The United States Treasury Department’s web site indicates that the United States has signed Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) agreements with:
• Bermuda
• Guernsey
• The Isle of Man
• Jersey
• Malta
• The Netherlands
The United States Treasury Department’s web site also reflects that with the six new Read More
Congratulations to Peter Scalise of Prager Metis CPAs, LLP who received the highest number of searches to his tax professional profile page on TaxConnections during 2013. With more than 7125 views in the year, everyone would like to know how Peter had so many prospective clients paying attention to his tax services. The answer is he utilized every feature available on www.taxconnections.com to build visibility and trust for his tax services and expertise. Marketing experts know that you need to build familiarity with clients first, familiarity builds trust, and trust is why people come to you for tax services. There are many of our gold annual members who made it to the top of the search results in TaxConnections including: Brian Mahany, Hugo van Zyl, Kathryn Morgan, Howard Liebman, Larry Langdon, Steven Potts and so many others who took the lead in marketing their tax reputations online Read More
The Bancroft case has been working its way through various federal jurisdictions over the last few years. In theory, it involves a captive insurance scenario. In reality, it’s tax evasion, plain and simple.
For me, the dead giveaway is the the “round trip” nature of the transaction. Consider this explanation of the program from the decision:
Sigel and Barros formed Bancroft. They didn’t know much about insurance so they outsourced the underwriting function, actuarial responsibility, claims handling, accounting function, due diligence inquiries, and routine paperwork chores. They also outsourced much of the investment operation. One of Bancroft’s primary investment vehicles was to make Read More
The FATCA FFI List Resources and Support Information and the FATCA FFI List Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) have both been posted to the FATCA Website.
What taxpayers representatives should be paying attention to in these FATCA discussions, among other things, is that the form of the FATCA submissions entitled “Schema” is a uniform computer readable report. This is the same language/requirement which is being utilized in discussions regarding intergovernmental agreements.
So effectively, in the not-too-distant future, we may be seeing foreign banks submitting their “Schema” to their government to be shared with the US and other foreign governments; which can then be used by the IRS or the other home country to match up the information in the Read More
Moshe Asher: The Tax Authority plans to provide information to relevant countries about foreign residents’ capital in Israel.
“We won’t be a tax haven for foreign residents,” said Israel Tax Authority director general Moshe Asher at the conference of the CPA Association of Jerusalem conference on December 17, 2013.
He said that the Tax Authority planned to provide information to relevant countries about foreign residents’ capital in Israel, and that these countries will reciprocate about the foreign assets of Israelis. Read More
MORE OFTEN THAN not, inadequate disclosure is the result of a lack of knowledge into a transaction on the part of the person compiling the tax return and not necessarily as a result of reluctance to fully disclose the transaction. This “lack of knowledge” could be overcome by having access to all the facts pertaining to a material transaction. It will ultimately lead to the person preparing the tax return being in a better position to complete the return, ensuring adequate disclosure and handling any queries. Accessibility to facts could be achieved by hands-on record keeping in the form of files containing all the documents in respect of a material transaction, i.e., agreements, memoranda, minutes of meetings, resolutions, Read More
Yesterday we posted “Monday was the Swiss Bank’s Deadline to Reveal Hidden US Accounts to the IRS!” which discussed that approximately 300 Swiss Banks have until the end of today, Monday December 16, 2013, to decide whether to turnover their records to the Internal Revenue Service.
Today Walliser Kantonalbank became the latest Swiss bank to Accept United States Deal to avoid prosecution.
In a statement, Walliser Kantonalbank said that it had never focused on acquiring American clients but that it was unable to guarantee that all U.S. customers had fully complied with their United States tax obligations. Read More
Payroll Compliance is a challenge that many small businesses struggle with. Payroll done by business owners themselves mean that they need to have the know-how to comply with the Internal Revenue Service’s strict rules regarding accurate reporting & deposits. Moreover, federal, state & local tax regulations change & many times without notice. Small business owners need to follow such changes keenly as well.
Having a professional as a trusted guide & advisor helps small business owners (SBO) navigate these dangerous waters. It also saves them time and costly errors. Errors which are due to late filing or deposit of taxes increase the risk of steep penalties & scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service. Read More
“An old-fashioned handshake is a good way to do business—unless the IRS demands a copy” — Source: Cullen Hightower
“The condition of being obvious or evident.” — Source: Oxford Dictionary
IN THIS DAY and age it is important that businesses take a more open-minded approach when it comes to tax compliance. The process of transparency is not confined to the completion of a tax return and the disclosure made to the IRS. It begins with transparency between the role players involved in a transaction, the key decision makers in the business, and the people responsible for understanding the tax implications and compiling the return. Read More
Approximately 300 Swiss Banks had until the end of Monday December 16, 2013, to decide whether to turnover their records to the Internal Revenue Service. “I can confirm that the deadline is this evening, at the end of the business day, “a spokesman for Swiss financial market regulator FINMA, told AFP, refusing to say how many banks had already signed up to take part in the program.
On Thursday, August 29, 2013, we previously posted “Swiss Banks Agree to Plan to End Past US Tax Evasion Issues!“) where we discussed that under a deal reached between Bern and Washington, Swiss banks are ready to pay big fines for sheltering United States tax fugitives under the terms of a new deal approved by the Swiss Government. Read More
The United Kingdom published a draft legislation recently that the tax treatment of all employment related securities be the same for all globally mobile employees. Accordingly a portion of any equity award paid to such employees should be apportioned to United Kingdom income based on the number of United Kingdom days in such financial year.
This legislation can create additional costs to the internationally mobile employee and should be reviewed carefully.
We previously posted “Raoul Weil the Ex-UBS Banker Is Coming To America to Rat You Out! where we discussed that the former head of UBS’s wealth management division, Raoul Weil, has agreed to be extradited to the United States to face charges.
US authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Weil in early 2009, just months after he was charged with allegedly conspiring to help 17,000 American clients of Swiss bank UBS avoid taxes.
We also discussed that another UBS Banker, Bradley Birkenfeld who became a whistle blower and was awarded a $104 million reward from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and this may happen all over again, now that Raoul Weil is being extradited to the US. Read More
Thinking About Selling Or Merging Your Tax Advisory Practice?
Texas Sales Tax Exemptions | Sales-for-Resale
Taxes In Texas: Coin Operated Machines
What Is Streamlined Sales Tax And How Can it Help My Business?
ALERT: Register Today For Tax Partnership Webinar On Thursday May 16th (Free Webinar By Partnership Experts)
Recent Comments