Virginia La Torre Jeker, J.D. — US tax matters affecting international clients
Transactions now span the globe with the tap of a key on an I-Phone; families are multi-national, with many living in different parts of the world at different stages in their careers and lives; virtual currency has become official legal tender in at least one country, the United States has de facto imposed enforcement of … Continue reading Life Gets Complicated When a Foreign Country’s Laws Impact US Tax
On July 19th, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through its Large Business and International (LB&I) Division announced six new “compliance campaigns” for taxpayers. Significantly, one of these campaigns targets “expatriation”, and apparently reaches back to those who “expatriated” on or after June 17, 2008. The campaign will be looking at “expatriates” – US citizens who … Continue reading Have you Expatriated or Thinking of Expatriating? IRS Now Looking Closely
Just last week, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reported that it has begun sending letters to taxpayers with virtual currency transactions. The targeted taxpayers are those that potentially failed to report income and pay tax from virtual currency transactions or those who failed to report their transactions properly. Virtual currency transactions involve complex tax issues … Continue reading IRS Hot on the Trail of Virtual Currency Owners: What IRS Letters to Taxpayers Really Mean
The stress of tax filing time had been on full throttle in April, and taxpayers abroad were scrambling to meet the tax filing deadline in June ... many taxpayers are on extension until October. Here's a familiar scenario: You need to find an answer to a tax question and turn to your good friend, Mr. … Continue reading IRS Website = Unreliable, Legal Weight = Zilch
You may remember my earlier blog post detailing the unenviable case of the wealthy New York Seggerman family which had undisclosed offshore bank accounts inherited from their father. Instead of coming clean and revealing the existence of the accounts to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), four of the Seggerman siblings created even more secret … Continue reading A Dangerous Game: Jail Time for Inherited Foreign Accounts
Part I of this blog post examined the importance of the Residency Starting Date (RSD) and how it applied under the Green Card Test. It also pointed out that traps for the unwary can destroy pre-immigration tax planning if one had not correctly nailed down the RSD. Today's post will examine the RSD rules that apply when … Continue reading US Immigrant’s Residency Starting Date – The Devil’s Details – Too Many Days in the USA?
When a foreign individual commences “residency” in the United States for US Income Tax purposes, this date, the Residency Starting Date (RSD), will mark the official date he begins to be taxed on his worldwide income and becomes responsible for various tax information reporting (such as FBAR, Form 5471, Form 8938, to name a few). Commencing on this … Continue reading “Residency Starting Date” – Don’t Leave Home Unless You Understand It!
Today's post looks at the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) options available to taxpayers residing abroad who need an “Individual Taxpayer Identification Number” (ITIN) to fulfill their US tax filing duties. There are 3 basic options (i) mailing the completed Form W-7, “Application for Individual Taxpayer Identification”, and required identification documents to the IRS (ii) … Continue reading Getting an ITIN When Overseas: Help!
Why should anyone care about government-mandated beneficial ownership registers for legal entities? Why might a multinational enterprise have concerns with such registers? Current news tells us more and more of them are in the works. After years of dragging their heels, and to the surprise of many in the international community, the British Crown Dependencies … Continue reading Corporate Veil Dropping: British Crown Dependencies Make Beneficial Ownership Registers Public, US Takes Baby Steps
Today's post is a continuation of a series of blog posts dealing with foreign trusts A general overview of the US tax issues surrounding foreign trusts can be found here. When a US person is involved in any way with a foreign trust extra caution is required. Strict US tax filing responsibilities come into play … Continue reading US Tax Filings by US Grantor of Foreign Trust
