For many U.S. expats who are delinquent in their expat tax filings, the Streamlined Procedures offer a great solution for catching up with limited or no penalties. Due to the Streamlined program’s qualification requirements, however, American citizens living in Canada, or other countries, who regularly visit the U.S. may find it particularly difficult to participate in the program. Read More
National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson discussed the potential pitfalls of treating information on the IRS’s website, such as its FAQs pages, as authoritative. The Taxpayer Advocate is an independent office within the IRS tasked with helping people resolve tax issues with the IRS and recommending changes that will prevent future problems.
At a recent hearing before the Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means, I was asked a seemingly simple question about what types of guidance taxpayers can rely on. Unfortunately, the answer is not simple at all.
Generally speaking, there are three buckets of tax guidance: Read More
Despite the overall success of the IRS tax amnesty programs in recent years, many expats remain hesitant to enter the programs due to a number of misunderstandings surrounding their requirements and their outcomes. In this blog, we separate fact from fiction so that you can decide intelligently whether tax amnesty is right for you. Read More
With the recent heavy focus on Congress and the Trump’s administration’s tax reform proposals, it can be easy to forget that the IRS continues to proactively crackdown on offshore tax evasion. Read More
Be patient. Settle in for the ride. Historians will write much about the role FATCA played in eroding America’s role as a world power.
There is no legislative record which explains the purpose of FATCA. FATCA appeared as an “offset provision” in the HIRE Act which was signed into law by President Obama in March of 2010. Some claim that FATCA was for the purpose of preventing Homeland Americans from “stashing their wealth” in unreported “foreign bank accounts” outside the United States.
Often taxpayers, whether Canadian or U.S. tax filers, are self-preparing their own returns with tax preparation software packages purchased in the market place. Problems arise numerous times in that the taxpayer not being aware of tax law, has omitted to file various required annual foreign information returns. This is likely due to the fact the software is not a professional version and/or the taxpayer-preparer is not reading any of the software return’s diagnostics.
Recently, the IRS announced that it will focus its audit efforts this year on 13 particular compliance issues, which touch on large business and international activities. This issue-focused effort contrasts with the more broad-based approach that the IRS has previously taken with respect to auditing taxpayers.
The “unfiled FBAR” continues to be a problem for certain Homeland Americans with “offshore accounts” and all Americans abroad, who continue to “commit personal finance abroad”.
Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Kentara
If you thought FBAR penalties were more bark than bite, a recent U.S. District court case is sure to change your mind.
In United States v. August Bohanec et ux, USDC CD Ca., No. 2:15-cv-04347 (December 2016), the Court found that the taxpayer’s failure to file the FBAR was willful and affirmed the IRS’s enhanced FBAR civil penalty, i.e., a fine equal to the greater of $100,000 or 50% of the balance in their unreported accounts.
Yesterday, we started this blog post to hopefully encourage those with U.S. tax issues to consider whether they can deal with minor/unintentional FBAR violations as a “stand alone single problem”. There may be no need to escalate and expand one single problem into a multi-dimensional full blown tax problem that may end up with unintended and unanticipated costly professional fees as well as undue time spent! Read on and learn why. Keeping a calm head is most important, even if it is most difficult to do in the face of the scary situation of not being in compliance with the U.S. tax and regulatory regime.
The IRS announced that over 100,000 taxpayers have now participated in its disclosure programs, which have been available to delinquent filers since 2009. More specifically, according to the IRS, 55,800 taxpayers have used the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) to resolve their tax obligations, paying more than $9.9 billion in taxes, interest and penalties, while an additional 48,000 taxpayers have used the Streamlined Procedures, paying approximately $450 million.
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