by Phil Hodgen, Hodgen Law Group PC on May 31, 2009
The U.S. government requires “U.S. persons” to file Form TD F 90-22.1 (PDF) to report ownership or control of financial accounts located outside the United States.
Nonresidents of the United States will be pleased to know that stealthy changes to this form now may also impose this filing requirement on them. A “U.S. person” is now [...]
by Phil Hodgen, Hodgen Law Group PC on May 31, 2009
You may be in the position where you want to clean up your prior year offshore bank account reporting, but you don’t have enough money to pay the expected penalties, taxes, and interest, even with the reduced penalties that will apply with the voluntary disclosure amnesty that the IRS has announced.
The amnesty program requires that [...]
by Phil Hodgen, Hodgen Law Group PC on May 31, 2009
Let’s say your parents have a bank account in Switzerland. Let’s make it even easier. They’re Swiss. You live in the United States. Your parents give you a power of attorney over their bank accounts, just in case you need to step in to pay their bills in case they are [...]
by Phil Hodgen, Hodgen Law Group PC on May 31, 2009
You can start the voluntary disclosure amnesty procedure without having amended tax returns in place, and without having all of your foreign bank information in hand. The IRS understands that it might take some time to get all of the information going back as far as 2003. The IRS processes can accommodate your [...]
by Phil Hodgen, Hodgen Law Group PC on May 31, 2009
One of the ways that taxpayers try to come clean is by way of a “quiet disclosure.” Let’s say you had a problem with some offshore activities. You need to fess up to the IRS in order to sleep well at night.
If the amnesty didn’t exist, there would be two ways for you to [...]
by Phil Hodgen, Hodgen Law Group PC on May 31, 2009
People think that only the owners of offshore accounts have to file an FBAR–the foreign bank account report form, Form TD F 90-22.1. Not so. It is anyone with authority over that account.
Signature Authority
If a U.S. person can control the disposition of the money or other property in the account by delivering a [...]
by Phil Hodgen, Hodgen Law Group PC on May 31, 2009
The FBAR amnesty provisions are a key reason why I think now is the time to clean up any offshore bank accounts. I want to tell you why they are so troublesome and why a random tax practitioner might not fully understand them.
The FBAR (Form TD F 90-22.1) is a form designed to capture [...]
by Phil Hodgen, Hodgen Law Group PC on May 31, 2009
An “information” form is — to the IRS — a tax form you have to fill out to report stuff happening. There is no tax due. It’s just reporting an event. Your W-2 is an example — it is just reporting that wages were paid to you.
These are an exceedingly profitable venture [...]
by Phil Hodgen, Hodgen Law Group PC on May 31, 2009
The voluntary disclosure amnesty solves a lot of problems with offshore bank accounts. One of the problems is the “I forgot to file a form” penalty that applies to Form 3520.
Form 3520 is a multi-purpose form that the IRS uses for foreign trusts–putting money in and taking money out. It is also used [...]
by Phil Hodgen, Hodgen Law Group PC on May 31, 2009
I’ve talked to a number of people who are interested in hiring our firm to assist them with the FBAR amnesty or disclosing foreign bank accounts to the IRS. They figure that they have until September 23, 2009 to get moving, so what’s the rush.
The IRS Is Looking For Your Swiss Accounts
Here’s the rush. [...]
