We are a full service professional tax firm that specializes in FBAR professional tax services.
From the filing of FBAR, to FBAR audits, paying back taxes and civil and criminal FBAR defense we can help resolve your FBAR issues.
We are comprised of tax attorneys, certified public accountants, and former IRS agents, managers and tax instructors.
We have been practicing since 1982 and have an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau.
Fresh Start Tax llc has over well over 300 years of professional tax experience dealing with the simplest of cases to Tax Court representation.
There are many excellent professional tax firms that specializes in FBAR tax service and we believe we are among them.
As a Former IRS Agent
As Former IRS agent the best advice I can give you is not to fool around with FBAR.
The Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice are launching full-scale investigations.
There are approximately 80 countries that have made treaties with the United States to exchange financial information of all US taxpayers.
The Internal Revenue Service and the federal government realizes there are billions of dollars at stake that can be put into the US Treasury and since there are paper trails, the targets are now easy to catch.
Also the threat and fear of criminal prosecution and prison time looms large. Our best advice is to find IRS before they find you.
If you have a potential problem are uneasy about your position contact us today for a free initial tax consultation. All information is held under attorney-client privilege.
The recent news coming from the GAO is the following:
- The Four Offshore Programs
As of December 2012, the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) four offshore programs have resulted in more than 39,000 disclosures by taxpayers and over $5.5 billion in tax revenues.
- Why the attraction to the program
The offshore programs attract taxpayers by offering a reduced risk of criminal prosecution and lower penalties than if the unreported income was discovered by one of IRS’s other enforcement programs.
- Penalty aspects of the Case
For the 2009 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP), nearly all program participants received the standard offshore penalty–20 percent of the highest aggregate value of the accounts–meaning the account value was greater than $75,000 and taxpayers used the accounts (e.g., made deposits or withdrawals) during the period under review.
- The median account balances
The median account balance of the more than 10,000 cases closed so far from the 2009 OVDP was $570,000.
Participant cases with offshore penalties greater than $1 million represented about 6 percent of all 2009 OVDP cases, but accounted for almost half of all offshore penalties. Taxpayers from these cases disclosed a variety of reasons for having offshore accounts, and more than half of them had accounts at Swiss bank UBS.
Using 2009 OVDP data, IRS identified bank names and account locations that helped it pursue additional noncompliance.
Based on a review of cases, GAO found examples of immigrants who stated in their 2009 OVDP applications that they were unaware of their offshore reporting requirements. IRS officials from the Offshore Compliance Initiative office said they have not targeted outreach efforts to new immigrants.
Using information from the 2009 OVDP, such as the characteristics of taxpayers who were not aware of their reporting requirements, to increase education and outreach to those populations could promote voluntary compliance.
- Attempting to circumvent paying the taxes
IRS has detected some taxpayers with previously undisclosed offshore accounts attempting to circumvent paying the taxes, interest, and penalties that would otherwise be owed, but based on GAO reviews of IRS data, IRS may be missing attempts by other taxpayers attempting to do so.
GAO analyzed amended returns filed for tax year 2003 through tax year 2008, matched them to other information available to IRS about taxpayers’ possible offshore activities, and found many more potential quiet disclosures than IRS detected.
Moreover, IRS has not researched whether sharp increases in taxpayers reporting offshore accounts for the first time is due to efforts to circumvent monies owed, thereby missing opportunities to help ensure compliance.
From tax year 2007 through tax year 2010, IRS estimates that the number of taxpayers reporting foreign accounts nearly doubled to 516,000. Taxpayer attempts to circumvent taxes, interest, and penalties by not participating in an offshore program, but instead simply amending past returns or reporting on current returns previously unreported offshore accounts, result in lost revenues and undermine the programs’ effectiveness.
If you have a financial interest in or signature authority over a foreign financial account, including a bank account, brokerage account, mutual fund, trust, or other type of foreign financial account, exceeding certain thresholds, the Bank Secrecy Act may require you to report the account yearly to the Internal Revenue Service by filing a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). See the ‘Who Must File an FBAR’ section below for additional criteria.
Current FBAR Guidance
FBAR final regulations
On February 24, 2011, the Treasury Department published final FBAR regulations. These regulations became effective March 28, 2011, and apply to FBARs required to be filed with respect to foreign financial accounts maintained at any time during calendar year 2010, and for FBARs required to be filed with respect to all subsequent calendar years.
The FBAR form and instructions were revised to reflect the amendments made by the final regulations.
Filing deferral for certain individuals with signature authority only, effective through June 30, 2014
On May 31, 2011, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued FinCEN Notice 2011-1 (revised June 6, 2011), to provide an extension of time for certain individuals with signature authority over, but no financial interest in, foreign financial accounts of their employer or a closely related entity.
The filing deadline to report signature authority over these accounts was extended to June 30, 2012, for the following individuals:
- An employee or officer of an entity under 31 CFR § 1010.350(f)(2)(i)-(v) who has signature or other authority over and no financial interest in a foreign financial account of a controlled person of the entity; or
- An employee or officer of a controlled person of an entity under 31 CFR § 1010.350(f)(2)(i)-(v) who has signature or other authority over and no financial interest in a foreign financial account of the entity, the controlled person, or another controlled person of the entity.
For purposes of FinCEN Notice 2011-1, a controlled person is a United States or foreign entity more than 50 percent owned (directly or indirectly) by an entity under 31 CFR § 1010.350(f)(2)(i)-(v).
On June 17, 2011, FinCEN issued Notice 2011-2 to provide an extension of time to file for certain officers or employees of investment advisors registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission who have signature authority over, but no financial interest in, foreign financial accounts of their employer.
The filing deadline for employees and officers to report signature authority over these accounts was similarly extended to June 30, 2012.
Due to additional questions and concerns regarding the signature authority filing exceptions within Notice 2011-1 and Notice 2011-2, FinCEN twice extended the revised filing deadlines imposed by those two notices.
On February 14, 2012, FinCEN issued FinCEN Notice 2012-1, extending the deadline to file to June 30, 2013, for those persons identified in Notice 2011-1 and Notice 2011-2. More recently, on December 26, 2012, FinCEN issued Notice 2012-2, further extending the due date for filing to June 30, 2014.
Who Must File an FBAR
United States persons are required to file an FBAR if:
- The United States person had a financial interest in or signature authority over at least one financial account located outside of the United States; and
- The aggregate value of all foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the calendar year to be reported.
United States person means U.S. citizens; U.S. residents; entities, including but not limited to, corporations, partnerships, or limited liability companies, created or organized in the United States or under the laws of the United States; and trusts or estates formed under the laws of the United States.
Contact us for an immediate tax consultation and hear the truth about your case from a very reputable and experienced professional tax firm.
FBAR TAX SERVICES – Attorneys, CPA’s – Affordable FBAR Tax Services Experts
