LOVE SCHMUV! Just K.I.S.S. (Keep It Separate Sweetheart) – US Tax Perils of Joint Ownership

My earlier blog post gave a head’s up to married couples about jointly owned assets when one spouse is a non-US citizen. Virtually every aspect of the US tax rules are impacted by such joint ownership - income tax, gift tax, estate tax, tax information reporting and FBAR reporting under the Bank Secrecy Act. Today's post provides … Continue reading LOVE SCHMUV! Just K.I.S.S. (Keep It Separate Sweetheart) – US Tax Perils of Joint Ownership →

A Big Mistake – Joint Ownership of Assets With Your Non-US Citizen Spouse

I know many married couples of mixed nationality, when one spouse is not a US citizen and the other has such citizenship. Without due consideration to the US tax issues, spouses often hold title to bank accounts, brokerage accounts and real property as joint tenants with right of survivorship. Joint ownership often comes about even … Continue reading A Big Mistake – Joint Ownership of Assets With Your Non-US Citizen Spouse →

SHUTDOWN… Last IRS Agent to Leave, Please Turn off the Lights

For those of you who have been sleeping too much the past few days, let’s wake up and learn a bit about the face-off in Washington DC over the border security wall. Right now, there’s no federal budget in place and funding for many government agencies has disappeared, resulting in partial shutdowns for some, including … Continue reading SHUTDOWN… Last IRS Agent to Leave, Please Turn off the Lights →

US Tax Disaster – Investing in Offshore Funds, Life Policies, Portfolio Bonds

What Every Overseas American Investor Must Know …. Many American investors are confused by sales pitches of expat investment advisors who are most often completely unfamiliar with US tax laws. While it is true that no tax may be payable in the fund's jurisdiction (Isle of Man, Guernsey or the UAE, for instance), significant US … Continue reading US Tax Disaster – Investing in Offshore Funds, Life Policies, Portfolio Bonds →

PFICs – The Fairytale Definition That Lives Happily Ever After…

I was hoping that tax reform would have done away with, or at least modified, the troublesome provisions surrounding the PFIC or so-called “Passive Foreign Investment Company”. This was not to be and it prompted me to review the PFIC rules and count the ways they cause trouble! What is a PFIC? A PFIC is … Continue reading PFICs – The Fairytale Definition That Lives Happily Ever After… →

PART II – Forms W-8BEN & W-8BEN-E: What Are They Used For? Which One Must I Complete?

Part I of this blog post explained how Form W-8BEN is used for so-called Chapter 3 income tax withholding purposes covering topics such as the types of income subject to US-source withholding when paid to a foreign (non-US) person; exemptions, length of time for validity of the Form. It also provided an overview of how … Continue reading PART II – Forms W-8BEN & W-8BEN-E: What Are They Used For? Which One Must I Complete? →

It’s Finally Here: The IRS Bible for Voluntary Disclosures

UPDATE December 2018 - My interview with attorney John Richardson on the new IRS voluntary disclosure procedures. As many will remember, the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) closed on September 28th with the promise that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would issue new guidance on voluntary disclosures made after that date. The guidance just arrived … Continue reading It’s Finally Here: The IRS Bible for Voluntary Disclosures →

Newest Targets: “Enablers” and “Cryptocurrencies”

Over the summer, I blogged about the newly formed “Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement”, or the “J5”, for short. Five countries form this international coalition: Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The goal of the J5 is to combat transnational tax crime through increased collaboration; in other words, these … Continue reading Newest Targets: “Enablers” and “Cryptocurrencies” →

JUST ANNOUNCED! Foreign Related Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2019

The Internal Revenue Service today announced the tax year 2019 annual inflation adjustments for more than 60 tax provisions, including the tax rate schedules and other tax changes. Revenue Procedure 2018-57 provides details about these annual adjustments. The tax year 2019 adjustments generally are used on tax returns filed in 2020. For those of you … Continue reading JUST ANNOUNCED! Foreign Related Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2019 →

Before You Think of Becoming an “American Abroad”, Read This….

I was recently asked about the tax problems faced by Americans who move overseas. Unfortunately, there are many US tax difficulties faced by Americans abroad. In order to make some sense of this vast topic, let's put the major problems into several basic categories. Once aware of the problems lurking out there, you can get … Continue reading Before You Think of Becoming an “American Abroad”, Read This…. →