US Expatriate Tax Planning - Part 2 - A Podcast with Janathan Allen
US Expatriate Tax Planning - Part 1 - A Podcast with Janathan Allen
You may recall that earlier this year the IRS launched an initiative to pursue 125,000 “high-income, high-wealth” taxpayers who have not filed taxes since 2017. These were cases where the IRS received third party information...more
For years, FBAR litigants have made the commonsense argument that large willful FBAR penalties, which can exceed the value of the unreported foreign accounts themselves, violate the excessive fines clause of the Eighth...more
Are you concerned about the high IRS tax rates on a foreign trust? It is important to understand the tax and reporting consequences on this specific type of investment. It may very well be time to evaluate the net value of...more
On July 11, 2023, the Senate Finance Committee released an open letter to the Digital Asset Community asking a variety of questions in connection with possible future legislation. Public comments must be emailed to the Senate...more
The April Section 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs is 5.0%. The April applicable federal rate (“AFR”) for use with a sale to a defective grantor trust or intra-family loan...more
Harrington v. Commissioner - In Harrington v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, George S. Harrington (Harrington) challenged tax deficiencies and fraud penalties assessed for tax years 2005 through 2010. Originally...more
In this bulletin, we highlight two recent federal court cases in which U.S. taxpayers won major victories against the United States with respect to their obligations to report non-U.S. accounts on FinCEN Form 114 – Report of...more
Taxpayers recently won a significant victory at the Supreme Court in a penalty case involving a non-willful failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) under the Bank Secrecy Act (the “BSA”)....more
After years of litigation, the United States Supreme Court, in Bittner v. United States, 598 U.S. ____ (2023), determined that the penalty for a non-willful failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts...more
If you have unreported foreign accounts, you are not alone. Every year, I speak with hundreds of clients with tax non-reporting issues (e.g., FBARs, Form 8938, Form 3520, Form 3520-A, etc.). The good news: the IRS offers...more
Introduction - Much of the current litigation between taxpayers and the United States has centered on the definition of willfulness or whether the non-willful FBAR penalty should apply on a per year or per account basis. ...more
Why You Should Hire a Tax Professional to Review Your Foreign Legal Structure - U.S. parented corporations that have foreign operations conducted through a foreign legal structure have significant U.S. tax filing and...more
One of the little-known tools in the IRS collection tool belt is the ability to revoke a taxpayer’s passport where the taxpayer has a “seriously delinquent tax debt.”...more
On November 30, 2021, the Fifth Circuit parted ways with the taxpayer friendly decision of the Ninth Circuit that non-willful penalties are capped at $10,000 per FBAR filing instead of the $10,000 per unreported bank account...more
Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of September 27, 2021 – October 1, 2021... September 28, 2021: The IRS released a revenue...more
International information return penalties are civil penalties assessed by the IRS against a United States person for failing to timely file complete and accurate international information returns required by specific...more
Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of December 23 – 27, 2019. December 20, 2019: The Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes...more
In October of 2019, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service issued the first new guidance on the taxation of cryptocurrency transactions in over five years (the “Guidance”). The Guidance comprising a revenue ruling (Rev. Rul....more
Virtual currency transactions are now a prime focus of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) scrutiny. The IRS has numerous information-gathering tools to enforce its taxing power, including summons, artificial intelligence, data...more
In the "Relief Procedures for Certain Former Citizens" and accompanying FAQs, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides a simplified pathway for certain non-compliant U.S. citizens who expatriated after March 18, 2010, to...more
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has finally updated its voluntary disclosure procedures following the closure of the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (the “OVDP”) earlier this year. The updated procedures will apply to...more
In 2016, we continued to experience a period of relative stability in our federal transfer tax system and have been able to plan without expecting imminent significant changes to the system. Under the American Taxpayer Relief...more
Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 - Requires U.S. financial institutions to assist U.S. government agencies to detect and prevent money laundering by keeping records of cash purchases of negotiable instruments, and file reports...more
Thank you for your interest in the 5th Annual IRS Hot Topic Seminar held in Jerusalem in July. In continuing our efforts to provide timely and extremely important updates on tax matters affecting U.S. citizens and green card...more
On July 31, 2015, President Obama signed P.L. 114-41, the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 (“Highway Act”), into law. Although the Highway Act is primarily for the purpose of...more