ovdi – Page 2 – Tax, Estate Planning & Probate Law Center

Argue for No Penalty and a Warning Letter for FBAR Violations

22 Dec 13

The IRS may send a warning letter in lieu of asserting penalties for failure to file a Form TD F 90-22.1, “Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts,” if it would be sufficient to bring the individual into compliance, an

Swiss Banks are Pressuring Customers to Disclose

21 Dec 13

Swiss banks are pressuring current and former U.S. account holders to disclose undeclared assets to the Internal Revenue Service. In some cases, the banks are freezing accounts unless clients can prove they have declared the account to the IRS—or that

US Department of Justice Encourages Swiss banks to Disclose Information

15 Dec 13

Last week the Tax Division of the Department of Justice strongly encouraged Swiss banks that want to seek non-prosecution agreements to resolve past cross-border criminal tax violations to submit letters of intent by the Dec. 31, 2013 deadline required by

Method to Cure Delinquent or Incomplete Foreign Information Returns Without Penalties

14 Dec 13

Last year, the IRS announced its third offshore voluntary disclosure initiative. Like the earlier initiatives, the 2012 OVDP is designed to encourage taxpayers with unreported offshore accounts and assets to voluntarily disclose them to the IRS. The 2012 OVDP is

Comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR Requirements

09 Dec 13

The new Form 8938 filing requirement does not replace or otherwise affect a taxpayer’s obligation to file FinCEN Form 114 (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts). Individuals must file each form for which they meet the relevant reporting threshold.

IRS Announces New Rules for FBAR Penalties

27 Nov 13

There are two types of penalties applicable to FinCEN Form 114 (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) (FBARs): (1) Non-Willful and (2) Willful. The penalties are theoretically assessed per account and not per FBAR; however, in practice, our firm

New FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) Filing Rules Announced

29 Sep 13

Responding to the needs of many filers who submit Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs) jointly with spouses, or wish to submit them via third-party preparers, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today introduced FinCEN Form 114(a), Record

Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative/Program (OVDI/OVDP) opt-out results and updates

12 Sep 13

Many of our clients are carefully considering OVDI opt-outs. The opt out option became first available during the 2011 OVDI program, and continues with the current OVDP program. The 2012 OVDP program continues the procedures announced in 2011 regarding decisions to “opt

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) online registration program is launched

26 Aug 13

The Internal Revenue Service on Monday launched an online registration program for the hundreds of thousands of financial firms around the world that must comply with a U.S. anti-tax evasion law or risk being shut out of financial markets. Starting

IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Programs Continue to Burden “Benign Actors” and Damage IRS Credibility

23 Jul 13

The Taxpayer advocate has issued a new mid-year 2013 report. The portion that relates to the IRS’s OVDI/P initiatives is posted below (footnotes and tables omitted). The IRS offered a series of offshore voluntary disclosure (OVD) programs to settle with

New Taxpayer Advocate Service Report Discusses Optouts out of the OVDI/OVDP

03 Jul 13

The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) has issued a new mid-year 2013 report. The TAS report discussion regarding optouts out of the OVDI/OVDP is interesting. For the 2009 OVDP (which was a smaller group of applications compared to 2011 OVDI), there

Reasons to Opt Out of the 2011 OVDI Program

18 Jun 13

Top 4 Reasons to Opt Out of the 2011 OVDI Program 1. The IRS Taxpayer Advocate’s Report: Although the IRS has not closed very many opt-out cases, the average civil FBAR penalty assessed against those opting out of the 2009 OVDP

Opt Out of OVDI Program Penalties to Get a Lower Penalty

13 Jun 13

Under the 2011 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI) or 2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP), the 2012 program gives no discretion to the IRS agents to reduce penalties. If a participant does not believe that he or she should have

Finally: IRS Reminds Those with Foreign Assets of U.S. Tax Obligations

29 May 13

The IRS has finally decided that educating taxpayers and tax advisors of tax obligations of foreign assets and income would be helpful and encourage compliance. The recent education announcements appear to address the IRS’ alleged shortcomings in educating taxpayers with

HSBC Customer Avoids Jail in Tax Evasion Case

23 May 13

A New Jersey businessman who cooperated with prosecutors avoided prison after admitting he conspired with five HSBC Holdings bankers to hide his Indian bank accounts from U.S. tax authorities. Vaibhav Dahake, 46, was sentenced to one year of probation yesterday

