the offense of conviction, as long as the offense of conviction does not involve an element of a scheme or conspiracy. 

Chicoine & Hallett recently became aware that Ron Strawn, South Coast, and/or Columbia Financial has been marketing a tax transaction referred to as "Tahoe" or "Blackbriar" and representing that Chicoine & Hallett, P.S. was affilliated with the transaction.  Chicoine &Hallett had no involvement in the preparation of the communication regarding the Tahoe/Blackbriar FAQ.  Chicoine & Hallett does not and did not condone, authorize, or agree to the representations made in the communication or the use of its name in any way.  Chicoine & Hallett is not affiliated with Mr. Strawn, South Coast, or Columbia Financial as a business or tax advisor. 

Most practitioners view filing Form 1045, as opposed to Form 1040X, as a quicker way to obtain a refund, but that choice could end up costing a taxpayer if there are problems with the returns in the carryback years.  Beware of a bill for interest and potentially penalties in excess of the refund requested.  Careful consideration should be given prior to filing an application for a tentative carryback adjustment.