The Internal Revenue Service has dedicated millions of dollars of assets to look into the practices of offshore and overseas bank accounts.
In the last three years, the Internal Revenue Service has made tremendous headway into achieving the dream of full tax compliance for Offshore and Overseas bank accounts.
The public should beware that the IRS means business. There are millions and millions of dollars at stake. IRS will use the long arm of the law including criminal prosecution to make sure they collect all the money due the United States government.
It is in your best interest to consult a tax lawyer or tax attorney to review your individual case to make sure you achieve the best financial and tax result.
Latest News- Tax deal reached between Switzerland and the United States
A tax deal reached between Switzerland and the United States on Thursday effectively put an end to the status of the small Alpine country as a tax haven for wealthy Americans.
The agreement came after more than three years of intense discussions between the two countries, is expected to punish Swiss banks that helped wealthy Americans hide money from United States tax authorities in offshore accounts and require them to disclose information about United States account holders.
Even before the tax agreement many banks in Switzerland had started to turn away American clients, fearing at least additional administrative burdens from the United States authorities.
The deal is expected to accelerate that trend and make it even harder for American expatriates in Switzerland to find banking services.
IRS and DOJ involved
The Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice is very active in the offshore voluntary disclosure program simply because of the huge revenue these programs bring into the coffers of the United States government.
In the first three years of operation the program has yielded an amazing $5.5 billion in additional revenue. Estimates are that there are at least $200 billion of additional revenue that can be brought in because of tax compliance issues.
In the past, the IRS has been very lenient on some taxpayers because the program was new and in the infancy stages of development and programming.
But now that the word is out , the government is taking a much more aggressive approach both financially and criminally on both financial institutions and taxpayers who are failing to comply with tax compliance issues.
If you have questions or need tax representation for FBAR tax compliance feel free to call us today and speak directly to a tax attorney, tax lawyer, CPA or all of our experts in the industry.
You can call us today for a free initial tax consultation.
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.
Open-ended offshore voluntary disclosure program (OVDP)
The IRS began an open-ended offshore voluntary disclosure program (OVDP) in January 2012 on the heels of strong interest in the 2011 and 2009 programs. The IRS may end the 2012 program at any time in the future.
The IRS is offering people with undisclosed income from offshore accounts another opportunity to get current with their tax returns.
The 2012 OVDP has a higher penalty rate than the previous program but offers clear benefits to encourage taxpayers to disclose foreign accounts now rather than risk detection by the IRS and possible criminal prosecution.
Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program – The Submission Requirements
As a condition to being accepted into the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP), applicants/taxpayers must provide the IRS the following for the eight year voluntary disclosure period.
1. Applicants: Copies of previously filed original (and, if applicable, previously filed amended) federal income tax returns for tax years covered by the voluntary disclosure.
2. Applicants: Complete and accurate amended federal income tax returns (for individuals, Form 1040X, or original Form 1040 if delinquent) for all tax years covered by the voluntary disclosure, with applicable schedules detailing the amount and type of previously unreported income from the account or entity (e.g., Schedule B for interest and dividends, Schedule D for capital gains and losses, Schedule E for income from partnerships, S corporations, estates or trusts, and, for years after 2010, Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets).
For taxpayers who began filing timely, original, compliant returns that fully reported previously undisclosed offshore accounts or assets before making the voluntary disclosure for certain years of the offshore disclosure period, copies of the previously filed returns for the corresponding years.
3. Applicants: Copy of your completed and signed Offshore Voluntary Disclosures letter and attachment.
4. Applicants: A check made out to the U.S. Treasury. Checks should not be made out to the IRS.
The check must include the amount of tax, interest, and accuracy-related penalty under IRC § 6662(a), and, if applicable, the failure to file and failure to pay penalties under IRC § 6651(a) (the suspension of interest provisions of IRC § 6404(g) do not apply to interest due in this initiative).
If you cannot pay the total amount of tax, interest, and penalties as described above, submit your proposed payment arrangement and a completed Collection Information Statement ( Form 433-A, Collection Information Statement for Wage Earners and Self-employed Individuals, or Form 433-B, Collection Information Statement for Businesses, as appropriate).
You can find these forms on our website. Go to the home page and click on forms.
5. Applicants: Completed Foreign Account or Asset Statement for each previously undisclosed foreign account or asset during the voluntary disclosure period if the information requested in that statement was not already provided in your initial Offshore Voluntary Disclosures Letter.
