FBAR Compliance Is Not Quite Painless, But It Beats the Alternative
It is not illegal to put your money in overseas bank accounts or to have foreign financial interests. It is, however, against U.S. law to hide it in order to avoid paying income taxes. In the past, the IRS was not very successful in going after all that untaxed wealth. According to a 2012 Forbes […]
FBAR Penalty Applies to Online Poker Accounts
Recently, a federal court case held that online poker accounts must be disclosed on an FBAR. In United States v. Hom, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77489 (N.D. CA 2014), Mr. Hom was an online gambler who opened up accounts with two online poker websites in 2006: PokerStars and PartyPoker. Both websites allowed Mr. Hom to deposit and withdraw […]
Extra! Extra! Read All About It! IRS Commissioner Announces That Changes Are In the Offing For OVDP 2012
On June 3, 2014 the new IRS Commissioner, John A. Koskinen, gave a speech before the International Business – OECD International Tax Conference. His speech covered the history of the offshore enforcement initiative since the UBS debacle in 2009. His remarks acknowledge what most professionals in the tax community have recognized since the inception: that […]
May the Fourth (Amendment) Be With You – Part 2: The IRS Power To Execute Search Warrants and Subpoenas and Why You Need a Lawyer
In part one we discussed the IRS power to issue a summons in the pursuit of its mission. A summons empowers the IRS to access the records it needs to facilitate its investigation and collection of delinquent income taxes. However, if the taxpayer becomes the subject of a criminal investigation, the IRS can swear out […]
“May the Fourth Be With You” – Part 1: The IRS Power of Summons
This is part one of a two-part discussion of the powers of the IRS to conduct searches and seizures in its never-ending quest to shore up our government’s hemorrhaging coffers. The Fourth Amendment — alive and well today Anyone who believes that our Constitution with its Bill of Rights is just an outdated remnant of […]
The End of Swiss Banking Secrecy?
“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”[1] Oscar Wilde’s insightful observation about humankind’s proclivity toward public recognition does have exceptions. For a variety of reasons, men and women throughout the world have often sought confidentiality in their financial affairs, chiefly through banking […]
Helter Shelter: Unveiling the Secret World of Tax Shelters and the Aggressive Tax Attorneys that Inhabit It
While the major news outlets were busy churning out story after story about the countdown to FATCA and the government’s aggressive pursuit of U.S. taxpayers with undisclosed offshore bank accounts last October, a criminal tax case with far-reaching consequences was brewing off in the distance. And that storm was largely ignored. In fact, almost eight months later it […]
FBAR and FATCA – Two Abbreviations That Can Wrap You Around the IRS Axle
FBAR and FATCA are two important abbreviations for those who have overseas financial interests. Failure to file the FBAR report, in view of the IRS’s continuing application of FATCA, can get you into what old military veterans used to call FUBAR. Let’s back up a bit and go over those abbreviations: FBAR is a Foreign […]