Nine Things That Will Elevate Your Chances Of Being Targeted By IRS For Past Nondisclosure Of Foreign Accounts and/or Failure To Report Worldwide Income

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If you have undisclosed foreign accounts you have an important decision to make. That decision being – when do you start disclosing your foreign bank accounts and foreign income and how should you disclose?

Many people thought that forever they can keep their foreign accounts a secret – not just from their creditors and spouses but also from the IRS.

But with recent changes in the tax law, mandatory reporting of U.S. account holders by foreign banks and the IRS’ placement of dedicated resources and systems to detect non-compliant taxpayers, it is not a question of “if you get caught” but “when you will get caught”.

Here are the nine things that would accelerate your chance of being caught by IRS:

1. Starting to report foreign income on your 2013 income tax return and disregarding the fact that you did not disclose this in previous years. The IRS computers already are programmed to compare information on prior returns to your current return to look for unusual swings in activity and income.

2. Starting to report your foreign accounts on an FBAR in 2013 and disregarding the fact that you did not disclose this in previous years. The IRS computers already are programmed to compare information on prior returns to your current return to look for unusual swings in foreign accounts and can do this more quickly and effectively as information is required to be filed electronically.

3. Filing delinquent FBAR’s with or without statement as to why they are filed late. It is always a red flag to the IRS when a taxpayer files delinquent FBAR’s which in order to be processed will need to be reviewed by an IRS agent.

4. Filing amended income tax returns identifying that you have foreign accounts and reporting foreign income. Another red flag to the IRS when a taxpayer files delinquent returns which in order to be processed will need to be reviewed by an IRS agent.

5. Supplying your foreign bank with your identifying information so that the bank can report you to IRS. And just like your employer or another payor, your information at the foreign bank will be reported to IRS.

6. Ignoring requests from your foreign bank for your identifying information. Even where the bank does not receive any information from you, the bank will still report what information it has to IRS which the bank is still required to do. In addition, the foreign bank will freeze your account until you provide the bank with your identifying information.

7. Transferring funds from the U.S. to your foreign account or from the foreign account to the U.S. These transfers are independently reported through the banking channels and will make their way to IRS.

8. Paying your credit cards and other bills from an account associated with a foreign bank. These transactions are independently reported through the banking channels and will make their way to IRS.

9. Closing your foreign account and withdrawing the funds or transferring the funds to another bank (whether to the U.S. or another foreign bank). Even where an account was closed, the bank will still report what information it has to IRS which the bank is still required to do. We have clients whose foreign account was closed at least three years ago and they are still being reported to IRS.

If you have never reported your foreign investments on your U.S. Tax Returns, you should seriously consider participating in the IRS’s 2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI). Once the IRS contacts you, you cannot get into this program and would be subject to the maximum penalties (civil and criminal) under the tax law. Taxpayers who hire an experienced tax attorney in Offshore Account Voluntary Disclosures should result in avoiding any pitfalls and gaining the maximum benefits conferred by this program.

Protect yourself from excessive fines and possible jail time. Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. located in Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere in California qualify you for OVDI.

Description: Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. resolve your IRS tax problems, get you in compliance with your FBAR filing obligations, and minimize the chance of any criminal investigation or imposition of civil penalties.

Why Is It Better To Hire A Tax Attorney Instead Of Your Tax Preparer For Your OVDI Submission

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A common question we hear a lot: My CPA who I have been going to for years has never told me that I had to report my foreign income. Now that I know I have to report my foreign income and disclose my foreign bank accounts, do I accept my CPA’s offer to represent me in OVDI or do I hire you?

CPA’s prepare tax returns and there are a lot of CPA’s and other tax professionals who a great in preparing tax returns.

A taxpayer will provide them with information and tax documents and a return will be generated for filing with the IRS. This process I refer to as “compliance”.

But a tax attorney will focus on “representation” – meaning that the cases taken on by the attorney are when the IRS is questioning a return or making other civil or even criminal inquiries of a taxpayer.

A tax attorney being familiar with the “representation” aspect, knows who to speak to at IRS and how to best present your case. A tax attorney can also devote full attention to your attention at any time since the tax attorney’s workload is not jammed like the CPA’s workload during tax season who is busy with tax return preparation and more focused over meeting filing deadlines and therefore cannot provide the needed attention to your case.

Speaking of civil and criminal inquiries, a taxpayer who engages a tax attorney also gets the benefit of attorney-client privilege. This benefit allows that taxpayer to freely discuss with his attorney any matters or issues without the threat of these communications being disclosed to the government or anyone else. You do not get this level of privilege when dealing with non-attorneys.