6. Applicants: Completed penalty computation worksheet showing the applicant’s determination of the aggregate highest account balance of his/her undisclosed offshore accounts, fair market value of foreign assets, and penalty computation signed by the applicant and the applicant’s representative if the applicant is represented.
7. Applicants: Properly completed and signed agreements to extend the period of time to assess tax (including tax penalties) and to assess FBAR penalties.
8. Applicants disclosing offshore financial accounts:
Copies of filed Forms TD F 90-22.1 (FBARs) for foreign accounts maintained during calendar years covered by the voluntary disclosure.
(You should file delinquent FBARs according to the FBAR instructions and include a statement explaining that the FBARs are being filed as part of the OVDP. Through June 30, 2013, you may file electronically or by sending paper forms to:
Department of Treasury, Post Office Box 32621, Detroit, MI 48232-0621. After June 30, 2013, you must file electronically.)
If you are unable to file electronically, you may contact FinCEN’s Regulatory Helpline at 1-800-949-2732 or (if calling from outside the United States) 1-703-905-3975 to determine possible alternatives for timely reporting.
NOTE: Taxpayers filing FBARs electronically do not currently have the technological ability to include a statement explaining why the FBARs are filed late.
Until such time that they have the ability, it is sufficient to file the FBARs electronically, retain the statement, and submit the statement to the Service upon request.
9. Applicants disclosing offshore financial accounts:
For those applicants disclosing offshore financial accounts with an aggregate highest account balance in any year of $500,000 or more, copies of offshore financial account statements reflecting all account activity for each of the tax years covered by your voluntary disclosure.
You need to explain any differences between the amounts reported on the account statements and the tax returns.
For those applicants disclosing offshore financial accounts with an aggregate highest account balance of less than $500,000, copies of offshore financial account statements reflecting all account activity for each of the tax years covered by your voluntary disclosure must be available upon request.
10. Applicants disclosing offshore entities:
A statement identifying all offshore entities for the tax years covered by the voluntary disclosure, whether held directly or indirectly, and your ownership or control share of such entities.
11. Applicants disclosing offshore entities: When accounts or assets were held in the name of a foreign entity, complete and accurate amended (or original, if delinquent) information returns required to be filed, including, but not limited to, Forms 3520, 3520-A, 5471, 5472, 926 and 8865 for all tax years covered by the voluntary disclosure.
If the applicant is requesting that the Service waive the information reporting requirement, the applicant should submit a completed and signed Statement on Dissolved Entities.
12. Estates and certain executors or advisors.
If the applicant is a decedent’s estate, or is an individual who participated in the failure to report the foreign account, foreign asset, or foreign entity in a required gift or estate tax return, either as executor or advisor, provide complete and accurate amended estate or gift tax returns (original estate or gift tax returns, if not previously filed) for tax years covered by the voluntary disclosure necessary to correct the under reporting of assets held in or transferred through undisclosed foreign accounts or foreign entities.
13. Returns involving Passive Foreign Investment Company (PFIC) issues. A statement whether the amended returns involve PFIC issues during the tax years covered by the OVDP period, and if so, whether the applicant chooses to elect the alternative to the statutory PFIC computation that resolves PFIC issues on a basis that is consistent with the mark to market (MTM) methodology authorized in IRC § 1296 but does not require complete reconstruction of historical data.
Canadian registered retirement savings plans (RRSP)
14. Applicants with Canadian registered retirement savings plans (RRSP) or registered retirement income funds (RRIF) who wish to make late elections to defer U.S. tax on RRSP or RRIF earnings:
A statement requesting an extension of time to make an election,
Forms 8891 for all tax years and type of plan covered under the voluntary disclosure,
A dated statement signed by the taxpayer under penalties of perjury describing:
1. Events that led to the failure to make the election
2. Events that led to the discovery of the failure
If the taxpayer relied on a professional advisor, the nature of the advisor’s engagement and responsibilities.
We are a full service tax firm that specializes in FBAR, Offshore and Overseas tax compliance in all federal and state tax matters.
You can call us for a no cost initial consultation.
If you have sensitive issues and matters you wish to discuss when calling our office you should ask to speak to a tax lawyer or tax attorney so you can keep attorney-client privilege. You should never give sensitive information that may be of criminal nature to any third party. Keep your attorney client privilege.
As a personal comment and observation, the government always goes after low hanging fruit because of its effectiveness. In the case of overseas, offshore, and FBAR compliance there is a six to one ratio of collection to manpower. It is no wonder that the federal government absolutely love these programs. Not only that the government can boast of criminal prosecutions that are easy cases because of the paper trail these cases have.
