IRS has a New Tax Program for Overseas Contractors with Delinquent Taxes. The IRS has recently announced that it’s offering a new ‘tax catch up’ opportunities to American citizens and dual citizens who live abroad. The opportunity is not only limited to tax filing; relief is also offered for late compliance with FBAR (Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts).  The new procedures are scheduled to come into effect on September 1, 2012.

More details will come, but here is what is already offered by the IRS:

• The updated procedures will mimic those of the currently active Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program.

• Taxpayers will be required to file all back taxes and relevant documentation for the previous 3 years and FBAR reports for 6 years.

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Halliburton Co. and KBR Inc are battling in court over a $256 million tax dispute, as the two companies seek to put to bed issues lingering from their corporate break-up five years ago.

Especially in relation to work done for the U.S. military in Iraq, Halliburton, the world's second-largest oilfield services company, and its engineering spin-off have found themselves in court a number of times since their split, usually on the same side.

CONTRACTOR SUPPORT OF U.S. OPERATIONS IN THE USCENTCOM AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY TO INCLUDE IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

BACKGROUND:  This update reports DoD contractor personnel numbers in theater and outlines DoD efforts to improve management of contractors accompanying U.S. forces.  It covers DoD contractor personnel deployed in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Iraq, and the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR).

KEY POINTS: In 3rd quarter FY 2012, USCENTCOM reported approximately 137,000 contractor personnel working for the DoD in the USCENTCOM AOR.  This was approximately a 10.5% decrease from the previous quarter.  The number of contractors outside of Afghanistan and Iraq make up about 11.5% of the total contractor population in the USCENTCOM AOR.  A breakdown of DoD contractor personnel is provided below:

DoD Contractor Personnel in the USCENTCOM AOR

*Includes DoD contractors supporting U.S. Mission Iraq and/or Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq 

Fluor Corp. has dropped a protest filed last month with the Government Accountability Office challenging a $500 million award to KBR Inc. for a logistics support contract in Iraq, according to KBR and a government website.

Irving, Texas-based Fluor withdrew its protest Wednesday, according to the GAO's website and KBR spokeswoman Gabriela Segura in an e-mail.

The contract was on hold until the protest was resolved.

KBR will support the State Department's embassy staff, including utilities management, fire fighting, food services, laundry, shuttle bus services, fuel and postal operations.Houston, Texas-based KBR announced August 2 it will continue for the State Department its previous Iraq role providing base support after U.S. troops are scheduled to withdraw in December.

The one-year contract includes a one-year option. KBR has not received any similar contracts for Afghanistan yet.

This is a war where traditional military jobs, from the mess hall cooks to base guards and convoy drivers, have increasingly been shifted to the private sector. Many American generals and diplomats have private contractors for their personal bodyguards. And along with the risks have come the consequences: More civilian contractors working for American companies than American soldiers died in Afghanistan last year for the first time during the war.

American employers here are under no obligation to publicly report the deaths of their employees and frequently do not. While the military announces the names of all its war dead, private companies routinely notify only family members. Most of the contractors die unheralded and uncounted — and in some cases, leave their survivors uncompensated.