But I would have to say that the biggest factor is that with the tax attorney there is no conflict of interest. The best way to explain this is by example – if a great defense is that you relied on your tax preparer to tell you whether you had to report your foreign accounts and foreign income, do you think your tax preparer will put himself under the bus to save you from the IRS – chances are not. A tax attorney who had no involvement in the preparation of your returns can make these arguments thus truly serving your best interests.

If you have never reported your foreign investments on your U.S. Tax Returns, you should seriously consider participating in the IRS’s 2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI). Once the IRS contacts you, you cannot get into this program and would be subject to the maximum penalties (civil and criminal) under the tax law. Taxpayers who hire an experienced tax attorney in Offshore Account Voluntary Disclosures should result in avoiding any pitfalls and gaining the maximum benefits conferred by this program.

Protect yourself from excessive fines and possible jail time. Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. located in Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere in California qualify you for OVDI.

Description: Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. resolve your IRS tax problems, get you in compliance with your FBAR filing obligations, and minimize the chance of any criminal investigation or imposition of civil penalties.

The Story Of Bradley Charles Birkenfeld And How Because Of His Actions No Longer Can Foreign Accounts Be A Secret.

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If you have undisclosed foreign accounts you have an important decision to make. That decision being – when do you start disclosing your foreign bank accounts and foreign income and how should you disclose?

Many people thought that forever they can keep their foreign accounts a secret – not just from their creditors and spouses but also from the IRS.

Well thanks to a man called Bradley Charles Birkenfeld, no longer can these foreign accounts be a secret.

Birkenfeld, an American citizen who grew up in Boston and was educated at the American Graduate School of Business in Switzerland, was an up-and-coming banker rising through the ranks of Switzerland’s greatest bank, UBS. Working at UBS in Geneva, Switzerland, as a private banker offering wealth management services, his principal job responsibility over his 5-year tenure at UBS was to solicit wealthy Americans to move their assets to the bank, enabling them to hide their funds due to Switzerland’s strict banking secrecy laws and thus avoid paying U.S. taxes.

Birkenfeld was living the high life with UBS going to UBS sponsored events like art shows and yacht races in the United States to attract wealthy people as potential clients. The events gave its Switzerland-based bankers, who essentially behaved as salesmen offering the product of a Swiss tax haven, a chance to network with the rich in order to cement deals, which was illegal under U.S. banking laws.

One of Birkenfeld’s wealthiest clients was billionaire California real estate developer, Igor Olenicoff. Birkenfeld arranged for him to transfer $200 million to UBS and for Olenicoff to have these funds accessible via credit cards supplied to him by UBS. Birkenfeld then introduced Olenicoff to other bankers at UBS who helped him create off-shore companies to hid his assets and evade taxes.

Olenicoff subsequently pleaded guilty to tax evasion and paid a $52 million fine, but avoided a jail sentence. Apparently the U.S. Department Of Justice (DOJ) had their sites on a bigger target – that being Birkenfeld.

In 2005 Birkenfeld resigned from UBS. That is when he approached DOJ and informed the DOJ of UBS’ business practices.

At the same time, Birkenfeld wanted to take advantage of a new federal whistleblower law, the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, that could pay him up to 30% of any tax revenue recouped by the IRS as a result of Birkenfeld’s information.

Birkenfeld also wanted immunity from prosecution for his part in UBS’s transactions.

Essentially Birkenfeld wanted to have his cake and eat it too!

When Birkenfeld saw that the DOJ was not meeting his demands, he contacted the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the IRS, and the U.S. Senate.

You would think with all of this information Birkenfeld would receive praise and gratitude by the Federal government. Instead, in May 2008, Birkenfeld was arrested in Boston when he deplaned from Switzerland. He was arraigned at the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida. The DOJ prosecutor in the case justified the prosecution of Birkenfeld by claiming he failed to be forthcoming about his clients, specifically, Igor Olenicoff. Eventually Birkenfeld agreed to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Birkenfeld was sentenced by a U.S. District Judge to 40 months in prison and paying a $30,000 fine.

Since Birkenfeld blew the whistle on the UBS tax evasion scandal, in 2007 UBS avoided prosecution by agreeing to pay a fine of $780 million to the U.S. government.

Additionally, UBS paid $200 million for settlement with the SEC to avoid a trial on UBS’ alleged conduct that the company facilitated the ability of certain U.S. clients to maintain undisclosed accounts in Switzerland and other foreign countries, which enabled those clients to avoid paying taxes related to the assets in those accounts.

