Archive for OVDP

How Do You Know When You’re In Trouble With The Government? When The Name of Your Trust Is “Cappuccino” Spelled Backwards

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York issued a press release on January 20, 2015 announcing the guilty plea of a CEO for hiding over $ 8.4 million in offshore Swiss bank accounts. George Landegger, the Chairman and CEO of an international pulp mill company, pled guilty to willfully failing to file FBARs for accounts that he maintained at a Swiss bank located in Zurich, Switzerland.

Landegger owned these accounts for nearly ten years, from the early 2000s up until 2010. During that time, his undeclared assets reached a high value of over $8.4 million.

What got Mr. Landegger into this “hot mess?” At the most primitive level, Mr. Landegger failed to report numerous Swiss bank accounts that he held for nearly ten years. But like Read More

Written by | Posted in FBAR • OVDP • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes

Sovereign Management In Panama Now Under DOJ/IRS Investigation

Important announcement to U.S. taxpayers that opened offshore bank accounts through a company called Sovereign Management & Legal, Ltd. Based in Panama, the company offers to help Americans open offshore bank accounts with nominee corporations. Knowing that many people who do take these actions are also committing tax evasion, the IRS and Justice Department obtained a John Doe summons from a federal judge. The IRS hopes to find Americans who used Sovereign to open accounts.

Federal Court Approves U.S. Government Issuance Of John Doe Summonses

A Federal Judge recently approved the Internal Revenue Service’s issuance of what is known as a “John Doe” summons to several entities in the U.S who utilized the services Read More

Written by | Posted in FATCA • OVDP

Walking The Sawdust Trail

Those who responded to the altar call after one of Billy Sunday’s sermons (see video below) were said to walk the sawdust trail, because the temporary venues he preached in back in the 1910s and 1920s often had sawdust on the floor as a deodorizer.

Before he became a travelling evangelist, and possibly even before he became a Christian, depending on what source you believe, Mr. Sunday played eight seasons of Major League Baseball between 1883 and 1890. During that time, he roamed the outfield for the Chicago White Stockings, Pittsburgh Alleghenys and Philadelphia Phillies. Mr. Sunday left the game with a lifetime .248 batting average, which was pretty good for the pre-modern era. He was also a speedy player who finished in the top ten in stolen bases three times and led the league in outfield putouts in 1888. Read More

Written by | Posted in OVDP • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes

U.S. Treasury Publishes Official FBAR Exchange Rates for 2014

Anyone filing an “FBAR” (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts – FinCEN Form 114) or IRS Form 8938 (Statement of Foreign Financial Assets) for calendar year 2014 will be pleased to know that the official exchange rates for 2014 have been published. As U.S. law states that no other exchange rate is permitted, it is really helpful to have these exchange rates available so early in January.

Exchange rates for other currencies can be found by clicking here.

The rates for the major foreign currencies are listed below:

 

Read More

Written by | Posted in FBAR • International • IRS • OVDP • Treasury Regulations

National Taxpayer Advocate Lambasts IRS’s OVDP Programs And FBAR Penalties

Here ye, here ye! National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson recently gave her annual report to Congress. And she didn’t mince words. She lambasted the IRS for relentlessly asserting onerous offshore penalties including its disproportionate treatment of non-willful taxpayers caught in the labyrinth of foreign asset reporting. Ms. Olson’s report asks the IRS to change its ways and to end the practice of branding every taxpayer who happens to have an offshore account with the letter “C” for “criminal.” Indeed, this is not the year 1652 and not every taxpayer who has an offshore account is the modern-day equivalent of Hester Prynne, the young woman found guilty of adultery in “The Scarlet Letter” and forced to wear a scarlet “A” (“A” was the symbol of adultery) on her dress to shame her. Read More

Written by | Posted in FBAR • IRS • OVDP

How To Beat The Rap

Six years into the government’s latest crackdown on offshore tax evasion, federal prosecutors have yet to win a signature jury trial. Of the 38 persons indicted since 2008, 25 have yet to be tried, so the government has plenty of opportunities to bag the heretofore elusive white whale. Most of these 25 defendants are Swiss nationals, and after recent events, the thoughts of pending offshore tax evasion charges may not exactly be keeping these bankers up at night.

The Raoul Weil saga has been well-chronicled, both in this space and elsewhere, in part because it has a number of object lessons. Fist of all, Big Brother is watching. Mr. Weil was indicted back in 2008. He was living in Switzerland at the time, which will not extradite a person to face financial crimes charges in another jurisdiction. But, Mr. Weil decided to take Read More

Written by | Posted in FATCA • OVDP • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes

Think You Can Hide From The IRS? Target Orange County, California

The IRS is using its extensive Big Data resources to pin-point their investigations to the wealthiest areas in Orange County, California. The idea being that anyone who is selected for investigation in these areas will result in a higher tax liability than those who live in less affluent areas. The government is looking for non-filers, persons engaged in on-line and virtual currency transactions, businesses cheating or delinquent on employment taxes and individuals with undisclosed foreign bank accounts.

Non-Filers

When a taxpayer does not file and the IRS has information statements indicating a filing requirement, the IRS uses the data to file a return on behalf of the taxpayer if there is a projected balance owed. In 2012, the IRS used information statements to file 803,000 Read More

Written by | Posted in FATCA • FBAR • IRS • OVDP • Virtual Currency

U.S. Cracks Israeli Bank Leumi – Bank Admits to Assisting U.S. Taxpayers in Hiding Assets in Offshore Bank Accounts

Americans with Israeli bank or other financial accounts could face a tough tax season in 2015 if they do not come forward and disclose their assets to the IRS. 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- have been under investigation by the Department of Justice.

The first Israeli bank to now bow to the United States is Bank Leumi. A deferred prosecution agreement between the Bank Leumi Group and the U.S. Department of Justice was filed today in the Central District of California that defers prosecution on a criminal information charging the bank with conspiracy to aid and assist in the preparation and presentation of false tax returns and other documents to the Internal Revenue Service. This is the same type Read More

Written by | Posted in FATCA • FBAR • OVDP • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes

Don’t Believe The Seven Deadly Myths Of FATCA Non-Enforcement

This May Be Your One Last Opportunity to Avoid Criminal Prosecution and Increased Civil Penalties!

Since July 1, 2014, the most feared U.S. legislation regarding international tax enforcement – Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) – is being implemented by most banks around the world. As part of this compliance, foreign banks from around the world are sending letters to account holders that they believe have, or had, a U.S. tax nexus (or other U.S. connection) requesting information to determine whether such account holders have disclosed their foreign bank accounts to the IRS. The letters from foreign banks generally require an account holder to disclose whether the account has been declared to the IRS through the filing of a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (commonly known as Read More

Written by | Posted in FATCA • FBAR • OVDP

This Just In! Final Regulations On Reporting of Foreign Specified Assets On Form 8938!

Form 8938, is the Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets. This form is required to be filed to remain in compliance with IRC § 6308D. You may not have known that the Internal Revenue Service hadn’t yet made the 2011 rules and regulations under this code final, comments and concerns were still being gathered.

The Internal Revenue Service on December 11th, 2014 has issued final regs that provide guidance on the requirement under Code § 6038D, for Form 8938 filers. This provides more information and clarifications on certain filers, types of assets to be reported, valuation etc.

The final regs apply for tax years ending after Dec. 19, 2011, but taxpayers may apply them Read More

Written by | Posted in FBAR • Individual • IRS • OVDP
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