Search Results for: non-willful
The IRS publishes new proposed regulations for tax on transfers from covered expatriates
…or bequest from a covered expatriate to a US person, including a citizen or resident individual, US domestic trust or non-US trust that has elected to be treated as a…
Significant FBAR Penalties Upheld by Court
…maximum penalty for willful non-filing of an FBAR and must pay $700,000 for her ‘reckless disregard’ of her duty. The court opinion makes the FBAR willful penalty a strict liability…
US Department of Justice Encourages Swiss banks to Disclose Information
…of intent by the Dec. 31, 2013 deadline required by the Program for Non-Prosecution Agreements or Non-Target Letters for Swiss Banks (the Program). The Program was announced on Aug. 29,…
New Tax Legislation Introduced: H.R. Bill 436 has Potential Changes to Estate and Gift Taxes and Available Discounts
…bill, referenced as H.R. 436 and similar to other proposals, would: – Eliminate minority and marketability discounts for “non-business assets” (Defined below) – Eliminate minority discounts on the transfer of…
Estate Planning for Non-Traditional Families
…in a long term hetero-sexual relationship but are not legally married. For all non-traditional couples it is even more important to prepare Wills, Financial Powers of Attorney, Medical Powers of…
One Month Countdown: The Deadline is Nearing for U.S. Taxpayers with Undisclosed Accounts to Come Forward
…of up to $500,000 and/ or a prison term of up to 10 years. Even non-willful violations can trigger penalties of $10,000 per account per year. OVDI participants will also…
IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures Seminar
…The expanded streamlined procedures are intended for U.S. taxpayers whose failure to disclose their offshore assets are non-willful. The streamlined filing compliance procedures are available to taxpayers certifying that their…
National Taxpayer Advocate Delivers Annual Report to Congress that Criticizes Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Programs
…unrepresented are more likely to have been inadvertent, the OVD programs undermined the statutory scheme, which applies a higher penalty to “willful” than non-willful violations or those due to “reasonable…
OVDI: Requesting issuance of a FBAR warning letter instead of penalties
…authority to assess FBAR civil penalties. There are civil penalties for negligence, pattern of negligence, non-willful, and willful violations. Whenever there is an FBAR violation, the examiner will either issue…
Interesting 2023 Foreign Account Cases
…for non-willful failure to file the FBAR report was measured per annual filing and not per bank account; the lower courts had been divided. This is a major taxpayer (non-appealable)…
Rare Supreme Court Ruling Favors Taxpayers!
…FBAR. The statute (31 U.S.C. §5321(a)(5)(B)) prescribes a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for a non-willful violation of any provision of the FBAR filing requirement (unless due to reasonable…
IRS Streamlines its Streamlined Offshore Procedures with More User Friendly Forms
…all income, pay all tax, and file all required information was due to non-willful conduct. The IRS’ two new forms simplify this certification process, Forms 14653 and 14654. Form 14653…
FBAR Reforms Recommended
…already and non-compliance penalties are extreme. We recommend some additional penalty reform recommendations, especially for non-willful cases (currently there is a $10,000 per account per year penalty). We believe most…
IRS Targets Non-Resident Indians with HSBC Accounts
…that the bank operated a US division which was called NRI (Non-Resident Indian) Services, which promoted offshore banking services to American citizens with Indian origin (like many banks with Indian…
Discriminatory Taxation: Greencard and H-1 Estate Planning
By Parag Patel Esq. Non-US citizens (greencard holders or H-1 visaholders) are severely discriminated against by US estate tax laws. Since estate taxes are based on the size of your…
US Taxation of Foreign trusts: Foreign grantor trust
What is a foreign grantor trust (“FGT”). A FGT is typically used when a non-U.S. Person individual (i.e., an individual who is a non-U.S. citizen, not a “green card” holder,…
The IRS has woken up.
…tax non-compliance. It is expected the non-compliance to result in more letters to taxpayers. Especially in light of anticipated tax revenue shortfalls, it is expected that the newly-awoken IRS will…
New IRS Enforcement Letters Warn of Cryptocurrency Non-Compliance
…Virtual Currency Compliance campaign to address tax noncompliance related to the use of virtual currency through outreach and examinations of taxpayers. The IRS will remain actively engaged in addressing non-compliance…
2 recent IRS developments that will impact Indian Americans
…message that they will not hesitate to actively pursue criminal penalties if non compliant,” explains Jim Mastracchio, Partner atWashington DC based law firm Baker Hostetler. “So for those who have…
News from the 2014 Criminal Fraud and Tax Controversy Conference
…charge of the IRS Streamlined program), said that there are differences between the OVDP and Streamlined, particularly noting to Streamlined “requires a certification of non-willfulness, and a false certification could…
IRA Beneficiary Designation Planning
…but there is an offsetting charitable contribution deduction for the amount left to the charity. Because non-charitable heirs benefit more by receiving non-IRA assets, leaving the IRA to a charity…
Secret Swiss Bank Accounts are No Longer Secret
…this backdrop that on August 29, 2013, the United States and Switzerland issued a joint statement announcing their Program for Non-Prosecution Agreements or Non-Target Letters for Swiss Banks (“Program”). In…
Non-Resident Estate Tax Trap
…nonresident not a citizen of the United States shall be deemed property within the United States only if issued by a domestic corporation.” Section 2104 is a section of the…
Penalty relief for International Information Forms 5471, 5472, and 8865
…file is due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect, the period of limitation on assessment is extended only for the item or items related to the failure. Penalty relief Where…
For Tax Professionals: A Guide to the IRS’s Voluntary Disclosure Practice
…have the resources to prosecute every willful evader, and the risks of prosecution, even in cases of willfulness, will vary depending on such factors as the scope and duration of…
More Tax Complexity: New Form 8938
…up to $50,000 for continued failure to file after IRS notification. A 40% penalty on any understatement of tax attributable to non-disclosed assets can also be imposed and special statute…
U.S. Taxpayers at New Risk of Audit from OVDP Declines and Withdrawals Campaign
…Financial Accounts (FBARs). One of TIGTAs findings was that the IRS had not followed up on a number of non-compliant taxpayers who requested participation in OVDP, but were either denied…
Beware of U.S. tax consequences to a foreign trust with a U.S. beneficiary
…Trust: Any trust that does not meet the definition of a foreign grantor trust is a foreign nongrantor trust (“FNGT”), taxed as if it were a nonresident, noncitizen individual who…
New IRS procedures for Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures for 2017 transition tax filers
…or other authority over various foreign bank accounts, including the bank accounts of Foreign Co. B, on FBARs. Her failure to file income tax returns and FBARs was non-willful. On…
Hiding Money or Income Offshore Among the “Dirty Dozen” List of Tax Scams for the 2015 Filing Season
…the 2011 and 2009 programs. This program will be open for an indefinite period until otherwise announced. The IRS also announced its SDOP and SFOP last year for non-willful cases….