Finally to avoid additional fines, UBS agreed to provide the names of all Americans who had offshore accounts with UBS.

In the wake of the UBS scandal, the erosion of Switzerland’s fabled bank secrecy culminated when Switzerland officially signed on October 15, 2013 a treaty called the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. By Switzerland signing the treaty, they no longer could be a tax haven for offshore assets. The U.S. had won its war against Switzerland!

This then set the stage for the IRS’ worldwide campaign to break into foreign financial institutions and uncover U.S. accountholders.

So what ended up becoming of Birkenfeld? Birkenfeld was able to get his sentence commuted and ended up serving about 32 months. In September 2012, the IRS Whistleblower Office awarded Birkenfeld $104 million as a whistleblower. After serving a 32 month jail sentence – that equates to daily compensation of about $105,000.00.

If you have never reported your foreign investments on your U.S. Tax Returns, you should seriously consider participating in the IRS’s 2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI). Once the IRS contacts you, you cannot get into this program and would be subject to the maximum penalties (civil and criminal) under the tax law. Taxpayers who hire an experienced tax attorney in Offshore Account Voluntary Disclosures should result in avoiding any pitfalls and gaining the maximum benefits conferred by this program.

Protect yourself from excessive fines and possible jail time. Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. located in Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere in California qualify you for OVDI.

Description: Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. resolve your IRS tax problems, get you in compliance with your FBAR filing obligations, and minimize the chance of any criminal investigation or imposition of civil penalties.

The IRS Knows Where U.S. Offshore Tax Evaders Live And Bank!

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The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has just released its report: “IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP): 2009 Participation by State and Location of Foreign Bank Accounts”. In this report the GAO studied the make-up of all 10,533 applicants to the IRS 2009 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program which was open for enrollment during eight months in 2009.

California had the most participants in the 2009 OVDP (2,524 or 24%) followed by New York (1,844 or 18%) and then Florida (1,022 or 10%). Combined these three states make up 52% of all 2009 OVDP participants.

As for where these accounts are located, the top six countries are:

Country

Number Of Applicants

Percentage

Switzerland

5,427

42%

United Kingdom

1,058

8%

Canada

556

4%

France

528

4%

Israel

510

4%

Germany

484

4%

Federal tax law requires U.S. taxpayers to pay taxes on all income earned worldwide. U.S. taxpayers must also report foreign financial accounts if the total value of the accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. Willful failure to report a foreign account can result in a fine of up to 50% of the amount in the account at the time of the violation and may even result in the IRS filing criminal charges.

The IRS is giving taxpayers one last chance to come forward and voluntarily disclose foreign accounts and unreported foreign income before the IRS starts investigating non-compliant taxpayers.

If you have never reported your foreign investments on your U.S. Tax Returns, you should seriously consider participating in the IRS’s 2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI). Once the IRS contacts you, you cannot get into this program and would be subject to the maximum penalties (civil and criminal) under the tax law. Taxpayers who hire an experienced tax attorney in Offshore Account Voluntary Disclosures should result in avoiding any pitfalls and gaining the maximum benefits conferred by this program.

Protect yourself from excessive fines and possible jail time. Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. located in Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere in California qualify you for OVDI.

Description: Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. resolve your IRS tax problems, get you in compliance with your FBAR filing obligations, and minimize the chance of any criminal investigation or imposition of civil penalties.

IRS Targets Americans Living In Israel!

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Americans with Israeli bank or other financial accounts could face a tough tax season in 2014 if they do not come forward and disclose their assets to the IRS.  Recently, Israeli banks have come under increased scrutiny by the IRS in regards to disclosing the accounts of their American clients.  In particular, three Israeli banks- Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi and Mizrahi Tefahot- are under investigation by the Department of Justice.  To avoid prosecution, many other Israeli banks will begin turning over information as early as July 2014.

The prompt release of U.S. accountholder information by Israeli banks is a result of the IRS’s efforts to fully implement the 2010 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) which requires foreign banks and financial institutions to report the assets of their American account holders.  Lack of compliance, banks were warned, would limit their ability to do business in America.  FATCA was passed as part of the U.S. government’s effort to crack down on U.S. tax evaders.  Initially, the IRS concentrated its efforts on Swiss Banks.

This focus has led to an increase in the enforcement of the requirement that Americans and American residents file a Foreign Bank Account Report on every account held abroad that is worth more than $10,000. As the IRS cracks down on offshore accounts and on suspected fraud from overseas, Israel faces extra scrutiny. A recent report issued by the Government Accountability Office found that 4% of the accounts reported worldwide through this program were in Israel, making it the fifth most likely destination for overseas bank accounts.

