Internal Revenue Service

Alaskan Commercial Fishing - Processors and Brokers (Part II): IRS Audit Techniques Guide Internal Revenue Service

The intent of this guide is to provide additional information for those auditing the fishing industry. This additional information is tailored for use during audits of fish processing plants; larger, vertically integrated organizations; and fish brokers. This guide concentrates on specific audit issues which are evident within these types of organizations. These fall mainly into the treatment of capital assets and transactions and foreign-related party transactions. This guide is separated into these two major categories. Chapter 1, Capital Assets and Transactions, includes the issue of the appropriate depreciable life for factory trawlers, processing equipment, and other vessels. Working with Capital Construction Funds is an additional topic in this chapter. Within the discussion of tender vessels, the issue of employment taxes is examined. Chapter 2, Foreign Business Considerations, was developed due to the enormous amount of influence exerted by offshore (foreign) interests in fishing.