WASHINGTON - The Justice Department announced today that it has sued a federal income tax preparer in U.S. District Court in Miami seeking to bar her from preparing tax returns for others. According to the government’s civil injunction complaint, Tashanna McFarland of Miramar, Fla., prepared federal tax returns claiming fraudulent fuel tax credits, a scam that the complaint explains is a serious enforcement problem for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The suit alleges that McFarland operates her tax preparation business out of a booth at a flea market in Miami.

Federal law imposes a fuel tax on gasoline and diesel fuel sold in the United States. The tax is included in the purchase price at the pump. Businesses can claim a fuel tax credit in certain rare circumstances, but most businesses and consumers who use cars or trucks on roads and highways are not eligible for the credit. According to the government’s complaint, McFarland claimed the fuel credit on her customers’ returns so they could claim tax refunds to which they were not entitled.

The complaint says that on a return for one customer—a babysitter—McFarland claimed that the customer purchased 16,451 gallons of gasoline for business-related purposes. The suit notes that for such a claim to be accurate, the babysitter (whose total income for the year was $9,316) would have had to spend approximately $36,192 for gasoline that year—nearly four times her total income—and would had to have driven approximately 246,765 miles during the year, an average of 676 miles each day, seven days a week.

The government complaint alleges that McFarland has prepared at least 970 returns since 2003 and the IRS has identified over $1.5 million dollars in fraudulent fuel tax credits on McFarland-prepared returns. “People who have their returns prepared by others should review them carefully to make sure they are truthful,” said Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “The preparer who seems to be saving you taxes now is setting you up for trouble later, when the IRS realizes that you filed a false return and obtained a larger refund, or paid less in taxes, than you should have.”

“This problem is primarily being caused by unscrupulous tax return preparers located across the country," said Kathy Petronchak, Commissioner of the IRS Small Business / Self Employed Division. "The IRS is working closely with the Department of Justice to stop this behavior."

Since 2001, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained more than 215 injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of fraudulent returns.

The United States has dashed South Korea’s hopes of a trade-off over difficult issues that block their efforts to establish a free trade agreement (FTA), pressing Korea to accept its proposal or face the consequences.

In its letter to the U.S. Congress and the Korean government Thursday, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) clarified that it will not give any concession in the trade remedies sector, including anti-dumping and countervailing duties, to Korea, which require law revisions.

This means that Korean exporters will be subject to just as strong anti-dumping duties as ones currently imposed by the U.S. government, even if the two countries establish an FTA.

In a new briefing, Lee Hye-min, the second man in Korea’s negotiating team said, "I think it is still possible for us to ask the U.S. to revise the law on anti-dumping duties as there are further chances for talks."

Korea has called for the U.S. to soften its anti-dumping measures as one of its key demands together with the inclusion of goods produced in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea.

Meanwhile, the new head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea said that it’s now or never for both Korea and the U.S. to establish a free trade agreement and benefit from it.

"We believe the KORUS FTA is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that neither nation can afford to miss," William Oberlin, the newly elected chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM Korea) told a press conference at the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul on Thursday.

Oberlin, also the president of Boeing Korea, voiced a sense of urgency for the two sides to make progress in the negotiations and meet the March deadline next year before U.S. President George W. Bush’s fast-track trade authority runs out in June.

William Oberlin, newly elected chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, bows ahead of a press conference on U.S-Korea business relations, including the KORUS FTA, at the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul, Thursday. At right is Tami Overby, CEO of AMCHAM Korea. / Yonhap 
The new chairman emphasized that if this bilateral deal does not go through on a timely basis, it is not only over, but also neither the U.S. nor Korea will have the energy to restart their trade talks.
"The last time a U.S. president (Bill Clinton) lost trade promotion authority, it took almost eight years to regain it," Oberlin said. "If that happens again, it is expected to make it more difficult to conclude a trade agreement. So many believe this may be Korea’s best chance."

Oberlin strongly believes that an FTA with the U.S. is a new growth model and is the only way to turn the tide around for Korea, which is facing a weak economy next year at around 4 percent growth, due to a strong won and rising oil prices.

It can also offset Korea’s unfavorable foreign business environment and declining foreign direct investment (FDI).

AMCHAM Korea’s Tami Overby echoed that an FTA will open a lot of doors for Korea, and will boost Korea as well as the U.S. in economic competitiveness.

"Foremost, the bilateral trade accord will benefit the consumers the most in both the U.S. and Korea where they can gain greater access to each other’s products," Overby said. "An FTA will also help Korea to become a Northeast Asian economic leader."

AMCHAM Korea said it is "cautiously optimistic" that the two countries will reach a successful deal that is fair and balanced.

"Although we have no place in the negotiations, we will act as cheerleaders on the sidelines for an establishment of a win-win FTA on time," said Oberlin.