Israeli banks have increased their efforts to identify clients who are United States citizens and report them to the IRS. A series of prosecutions against American citizens trying to avoid reporting their accounts in Israel and against tax preparers who advised their clients to use Israel as a tax shelter helped drive home the point.  Accordingly, Israeli banks have been urging their American account holders to come forward and disclose their assets under the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI).  In December 2013, Bank Leumi, the largest commercial Bank in Israel, sent out a letter to their American clients to come forward under the program.

Increased enforcement has impacted a wide circle of Americans, mainly Jewish, with ties to Israel. It includes not only those who have immigrated to Israel, or made aliyah, as adults, but also children of American citizens who are citizens themselves but may have never even visited the United States. The law is also relevant to any American who has opened an account in Israel in the past for use during visits to Israel or to help manage rental income in Israel.

Federal tax law requires U.S. taxpayers to pay taxes on all income earned worldwide.  U.S. taxpayers must also report foreign financial accounts if the total value of the accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.  Willful failure to report a foreign account can result in a fine of up to 50% of the amount in the account at the time of the violation and may even result in the IRS filing criminal charges.

U.S. taxpayers with account holdings should seriously consider coming forward and disclosing their assets to the IRS.  If you have never reported your foreign investments on your U.S. Tax Returns, the IRS has established the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI) which allows taxpayers to come forward to avoid criminal prosecution and not have to bear the full amount of penalties normally imposed by IRS.

If you have never reported your foreign investments on your U.S. Tax Returns, you should seriously consider participating in the IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI).  Once the IRS contacts you, you cannot get into this program and would be subject to the maximum penalties (civil and criminal) under the tax law.  Taxpayers who hire an experienced tax attorney in Offshore Account Voluntary Disclosures should result in avoiding any pitfalls and gaining the maximum benefits conferred by this program.

Protect yourself from excessive fines and possible jail time. Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. located in Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere in California qualify you for OVDI.

Description: Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. resolve your IRS tax problems, get you in compliance with your FBAR filing obligations, and minimize the chance of any criminal investigation or imposition of civil penalties.

IRS Commissioner Announces The Agency Is On Track To Meet FATCA Deadline Of July 1, 2014 To Enforce Compliance Of Foreign Banks To Disclose U.S. Account Holders To IRS

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Last week, IRS Commissioner, John Koskinen, announced that the agency is right on track in implementing the non-discretionary legislative mandates of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which is more commonly known as FATCA. The significance of this law enacted as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act of 2010, P.L. 111-147, requires foreign financial institutions to tell the IRS about accounts owned by U.S. citizens. Those banks who fail to comply will be subject to 30% withholding on U.S. sourced investments.  With this information, the IRS can do a much better job of combating offshore tax evasion. The Commissioner stated that it is the agency’s goal to make it more and more difficult for Americans to hide their money in a tax haven to avoid paying taxes.  FATCA withholding goes into effect July 1, 2014.

Foreign banks will not want their returns from U.S. investments to be subject to any withholding by the IRS; therefore, if a foreign bank is to keep its U.S. account holders, they will now report U.S. account holders directly to IRS to be in compliance with FATCA.

The net that the IRS has cast will catch not only those wealthy taxpayers with fancy lawyers and accountants but also any average U.S. taxpayer who has undisclosed foreign bank accounts and unreported foreign income.  The Commissioner affirmed that no longer will any U.S. taxpayer be able to hide their money in foreign countries and avoid paying their fair share to support the operations of the government.

Federal tax law requires U.S. taxpayers to pay taxes on all income earned worldwide.  U.S. taxpayers must also report foreign financial accounts if the total value of the accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.  Willful failure to report a foreign account can result in a fine of up to 50% of the amount in the account at the time of the violation and may even result in the IRS filing criminal charges.

If you have never reported your foreign investments on your U.S. Tax Returns, you should seriously consider participating in the IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI).  Once the IRS contacts you, you cannot get into this program and would be subject to the maximum penalties (civil and criminal) under the tax law.  Taxpayers who hire an experienced tax attorney in Offshore Account Voluntary Disclosures should result in avoiding any pitfalls and gaining the maximum benefits conferred by this program.

Protect yourself from excessive fines and possible jail time. Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. located in Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere in California qualify you for OVDI.

Description: Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. resolve your IRS tax problems, get you in compliance with your FBAR filing obligations, and minimize the chance of any criminal investigation or imposition of civil penalties.

