Virginia La Torre Jeker, J.D. — US tax matters affecting international clients
We’ve known for some time that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been mining heaps of data provided to it by financial institutions that were the subject of non-prosecution agreements, as well as examining treasure troves of financial information from various leaks (think “Panama Papers”) looking not only for tax dollars, interest and penalties but … Continue reading Dangerous Liaisons: Foreign Assets and the US Nominee
I have written a series of blog posts about foreign (i.e., non-US) trusts and the US tax issues associated with them including the US tax filing and reporting requirements for each of the different players in the foreign trust scenario (creator or "grantor"/"settlor" of the trust), the trustee; and today, the US beneficiary. One of … Continue reading US Beneficiary of Foreign Trust: Understanding US Tax Filings
Here in the Middle East where I have been practicing for almost two decades, I have seen that it is very common for families to create offshore structures in various countries (outside the USA) to hold a large portion of the family wealth. The underlying reasons for maintaining these structures outside of the family’s home … Continue reading OOOOPS! I Received a Gift from a Foreign Corporation (or Foreign Partnership)
For today's post, let me start with the Conclusion! If you expatriate after June 16, 2008 and you fail to file Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 8854 (Initial and Annual Expatriation Statement), you DO NOT have continued US income tax liability on your worldwide income. It's that simple. You may have read or heard otherwise … Continue reading FALSE! Failure to File Form 8854 Means Continued Liability for US Tax on Worldwide Income
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today new Relief Procedures for Certain Former Citizens that will enable certain individuals who relinquished their US citizenship to come into compliance with their US tax and filing obligations. These lucky individuals will not have to pay the back taxes otherwise owed, or any penalties or interest! It sounds … Continue reading Ground-Breaking Development: IRS “Amnesty” Relief for Certain Expatriates!
On August 8th, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reminded taxpayers with “seriously delinquent tax debt” that they can lose their US passports. I will provide more detail on this below, but first, the “good news”. It was announced on August 14, 2019 that Charles Rettig, the IRS Commissioner, has granted a reprieve for some tax debtors … Continue reading Passport Non-Issuance/Revocation: A Welcome Reprieve for Some Tax Debtors
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has now expanded its compliance campaigns and included “post Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program compliance” on the list. On July 19th, the IRS through its Large Business and International (LB&I) Division announced six new “compliance campaigns” for taxpayers. Significantly, one of these campaigns targets taxpayers who had entered an Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) … Continue reading Did you Join OVDP? You’d Better Still be in Tax Compliance!
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
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
