Federal Court Battle Over Transition Tax

In recent months, international American businessman and US tax expert Monte Silver has been campaigning against the IRS over new regulations which affect overseas Americans owning small businesses.

Explaining the case in 2018, Mr Silver said "This lawsuit is the culmination of an entire year of grassroots advocacy by small business owners ... Recognizing the tremendous burden which the Transition tax imposed on small businesses, in June 2018 Treasury granted us a one year extension to comply with the law, but avoided granting us permanent relief when issuing the proposed regulations in August 2018 by wrongly certifying that regulations had no impact on small businesses. It was at this stage we realized that a lawsuit would be the only way to enforce our rights."

The case has now progressed to a DC Federal Court, where the IRS has tabled a Motion to Dismiss the complaint. Mr Silver has issued his opposition to the Motion, and speaking to The American, he outlined why he feels this case is important:

"To many of us, this case has been about the impact that the Transition tax has had on expats. This is true. Partially. The legal basis for the lawsuit is IRS/Treasury’s violation of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, which protects small businesses from over-burdensome laws aimed at multinational corporations. And it turns out that IRS/Treasury has been violating this law constantly, for years, and no one has done anything about it ... If we win this procedural motion, it means that the Judge indeed agrees that the law gives us the right to demand strict oversee as to how Treasury issues regulations. ALL regulations! Never before has this unknown law been used in such a matter ... we are dealing with a major law – the TCJA - not some little law that no one cares or knows about."

More information on Mr Silver's opposition brief and the case can be found via www.silvercolaw.com/blog/our-opposition-to-the-motion-to-dismiss

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