Opting-Out Of OVDI – Top Questions Answered

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IRS has established programs for taxpayers to voluntarily come forward and disclose unreported foreign income and foreign accounts under what the IRS calls the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI).

On January 9, 2012 the IRS announced the terms of the 2012 OVDI which requires that taxpayers: (1) File 8 years of back tax returns reflecting unreported foreign source income; (2) Calculate interest each year on unpaid tax; (3) Apply a 20% accuracy-related penalty under Code Sec. 6662 or a 25% delinquency penalty under Code Sec. 6651; and (4) Apply up to a 27.5% penalty based upon the highest balance of the account in the past eight years.

In return for entering the offshore voluntary disclosure program, the IRS has agreed not to pursue charges of criminal tax evasion which would have resulted in jail time or a felony on your record; and other fraud and filing penalties including IRC Sec. 6663 fraud penalties (75% of the unpaid tax) and failure to file a TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Report, (FBAR) (the greater of $100,000 or 50% of the foreign account balance).

With taxpayers still facing a rather large penalty, taxpayers are torn on whether or not they should participate in OVDI or “Opt-Out”. The “opt-out” process was first introduced in the 2011 version of OVDI and still continues to this day.  As our office has received many inquiries on opting-out. Here are top OVDI opt-out questions that we are routinely asked.

1.         Will the IRS prosecute me criminally if I opt-out of the OVDI? The IRS should keep your case in Civil because you are still within the structure of voluntary disclosure (a program which the IRS encourages taxpayers to come forward in exchange for avoiding criminal prosecution) but you are no longer subject to the standard penalty rates of OVDI.  Under the standard 2012 OVDI penalty cap, you pay one penalty either (a) 12.5% of account value, Offshore “FBAR equivalent” penalty for accounts under $75,000, or (b) 27.5% for accounts over $75,000.So that standard 12.5% / 27.5% penalty cap is all that you are “opting-out” of.

2.         Will the IRS charge me more than the standard 12.5% or 27.5% offshore penalty if I opt out? That’s possible and therefore one of the risks to consider in opting-out.

3.         What is the status and outcome of those cases that have opted out?The opt-out program is fairly new as it was first introduced in 2011.  So far only a few have closed out and the IRS has not announced any guidelines as to how these cases are being dispensed.  The reason: The IRS is trying to centralize all opt-out decisions for consistency especially given the hazards of litigation that the IRS would face if one of these cases went to Court and the Court ruled in favor of the taxpayer.  Another reason for the delay is that the IRS overestimated how many intentional tax evaders would use the program, while simultaneously underestimating how many innocent or at worst negligent filers like ex pats, dual citizens, Visa holders and resident aliens, would be entering OVDI.

4.         What if I disagree. Can I appeal or dispute the agent’s determination?Yes. There are means to dispute an agent’s determination that will be different whether within OVDI or having opted out.  When disputing a determination that is within OVDI, we still remain on more certain ground as to the downside if we cannot effect any change.  However, outside OVDI the law lets the IRS “raise the bar” by assuming willfulness and thus charge multiple 50% penalties that can wipe out your entire net worth.

5.         For small cases, OVDI seems like overkill. Why don’t I just do a “soft” or “quiet” disclosure?The decision to enter into the program is entirely yours. And honestly, the biggest threat of not entering into the program is the risk of an FBAR audit – not criminal charges (although it is possible). But if caught in an FBAR audit, the results could be disastrous.A “soft” or “quiet” disclosure to us makes no sense. The IRS is using its vast data collecting tools and is receiving information directly from foreign financial institutions under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”).  Already IRS has discovered about 10,000 individuals and businesses that have made soft disclosures. The IRS claims they will track down all of those who have made soft or quiet disclosure.We have heard many people tell us they find the law unfair. Yet despite this unfairness, it is the law and our advice is to hire experienced tax counsel to take your case into OVDI and secure the best possible outcome within the OVDI guidelines.  We have found some “wiggle-room” in the guidelines that for some of our clients we used certain techniques that the IRS accepted resulting in lower penalties than what our clients thought they would be facing.

6.         If I made a soft disclosure can I still use the OVDI?Yes and you should. Again, the IRS has detected 10,000 people it suspects of making a soft disclosure. And these are only the accounts over $1 million. There are a lot more under $1 million.

