Tag Archive for Worldwide Directory Of Tax Professionals

Can the “Sailing Permit” Become the Next FBAR? Bringing Home the Money

What is a “Sailing Permit”?

A Certificate of Compliance, or “Sailing Permit,” is a tax form that a foreign (non-US) individual must file with the IRS to demonstrate that he/she has paid all applicable U.S. taxes before departing the United States. The purpose of the “sailing permit” is to establish whether a departing foreign national owes any tax dollars to the US government before he leaves the country. Foreign executives and professionals working temporarily in the US can potentially be a large source of revenue for the US’ ailing fisc. The envisioned procedure was set to be easily administered. Prior to departure, the foreigner was to report to an IRS office and submit a preliminary tax computation, as well as pay the amounts due. The person Read More

Written by | Posted in FBAR • International • Tax Policy • United States

OECD Model Treaty Post Series – Permanent Establishment & Agents, Part II

Yesterday we looked at dependent agents and their ability on the treaty to create a permanent establishment for an enterprise. Today I’ll be looking at independent agents, which do not lead to the determination of a permanent establishment for tax purposes and hence do not create a tax presence.

The commentaries provide this general definition to begin the discussion:

37. A person will come within the scope of paragraph 6, i.e. he will not constitute a permanent establishment of the enterprise on whose behalf he acts only if

a) he is independent of the enterprise both legally and economically, and Read More

Written by | Posted in OECD

7 Habitual Mistakes Companies Make – Chapter 3 (11)

TaxConnections Blog Post
Determine a Tax Team Charter

IT MAY BE useful to determine a tax team charter, which defines the elements of an effective tax team, evaluates the effectiveness of the tax team, determines the guidelines for planning meetings properly and ascertaining effective milestones. Use elements of the Six Sigma process in an adapted form.

The following Six Sigma processes can be adopted for the tax risk management strategy process and may prove to be useful in the strategy process:

• Quality Function Deployment (QFD) where the tax team can more effectively focus on the Read More

Written by | Posted in Tax Risk Management

Affiliate Nexus Legislation – Everyone Loses

I’ve written on aspects of this topic many times for many years – the state challenges in trying to collect all of the sales and use tax they are due for sales to their in-state consumers and businesses. With the requirement that a vendor only has to collect sales tax if they have a physical presence in the state and e-commerce enabling businesses to have customers everywhere but perhaps only one physical location, states become more dependent on trying to get their in-state consumers to self-assess use tax. States tend to do a poor job educating these folks about their use tax obligation.

It would just be far easier to have all vendors collect. However, that is unlikely to happen, even with federal legislation (such as S. 743, the Marketplace Fairness Act). This legislation Read More

Written by | Posted in Sales/Use Tax

Baucus International Tax Overhaul Draft Released

Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana, has released the first in a series of discussion drafts for overhauling the Tax Code, with the first set of proposals focusing on international tax reform.

The proposal details ideas on how to reform international tax rules to spark economic growth, create jobs and make United States businesses more competitive.

Additional tax reform discussion drafts will be released later this week.

Baucus and his counterpart in the House, Rep. Dave Camp, R-Michigan, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, have committed to drafting comprehensive Read More

Written by | Posted in Tax Policy

FATCA – U.S. And France Agree To Combat Offshore Tax Evasion

The United States Department of the Treasury announced today that the United States has signed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with France to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Enacted in 2010, FATCA aims to curtail offshore tax evasion by facilitating the exchange of tax information.

With today’s agreement, 10 FATCA IGAs have been signed to date.

“France has been an enthusiastic supporter of our effort to promote global tax transparency and critical to drafting a model of FATCA implementation,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs Robert B. Stack. “This agreement demonstrates the growing global momentum behind FATCA and strong support from the world’s most important Read More

Written by | Posted in Europe, Middle East • FATCA

Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI): Time is of the Essence

TaxConnections Blog post

Since 2009, the IRS has offered taxpayers with undisclosed foreign financial accounts the opportunity to “come clean” under its Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI). According to the Internal Revenue Service, more than 38,000 U.S. taxpayers have entered the program. They have paid more than $5.5 billion to resolve issues, with an estimated $5 billion yet to come.

What is OVDI? It is a program of limited duration that offers significant benefits to taxpayers who may have engaged in conduct that could be viewed as criminal. Benefits include immunity from criminal prosecution and avoidance of the full brunt of civil penalties that otherwise could far exceed amounts concealed in offshore accounts. The OVDI program can Read More

Written by | Posted in FBAR • OVDP

France Signs On To FATCA Compliance – Financial Institutions Still Not Prepared

France just hopped on the FATCA express November 14, becoming the 10th nation to sign an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the United States. FATCA, as the “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” is commonly called, was enacted in 2010, but has been implemented in stages. It has seen several delays and while many hold hope it will never be finally implemented, all indications are that FATCA’s momentum is unstoppable.

Generally, FATCA requires foreign (non-US) financial institutions (FFI) to sign an agreement with the US government to report information about accounts held by US persons or accounts held by foreign entities in which US persons have a substantial interest. If the FFI Read More

Written by | Posted in Europe, Middle East • FATCA

7 Habitual Mistakes Companies Make – Chapter 3 (10)

TaxConnections Blog Post

Set the Tax Risk Management Strategy Process and Project Plan

THE INITIAL PLANNING process is facilitated by the Tax Risk Management facilitator in conjunction with the BO/CFO , financial manager, and tax manager. It entails:

• appointing the tax risk management Tax Risk Management strategy participants,

• planning the tax risk management Tax Risk Management strategy session,

• setting the specific tax risk objectives,

• planning the tax risk reduction strategy, Read More

Written by | Posted in Tax Risk Management

OECD Model Treaty Post Series – Agents – Part I

The permanent establishment section in the OECD Model Tax Treaty is a remarkably complete section; it anticipates the work-arounds that most attorney’s would consider to avoid PE status. Case in point: the agent rules.

Remember that a permanent establishment is “a fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried out. In seeing that definition, an attorney would start to think,” what if, instead of a bricks and mortar establishment, we contract with a person?” Well, the treaty has that covered as well.

5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, where a person — other than an Read More

Written by | Posted in OECD

Tax Research Methodology

A Practical Guide to Perfecting Your Tax Research Techniques and Achieving Sustainable Tax Return Filing Positions

Introduction

In order to maximize your accounting firm’s overall efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity in connection to researching and resolving a tax issue and determining the sustainability of the tax return filing position, the appropriate tax research processes must be meticulously designed, implemented, and executed. The subsequent five comprehensive steps will guide you in establishing an all-inclusive tax research effort on behalf of your entire client base while properly ascertaining the likelihood of success Read More

Written by | Posted in R&D Credit Services
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