DUBLIN: What if you’re an Irish bigwig who won $17.4 million gambling in the U.S., and the payor incorrectly sent $5.22 million to the Internal Revenue Service as withholding? Good luck getting your tax refund.
That’s the problem 64-year-old John P. McManus, one of Ireland’s richest, is facing. He won the money in 2012, so he filed a non-resident 2012 U.S. federal income tax return setting forth the gambling winnings, the amount withheld by the IRS and his entitlement to a refund based on a straightforward international tax treaty claim.
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What’s the hold up? McManus’ tax return was selected for audit in May, 2014. Then, in August 2014, the IRS approved his refund claim. But one month later the claim was remanded to another department for additional review. Since then, the IRS has taken no action on the claim.
So McManus has sued the U.S., seeking a refund of the $5.22 million federal income taxes withheld by the IRS. “It’s a shame we had to resort to this particular approach, but if the IRS stonewalls you, you have no resort but to take this action,” says his lawyer, Houston-based celebrity litigator Terry Giles. “The IRS knows what the law is; it’s really pretty straightforward and simple,” Giles added.