7.         I started, or my CPA started my OVDI. But I am getting uncomfortable. I want to get a lawyer who specializes in this. Can you take over my case?We think that getting an OVDI / FBAR tax attorney is critical for your opt-out and from our experience each person’s case must be looked at separately to determine if opting-out is the best option.  If you have no evidence of willfulness, the sheer numbers may make opting out attractive especially where the proposed OVDI penalty is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.  But for those taxpayers whose proposed OVDI penalty is let’s say $80,000 or less, opting out probably can’t save you too much, especially if by opting out you end up with non-willful penalties which over a six-year period can equate to about the same amount as this $80,000 guideline amount referred herein.

From a broad perspective OVDI is predictable but opting out is much less so. As the above considerations reflect, think about your facts. Ask whether the potential risks and additional legal fees of opting out offset the potential rewards. Individual advice about the particular facts is important.

The tax attorneys at the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. are highly skilled in handling OVDI cases and can effectively represent you no matter what is the make-up or circumstances of your unreported foreign assets and unreported foreign income.  We will keep you informed step-by-step of the progress in your case and present your case in the best possible way to avoid any pitfalls and gain the maximum benefits conferred by this program.

Description: Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. resolve your IRS tax problems, get you in compliance with your foreign account filing obligations, and minimize the chance of any criminal investigation or imposition of civil penalties.

What To Look For In Selecting A Tax Attorney For OVDI / FBAR

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With the full enforcement of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”)starting July 1, 2014, all of the foreign banks have been requiring their U.S. account holders to disclose their social security numbers and other information so that the foreign bank may comply with this law and report their U.S. account holders to the IRS and avoidforced withholding on their U.S. investments.  That being the case, there has been an increase in inquiries to our office about going into the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (“OVDI”) and filing missed FBAR’s.

In 2009 our firm was one of the first firms to offer assistance to those taxpayers looking to come into compliance under the first OVDI program (that one was called the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program or “OVDP”).  Since then a lot more companies have entered into the marketplacewith mass advertising on the internet offering their services to bring taxpayers into OVDI.  But with so many companies listed out there, who do you call?

Four Things You Should Consider In Making Your List Of Attorneys To Call:

  1. Only Deal With Tax Law Firms. Make sure the company is a tax law firm and not a CPA firm.  CPA firms typically do tax filings and other regular tax related stuff.OVDI applications involve legal issues which CPA firms cannot handle.  In addition, CPA’s do not have attorney-client privilege.  That is important because until you are accepted into OVDI, you could be subject to criminal prosecution or civil fraud.  So talk only to an attorney in a tax law firm for OVDI related stuff.
  2. Look At The Tax Law Firm’s Practice Area. Check out the firm’s website to determine the tax attorney’s major practice areas. Do they have information where they talk about FBAR, OVDI and other related stuff? Many of them have that in their blog or news area. That way you knew they have some idea and most likely experience in dealing with such cases.
  3. What Access To The Tax Attorney Is Being Offered. As most of the stuff can be done via email/phone/mail you do not need to be so focused on where the tax law firm is located. Instead be focused on getting access to speak with the tax attorney to get good feeling about your case.
  4. Does The Tax Attorney Offer A Free Initial Consultation? Most of the firms will have free initial phone consultation. Make use of it. If the receptionist answers your call tell you are looking for someone to consult about FBAR and OVDI.  A tax law firm who regularly does this kind of work will hook you up with the tax attorney you need to speak with for a confidential consultation.Some might be available right away but if they are really good at what they do youshould not be dissuaded if youhave to make an for the telephone conference.  Remember that the attorney is setting aside time so that he can exclusively devote full attention to your call. 

Some Things To Consider BEFORE You Make The Call.

Before you start making calls keep the following details handy:

  • Number of foreign financial accounts you have
  • When were they opened
  • The maximum balance at any point of time during each year and yearend balance in each accounts and the total balance of all account for each year. You can use the treasury department exchange rates to determine the $ equivalent.
  • If you haven’t reported the interest in those accounts in your tax returns then details of interest earned in those accounts for each year
  • Whether joint accounts or if anyone else has any authority to deposit or withdraw from those accounts.

What To Ask?