In its opinion, the court wrote:

We have no statutory authority to issue a declaratory judgment concerning the constitutionality of legislative action, or inaction, in this matter . . . The only remedy set forth in art. 48 for the failure of a joint session to act is a direction to the Governor to call a joint session or a continuance of a joint session if the joint session fails in its duty. . .The plaintiffs have not set forth any legally tenable judicial enforcement role in ensuring that the members of the joint session comply with their constitutional duties under art. 48, and . . . case law provides no enforcement mechanisms.

The Court did, however, go on to criticize the inactivity of lawmakers to vote on the measure in November:

The members of the General Court are the people's elected representatives, and each one of them has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution of the Commonwealth. Those members who now seek to avoid their lawful obligations, by a vote to recess without a roll call vote by yeas and nays on the merits of the initiative amendment . . . ultimately will have to answer to the people who elected them.

Gay rights groups praised Wednesday's ruling; Lee Swislow, Executive Director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), said in a press statement:
The court has ruled on this question repeatedly, and today’s decision is consistent with what they’ve said before: that the legislature cannot be compelled to vote. The ruling maintains the critical separation of powers between the branches of government.

The Legislature has consistently refused to insert discrimination into the Constitution. Legislators have not only the freedom, but the right and the responsibility to vote their conscience. It is never right for the majority to vote on the rights of minorities.

In 2003, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage with the high court's decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health. The proposed constitutional amendment, which has garnered over 170,000 signatures, would strictly define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, though it would leave existing Massachusetts same-sex marriages intact. It would need 50 votes in the 2007 legislature with the same in 2008 to be put on the November 2008 electoral ballot. When the state legislature last considered the amendment, opponents of the measure failed to amass the 151 votes necessary to kill the matter, instead voting 109-87 to recess a joint session with the Senate until January.

China is an emerging market and after the trade mission by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and FED Chairman Ben Bernanke the opportunities for major U.S. businesses in China should expand. From manufacturing to technology and medical and financial, the opening of the door into China will continue the growth of the U.S. in that region.

Just recently Citigroup (NYSE: C) acquired a major China based financial institution by the name of the Guangdong Bank, while Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) continue to penetrate the region in all industries.

They are not concentrating on Hong Kong, they are looking at the home of the 2008 Summer Olympics Beijing and the surrounding areas including Shanghai and Shenzhen. But the small to mid sized U.S. Manufacturers and Technology companies are being left out for the time being as major U.S. corporations have not fully penetrated the region.

This presents a golden opportunity for small and mid sized U.S. businesses to expand into China as the opportunity is still vast. Once saturated by major U.S. business it may be extremely difficult for certain U.S. companies to gain any footing in China.

This is why NAMC Worldwide is organizing various U.S. Trade Delegation Events through out 2007 for specific industries. Taking U.S. Manufacturers and even smaller Financial Institutions and connecting them with the right people, organizations and businesses in China that could be an asset with them flourishing there.

David Wong
NAMC Newswire

LOS ANGELES, CA, (NAMC) - The law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.'s  as well as some of their Asia based attorneys have been recognized for their merger and acquisition work in China as well as their work on Asia Pacific and energy projects by one of the leading guides to the legal profession, Chambers Global.

In the Chambers Global guide for 2007 the review showed that Fulbright's Asia-based corporate lawyers were very knowledgeable about business practices and governmental regulations in China. Fulbright is well known for their joint venture work in China and has been praised for its handling of joint ventures and the establishing new entities in China for their clients.

Some key points that were highlighted in this Chambers review include Fulbright's international arbitration, dispute resolution, energy and intellectual property practices. Eleven of the firm's lawyers were individually recognized in Chambers Global.

As we have mentioned on NAMC numerous time, China is an emerging market and the growth in the region will continue in 2007. The business transacted between the U.S and China will grow at a rapid rate in 2007, major U.S. corporations have already began building a foundation in that part of the world from Citigroup (NYSE: C) to Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), they are all looking for a larger piece of the China Pie.

Smaller U.S. corporations are also in a unique position to take adavntage of the growth, this is why NAMC Trade Delegation Missions to China is quickly gaining the interest of many small and middle market U.S. based corporations forcing dedicated Trade Delegation Missions to be arranged.

The firm Fulbright & Jaworski has placed themselves in a unique position in China as well , the waters in China can sometimes be a tad bit rough and its good to know that there are organizations in law, finance and accounting that can guide companies through the rough waters.

Michael Rossi
Business News Correspondent
NAMC Newswire

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected the new federal rules for smog reduction on Friday, stating that the Environmental Protection Agency "has failed to heed the restrictions on its discretion set forth in the Act." The smog standards were introduced in 2004 and required roughly 470 counties designated as "non-attainment" areas to reduce the level of smog within a three to seventeen year period. The court said the time period did not align with the federal Clean Air Act and held that EPA enforcement was not strict enough in states where smog levels have increased.

The EPA has not yet determined if it will seek an en banc rehearing of the case, according to EPA spokeswoman Jennifer Wood, stating that the "EPA is committed to ensuring our nation's ozone air quality standards are implemented to protect public health and the environment."