Breaking! Gird Your Loins for Greater FBAR Penalties! Supreme Court Denies Review in Toth/ Excessive Fines Issue

United States v. Toth: Just yesterday, the United States Supreme Court denied review of Toth, a case being carefully followed by tax professionals who deal with FBAR cases, US persons abroad, and all things "foreign". Toth was an FBAR “willful” penalty case on appeal to the First Circuit, with one of the issues being whether … Continue reading Breaking! Gird Your Loins for Greater FBAR Penalties! Supreme Court Denies Review in Toth/ Excessive Fines Issue →

Am I Being Cynical? Serious Problems Acknowledged -Too Little, Too Late for Taxpayers Outside the US

The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) recently released its 2022 report to Congress. In one portion of the Report (listed in “Most Serious Problems Encountered by Taxpayers” #10 OVERSEAS TAXPAYERS: Taxpayers Outside of the United States Face Significant Barriers to Meeting Their U.S. Tax Obligations) TAS provided a succinct review of the problems faced by American … Continue reading Am I Being Cynical? Serious Problems Acknowledged -Too Little, Too Late for Taxpayers Outside the US →

Treaty Tie-Breaker: Oh the Pitfalls Beware!

The United States is unique in its approach to taxing individuals who are US citizens or lawful permanent residents (green card holders). Such individuals are taxed on worldwide income regardless of where they may reside. On account of this taxation approach, US citizens and green card holders who live outside of America may be subject … Continue reading Treaty Tie-Breaker: Oh the Pitfalls Beware! →

Overseas Americans: Fast Facts About Amending a US Income Tax Return

Soon enough thoughts will turn to preparing US tax returns for 2022. Thorough preparation should at least include a review of the tax return filed for the prior tax year. In doing this, it often happens that taxpayers discover an error occurred in filing a prior year’s return. If an error is discovered, it may … Continue reading Overseas Americans: Fast Facts About Amending a US Income Tax Return →

Death of the American Abroad – Is the Estate a US or Foreign Estate? What to do with Undeclared Foreign Assets?

With more and more Americans living and working abroad, the reality is that US persons will also pass away while residing in a foreign country. Did you know that a US citizen residing abroad at death may have a “foreign estate” for US income tax purposes? What does that mean for the estate? What does … Continue reading Death of the American Abroad – Is the Estate a US or Foreign Estate? What to do with Undeclared Foreign Assets? →

Foreign Assets — How Can the IRS Enforce Tax Collection Overseas? (Part II)

Last week's blog post, here, examined some of the weapons the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can use to collect taxes when the uncooperative taxpayer and assets are located abroad. Today we look at some other possible remedies. Is There Any US Connection to Foreign Banks? The IRS can issue a levy notice to any bank … Continue reading Foreign Assets — How Can the IRS Enforce Tax Collection Overseas? (Part II) →

Foreign Assets — How Can the IRS Enforce Tax Collection Overseas? (Part I)

Generally speaking, it is not an easy process for the US government to seize assets overseas in order to satisfy a taxpayer's tax debts. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has to follow certain procedures to collect taxes. If they are assessed against a US or non-US taxpayer, assuming the person is overseas and has no … Continue reading Foreign Assets — How Can the IRS Enforce Tax Collection Overseas? (Part I) →

What is a Closing Agreement and When Will One Be Entered Into by the IRS?

Last week's blog post, here, discussed the details of the Internal Revenue Service "Voluntary Disclosure Practice" (VDP). VDP is the one and only method for voluntary disclosures that apply to criminal tax activity, regardless if the activity involves offshore issues or strictly domestic ones. The final conclusion of a taxpayer’s entry into the Voluntary Disclosure … Continue reading What is a Closing Agreement and When Will One Be Entered Into by the IRS? →

IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice and Closing Agreement: Understanding the Basics

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Voluntary Disclosure Practice (VDP) is alive and well. Its parameters are set out in Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) provisions dedicated strictly to the VDP. IRM 9.5.11.9.1 Voluntary Disclosure Practice, is available here. Under the VDP, the nature and extent of penalties to be assessed against a taxpayer will, to a … Continue reading IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice and Closing Agreement: Understanding the Basics →

US Passport Denied for Delinquent Tax Debt, Actual Notice to the Taxpayer Not Required

A taxpayer's US passport can be denied issuance, renewal and can even be revoked, if the taxpayer has so-called “seriously delinquent tax debt” per IRC Section 7345. I have blogged about this before - here and here. Generally, a "seriously delinquent tax debt" is an individual's unpaid, legally enforceable federal tax debt (including interest and … Continue reading US Passport Denied for Delinquent Tax Debt, Actual Notice to the Taxpayer Not Required →