Here are few points

  • Discuss the situation. Let the attorney know that (a) you did not report interest in my foreign accounts and (b) you didn’t file FBAR for the years when the total of your foreign accounts exceeded $10,000. Once you tell that, the attorney should start asking more details and that’s when you will need information I suggested to collect in the above section.
  • The Process. Afterhearing your information, the attorney should suggest what he thinks is best in your case and tell you what the process would be like. If you are offered a free face-to-face consultation where you can see the attorney and let him review your documents(i.e., tax returns, bank statements, etc.), you should accept this offer.
  • Charges & Penalty.  Ask the attorney how bad is your situation. Ask how good the chances of you getting cleared from criminal charges are.  Ask what can be the maximum penalty and how good are chances of getting penalty waived or reduced. Ask what would be his strategy or reasoning to waive or reduce the penalty.
  • Time.  Ask the attorney how long will the entire process take.
  • Price. Ask the attorney what he would charge for the entire process. You should find that firms will either charge based on time spent and costs incurred or a set amount.  For those charging based on time spent and costs incurred, ask the attorney what would be the approximate time and costs. Firms who charge in this manner will usually have different levels of staff whose rates vary based on their level of skill or expertise so you should ask who else would be involved, their rates and impact to the total time charges.  For those firms who offer a set amount, ask what and all will they do and what you will have to do.  Some firms may even offer alternatives that if certain tasks are delegated to you or other third parties such as your accountant, the amount charged by the tax law firm can be less.

How Do You Know Which Tax Attorney Is Best For You?

The tax attorneys at the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. are highly skilled in handling OVDI cases and can effectively represent you no matter what is the make-up or circumstances of your unreported foreign assets and unreported foreign income.  We will keep you informed step-by-step of the progress in your case and present your case in the best possible way to avoid any pitfalls and gain the maximum benefits conferred by this program.

Description: Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. resolve your IRS tax problems, get you in compliance with your FBAR filing obligations, and minimize the chance of any criminal investigation or imposition of civil penalties.

Do I need to file Form 8938, “Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets”?

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In an effort to combat taxpayers who are not reporting income earned on foreign assets, the IRS has implemented a new Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets, that beginning with the 2011 tax year must be included with a taxpayer’s Form 1040 if the taxpayer holds specified foreign financial assets with an aggregate value exceeding $50,000.  Prior to 2011, taxpayers had to disclose foreign financial accounts with an aggregate value exceeding $10,000 in a separate filing with the U.S. Treasury using exclusively a form called the Foreign Bank Account Report (“FBAR”).  The FBAR filing requirement still applies even though a taxpayer is now required to include Form 8938 with his or her Form 1040.

The authority for this new form comes from Section 511 of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, P.L. 111-147, adding new Sec. 6038D, which states that a specified person who holds an interest in specified foreign financial assets must attach Form 8938 to that person’s income tax return, provided the aggregate value of the person’s foreign financial assets exceeds $50,000. While the minimum threshold for filing a Form 8938 is $50,000.00 in foreign assets, higher asset thresholds apply to U.S. taxpayers who file a joint tax return or who reside abroad. 

The penalty for failure to file Form 8938 is $10,000. If a taxpayer does not file Form 8938 within 90 days of the IRS’s mailing a notice of failure to file the form, an additional penalty of $10,000 is imposed for each 30-day period or part of a 30-day period after the initial 90-day period the failure to file continues, up to a maximum amount of $50,000. In addition to a penalty for failing to file Form 8938, an accuracy-related penalty may be imposed. Taxpayers are subject to a penalty equal to 40% of the underpayment of tax if the underpayment results from a transaction that involved undisclosed specified foreign financial assets. Lastly, taxpayers must pay a penalty of 75% of the underpayment if the underpayment is due to fraud.

You must file Form 8938 if:

1.         You are a specified individual. 

A specified individual is:

  • A U.S. citizen
  • A resident alien of the United States for any part of the tax year
  • A nonresident alien who makes an election to be treated as resident alien for purposes of filing a joint income tax return
  • A nonresident alien who is a bona fide resident of American Samoa or Puerto Rico

AND

2.         You have an interest in specified foreign financial assets required to be reported. 

A specified foreign financial asset is:

  • Any financial account maintained by a foreign financial institution
  • Other foreign financial assets held for investment that are not in an account maintained by a US or foreign financial institution, namely: stock or securities issued by someone other than a U.S. person
  • Any interest in a foreign entity, and
  • Any financial instrument or contract that has as an issuer or counterparty that is other than a U.S. person.

AND

3.         If you live in the U.S. and the aggregate value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than the reporting thresholds that applies to you:

  • Unmarried taxpayers living in the US: The total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $50,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $75,000 at any time during the tax year
  • Married taxpayers filing a joint income tax return and living in the US: The total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $100,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $150,000 at any time during the tax year
  • Married taxpayers filing separate income tax returns and living in the US: The total value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than $50,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $75,000 at any time during the tax year.

