G’day Mate! Australia Becomes The 27th Country To Sign FATCA Accord

Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”), foreign banks, insurers and investment funds must send the Internal Revenue Service information about Americans’ and U.S. permanent residents’ offshore accounts worth more than $50,000. Institutions that fail to comply could effectively be frozen out of U.S. markets. The U.S. has entered into intergovernmental Agreements (“IGA’s”) with 26 countries for the implementation of FATCA.

Australia’s Treasurer Joe Hockey announced on April 29, 2014 that Australia and the United States “…signed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) to reduce the burden on Australian financial institutions in complying with FATCA.” This makes Australia he 27^th country to join the ranks of those countries cooperating with the U.S. in disclosing U.S. accountholders to the IRS.

Mr. Hockley commented that the agreement would assist Australian financial institutions to comply with FATCA and minimize the costs of doing so. He also mentioned that “…it broadens arrangements between the Australian Taxation Office and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service” and that it “…will also improve existing tax information-sharing arrangements between Australia and the United States, for the purpose of presenting tax evasion.”

The 26 countries with IGA’s already in place are:

Countries which are close to having an IGA in place are:

Click here for progress and developments IRS has made in gathering information from foreign banks and foreign governments.

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.