This is one more in a series of posts discussing the FBAR rules. The FBAR rules were born in 1970, laid virtually dormant until the 2000s and then were then unleashed in their full “ferocity” on U.S. persons.
Mr. FBAR has not visited Canada, but he has visited Canadian citizens Read More
The U.S. tax system is different to every other developed country’s, in that America taxes based on citizenship rather than on residence. That means that whereas most countries only tax residents (and non-residents who have income arising in the country), the U.S. taxes all U.S. citizens wherever in the world they live. Read More
Do I still have to file and pay U.S. taxes if I live abroad?
This is the most common tax question that U.S. expats ask. Unfortunately, the U.S. tax system is based on citizenship rather than residence, so it doesn’t discriminate where in the world you live.
As a result, expats have to file and pay U.S. taxes on their worldwide income if they earn over $10,000 (or just $400 of self-employment income).
If you have been reading our blogs, we have been chronicling the tax legislative process through the House Ways and Means Committee. (If not, you can click here to read the previous blogs in the process.) We have also been looking at the impact of FATCA.
These are of note because today, there will be live hearings looking at the tax filing season and the unintended consequences of FATCA.
TaxConnections Member Professor William Byrnes examines whether it is prudent for taxpayers to trust the governments of the 117 countries that scored a fifty or below on Transparency International’s corruption index. The complete information system invoked by the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) encourages, even prolongs, the bad behavior of black hat governments by providing fuel (financial information) to feed the fire of corruption and suppression of rivals. Professor Byrnes recommends that the United States leverage a “carrot-stick” policy tool to incentivize bad actors to adopt best tax administration practices.
Article download at https://ssrn.com/abstract=2916444
The IRS released Revenue Procedure 2017-21, which contains the updated withholding foreign partnership (WP) agreement and withholding foreign trust (WT) agreement.
The revenue procedure provides information on submitting an application or request for renewal of a WP or WT agreement.
The Internal Revenue Service today reminded non-U.S. citizens who may have taxable income, such as international students and scholars who may be working or receiving scholarship funds, that they may have special requirements to file a U.S. tax return.
The IRS also reminded withholding agents — such as payroll professionals or universities — that accurately filed Forms 1042-S help speed any refunds due to their non-U.S. citizen taxpayers. Errors on forms or returns could result in some refunds being delayed.
According to a report published by the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the number of Americans living in the United Kingdom was estimated at 212,150 in 2015. This represents a sizable group of Americans living in just one foreign country.
The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached final resolutions with banks that have met the requirements of the Swiss Bank Program. The Program provided a path for Swiss banks to resolve potential criminal liabilities in the United States, and to cooperate in the Department’s ongoing investigations of the use of foreign bank accounts to commit tax evasion. The Program also provided a path for those Swiss banks that were not engaged in wrongful acts but nonetheless wanted a resolution of their status. Banks already under criminal investigation related to their Swiss-banking activities and all individuals were expressly excluded from the Program.
I commented on an article titled: “Why is the IRS Collecting Taxes for Denmark?” which appeared at the “Procedurally Speaking” blog. The article is about the “assistance in collection” provision which is found in 5 U.S. Tax Treaties (which include: Canada, Denmark, Sweden, France and the Netherlands). I am particularly interested in this because of a recent post at the Isaac Brock Society.
On May 26, 2016 we posted 97 Offshore Banks Are Turning Over Your Names To The IRS – What Are Your Waiting For? and since then, the Government has added 47 more banks and financial advisors to this list bringing the number to 144 offshore banks and foreign financial advisors. The IRS keeps updating its list of foreign banks which are turning over the names of their U.S. Account Holders, who are now subject to a 50% (rather than 27.5%) penalty in the IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP). This penalty is based on the highest account balance measured over up to eight years.
I looked up my last blog post and realized I have not posted here since January! What a tax season it was, and how did time get away from me? Oh wait…I know how!
The past few years have seen a steady growth of a client base that has foreign accounts: no complaints there! Most clients have very routine FBAR filing requirements but then sometimes things are a little out of the ordinary and that gets me all excited…yes, I know..it does! That either tells you about my lack of a life during tax season or we should just notch it up to tax nerd-iness!
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