HSBC Bank Expects Significant Penalties from US Government for Violations

18 May 13

Global bank HSBC has said it may face “significant” penalties from the US authorities with regard to an ongoing probe into suspected tax evasion by the US-based clients of its Indian unit, among other cases. The US tax department is

Finally. Government Accountability Office makes recommendations to the IRS for tax laws education to immigrants

15 May 13

In latest report from a government watchdog agency called the Government Accountability Office (GAO) the GAO makes recommendations to the IRS, and the IRS pays attention. Those recommendations could put some taxpayers in trouble, but some are beneficial. Particularly helpful tax laws education commentary

Government Report Advises IRS to Increase Awareness of Offshore Account Rules to Help Immigrants

30 Apr 13

The Internal Revenue Service’s four amnesty programs for those who have undeclared offshore accounts have resulted in more than 39,000 disclosures by taxpayers and more than $5.5 billion in revenues as of December 2012. A report Friday by the Government

COURT AUTHORIZES SERVICE OF JOHN DOE SUMMONS SEEKING THE IDENTITIES OF U.S. TAXPAYERS WITH OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS AT CIBC FIRSTCARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL BANK

30 Apr 13

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced that late yesterday a federal court in San Francisco entered an order authorizing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to serve a John Doe summons seeking information about U.S. taxpayers who may hold offshore accounts

Silent Disclosure: The Qualified Amended Return (QAR)

13 Apr 13

Can I Disclose Issues to the IRS After the Tax Return Is Filed? This question is very important for our clients exploring silently disclosing previously unreported income on an amended income tax return. The general rule is that taxpayers are

Another Local New Jersey client of HSBC India Pleads Guilty

10 Apr 13

A local New Jersey client of HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) last month pleaded guilty to evading taxes on $1.2 million in income and using an account in India to hide some of his money. This is at least the second

How to Defend Against FBAR Penalties

02 Apr 13

Following the IRS’ successful 2009 and 2011 offshore voluntary compliance initiatives, tax professionals should expect an increase in IRS examination activity of taxpayers who did not enter into these compliance initiatives. Approximately 30,000 taxpayers entered into the initiatives. There are

Opting Out of the Offshore Voluntary Compliance Initiative Programs

21 Feb 13

As with other IRS’ 2009 and 2011 offshore voluntary compliance initiatives, the 2012 program gives no discretion to the IRS agents to reduce penalties. If a participant does not believe that he or she should have to pay the 27½%

National Taxpayer Advocate Criticizes IRS over handling of offshore voluntary disclosures

18 Feb 13

The 2012 National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Annual Report to Congress criticized current IRS practices in the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) that hinder voluntary compliance by penalizing taxpayers who are entitled to a reasonable cause exception from willfulness. One of

Appeals of penalties imposed during the Offshore Voluntary Opt-Out

09 Feb 13

When a taxpayer has a tax increase though a civil tax audit (or examination, in IRS terminology), a taxpayer has the right to appeal that increase administratively and through court, if unsuccessful administratively. For taxpayers not willing to accept the

National Taxpayer Advocate Identifies OVDP Program as a Serious Problem

01 Feb 13

On January 17 that National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson recently issued her 2012 Annual Report to Congress calling on Congress to simplify the Tax Code. In her report, Olson questioned the “one-size-fits-all” approach of the IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program

HSBC Payment of Largest Penalty and FATCA Encourages Taxpayers to Disclose

30 Jan 13

Last month, HSBC Holdings agreed to pay $1.92 billion in fines to U.S. authorities, which is the largest collective settlement in the Treasury Department’s history. The penalty assessment was based upon HSBC’s conduct in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act

Bank Leumi: Another Foreign Bank Recommends the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program

23 Jan 13

Bank Leumi is urging its U.S. clients to disclose information about their accounts to U.S. authorities investigating Leumi and many other foreign banks over possible tax avoidance by Americans. In a December 16 letter Leumi urged U.S. clients to enter

Another HSBC Customer Likely Going to Jail

11 Jan 13

Last week a New Jersey client of HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) pleaded guilty to charges that he hid as much as $4.7 million through Swiss and Indian accounts not declared to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Sanjay Sethi, 52, who

New Comments of the IRS’ New Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures for Non-Resident Non-Filer U.S. Taxpayers

22 Dec 12

I just returned from the American Bar Association Section of Taxation’s annual National Institute on Criminal Tax Fraud in Las Vegas. A topic of discussion was the relatively new New Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures for Non-Resident, Non-Filer U.S. Taxpayers (see

Tag Archives: ovdi