OR

If you live abroad and the aggregate value of your specified foreign financial assets is more than the reporting thresholds that applies to you:

  • You are filing a return other than a joint return and the total value of your specified foreign assets is more than $200,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $300,000 at any time during the year; or
  • You are filing a joint return and the value of your specified foreign asset is more than $400,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $600,000 at any time during the year.

The IRS deems a taxpayer to be living abroad where:

a.         You are a U.S. citizen whose tax home is in a foreign country and you are either a bona fide resident of a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period that includes the entire tax year, or

b.         You are a US citizen or resident, who during a period of 12 consecutive months ending in the tax year is physically present in a foreign country or countries at least 330 days.

If you have never reported your foreign investments on your U.S. Tax Returns, you should seriously consider participating in the IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI).  Once the IRS contacts you, you cannot get into this program and would be subject to the maximum penalties (civil and criminal) under the tax law.  If you are not in OVDI, civil Penalties start at 50% of the value of the foreign assets and you could be subject to criminal charges. Taxpayers who hire an experienced tax attorney in Offshore Account Voluntary Disclosures should result in avoiding any pitfalls and gaining the maximum benefits conferred by this program.

Protect yourself from excessive fines and possible jail time. Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. located in San Francisco, Los Angeles and elsewhere in California qualify you for OVDI.

Description: Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. resolve your IRS tax problems, get you in compliance with your FBAR filing obligations, and minimize the chance of any criminal investigation or imposition of civil penalties.

Court Authorizes IRS to Issue Summonses for Records Relating to U.S. Taxpayers with Offshore Bank Accounts

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A number of U.S. taxpayers with beneficial ownership and control over funds held in accounts at Zurcher Kantonalbank and its affiliates (collectively, ZKB) in Switzerland, and The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited and its affiliates (collectively, Butterfield) in the Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Malta, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, have admitted failing to report income earned from their offshore accounts on their federal tax returns.  The IRS has reason to believe that other U.S. taxpayers who held or presently hold similar accounts at ZKB, Butterfield, and their affiliates have done the same in violation of federal tax law.  In December 2012, three employees of ZKB were indicted for conspiring with U.S. taxpayers and others to hide at least $423 million from the IRS in secret Swiss bank accounts.

On November 7, 2013, U.S. District Judges in the Southern District of New York entered orders authorizing the IRS to issue summonses requiring Bank of New York Mellon (Mellon) and Citibank NA (Citibank) to produce information about U.S. taxpayers who may be evading or have evaded federal taxes by holding interests in undisclosed accounts at ZKB; and requiring Mellon, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase Bank NA (JPMorgan), HSBC Bank USA NA (HSBC), and Bank of America NA (Bank of America) to produce similar information in connection with undisclosed accounts at Butterfield.

In these actions, the Court granted the IRS permission to serve what are known as “John Doe” summonses on Mellon, Citibank, JPMorgan, HSBC, and Bank of America.  The IRS uses John Doe summonses to obtain information about possible tax fraud by individuals whose identities are unknown.  The John Doe summonses direct these five banks to produce records identifying U.S. taxpayers with accounts at ZKB, Butterfield and their affiliates, including other foreign banks that used ZKB and Butterfield’s U.S. correspondent accounts at Mellon, Citibank, JPMorgan, HSBC, and Bank of America to service U.S. clients.

The information that the banks are required to turn over to the IRS will provide information about individuals using financial institutions from Switzerland to the Cayman Islands to Hong Kong to avoid their U.S. tax obligations.  As the U.S. government is continuing its commitment to uncover and identify taxpayers who tried to hide money overseas as a way to avoid federal taxes, U.S. taxpayers still holding accounts who have not come clean should come forward and do the right thing before it is too late.

Federal tax law requires U.S. taxpayers to pay taxes on all income earned worldwide.  U.S. taxpayers must also report foreign financial accounts if the total value of the accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.  Willful failure to report a foreign account can result in a fine of up to 50% of the amount in the account at the time of the violation and may even result in the IRS filing criminal charges.

If you have never reported your foreign investments on your U.S. Tax Returns, you should seriously consider participating in the IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI).  Once the IRS contacts you, you cannot get into this program and would be subject to the maximum penalties (civil and criminal) under the tax law.  Taxpayers who hire an experienced tax attorney in Offshore Account Voluntary Disclosures should result in avoiding any pitfalls and gaining the maximum benefits conferred by this program.

Protect yourself from excessive fines and possible jail time. Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. located in San Francisco, Los Angeles and elsewhere in California qualify you for OVDI.

Description: Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. resolve your IRS tax problems, get you in compliance with your FBAR filing obligations, and minimize the chance of any criminal investigation or imposition of civil penalties.