Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program

U.S. Engaging with More than 50 Jurisdictions to Curtail Offshore Tax Evasion

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The U.S. Department of the Treasury recently announced that it is engaged with more than 50 countries and jurisdictions around the world to improve international tax compliance and implement the information reporting and withholding tax provisions commonly known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Enacted by Congress in 2010, these provisions target noncompliance by U.S. taxpayers using foreign accounts. Treasury’s engagement with this broad coalition of foreign governments to efficiently and effectively implement FATCA marks an important milestone in establishing a common intergovernmental approach to combating tax evasion.

Model Intergovernmental Agreement and Most Recent Developments

This year, the Treasury Department published a model intergovernmental agreement for implementing FATCA and announced the development of a second model agreement. These models serve as the basis for concluding bilateral agreements with interested jurisdictions.

The Treasury Department has already concluded a bilateral agreement with the United Kingdom. Additional jurisdictions with which Treasury is in the process of finalizing an intergovernmental agreement and with which Treasury hopes to conclude negotiations by year end include: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Guernsey, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Norway.

Jurisdictions with which Treasury is actively engaged in a dialogue towards concluding an intergovernmental agreement include: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Israel, Korea, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, the Slovak Republic, Singapore, and Sweden. Treasury expects to be able to conclude negotiations with several of these jurisdictions by year end.

The jurisdictions with which Treasury is working to explore options for intergovernmental engagement include: Bermuda, Brazil, the British Virgin Islands, Chile, the Czech Republic, Gibraltar, India, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Romania, Russia, Seychelles, Saint Maarten, Slovenia, and South Africa.

Aggressive Effort by the United States to Assure International Compliance with U.S. Tax Laws

All of these moves by the Treasury Department with respect to FATCA implementation agreements is part of a broader effort to assure international compliance with U.S. tax laws. FATCA has already gave birth to a powerful compliance weapon that must be filed by U.S. taxpayers in the United States – namely, Form 8938. In combination with other information returns, such as FBARs, Form 5471, Form 8865, Form 926, Form 3520 and others, FATCA hopes to achieve universal tax compliance among U.S. taxpayers who are engaging in international activities.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Help with Disclosure of Foreign Accounts and Foreign Income

If you have undisclosed offshore accounts and you have not reported your foreign income, contact Sherayzen Law Office for legal help. Our experienced voluntary disclosure firm will thoroughly review your case, advise you on the available disclosure options, prepare your voluntary disclosure documentation (including tax returns and offshore information returns such as Forms 5471, 8865, 926, 3520, FBARs and others) and vigorously represent your interests during the entire disclosure process.

IRS Increases Criminal Prosecutions for Willful Failure to File FBARs: U.S. v. Jacques Wajsfelner

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In U.S. v. Jacques Wajsfelner, the IRS’s criminal prosecution of the defendant for willful failure to file FBARs was completed when the defendant, Mr. Jacques Wajsfelner, decided to plead guilty. Mr. Wajsfelner pled guilty to willful failure to file the FBAR in Manhattan federal court and he now faces civil penalties of $2.84 million and restitution of $419,940. Under advisory guidelines, he faces 30 months to 37 months in prison at sentencing scheduled for December 20, 2012.

Basic Facts

Mr. Wajsfelner, an 83-year old Holocaust survivor, fled the Nazis as a teenager and became a U.S. citizen, working in real estate and advertisement in New York and Boston. He admitted that he held an account in his own name at Credit Suisse in 1995. In 2006, his advisor helped him open an account in the name of Ample Lion Ltd. At the end of 2007, the account held almost $5.7 million. In 2008, as Credit Suisse started to wind down its U.S. cross-border banking business, Mr. Wajsfelner opened an account with Wegelin and transferred the money from Credit Suisse to the new account. In the later years, the value on this account went down to only $4 million.

In addition to moving money among two accounts, Mr. Wajsfelner also made a huge error of not telling the truth to the IRS about the account, Ample Lion Ltd. (A Hong Kong corporation), and his advisor (Beda Singenberger’s corporation Sinco Treuhand AG) during an interview conducted by the IRS after the investigation commenced. As part of his plea agreement, the IRS agreed not to prosecute him for these statements.

In the end, Mr. Wajsfelner plead guilty to knowing and willful failure to file the FBARs from 2006 through 2011 with the IRS.

Additional Considerations

It is possible that the misleading and untruthful statements to the IRS alone may have been the cause for Mr. Wajsfelner to plead guilty. However, there was another highly unfavorable fact – moving the money between the accounts would have been considered as circumstantial evidence of conspiracy to conceal the money from U.S. government. Also, Mr. Wajsfelner maintained very close contact with the account and directed various transactions to and from the accounts.

Another important consideration is to understand that this is a case of pure willful failure to file the FBARs; there was no associated pleading with respect to tax evasion. This is a very important because it shows that the IRS is willing to prosecute FBAR cases criminally even without tax evasion charges.

US v. Jacques Wajsfelner is Part of a Wave of Prosecutions

U.S. v. Jacques Wajsfelner is not an isolated case or limited only to specific facts of Mr. Wajsfelner.

In addition to Mr. Wajsfelner, the IRS also indicted his former Swiss adviser, Beda Singenberger, on a charge of conspiring to help more than 60 U.S. taxpayers hide $184 million from the Internal Revenue Service in offshore accounts. Wegelin, the 270-year-old Swiss bank, was also indicted February 2, 2012, on charges of helping U.S. taxpayers hide money from the IRS. Also, Credit Suisse said in July of 2011 that it was a target of a U.S. criminal probe. On July 21, 2011, seven of Credit Suisse’s bankers were indicted on charges of helping U.S. clients evade taxes through secret accounts.

In fact, since 2009, U.S. prosecutors have criminally charged about fifty U.S. taxpayers and more than twenty offshore bankers, lawyers and advisers.

FBAR Criminal Prosecutions Will Increase Due to Voluntary Disclosure Programs

It is critically important for non-compliant U.S. taxpayers to understand that, instead of subsiding, this wave of IRS criminal prosecutions regarding the FBARs will only increase.

The primary reason for this growth of FBAR prosecutions are the voluntary disclosure programs, like 2009 OVDP, 2011 OVDI AND 2012 OVDP (now closed). For many years now, the IRS has been collecting detailed information from the participating taxpayers regarding their advisors, banks and other U.S. taxpayers. This mountain of information allows the IRS to identify high-risk banks, advisors as well as specific taxpayers who are likely to be non-compliant with U.S. tax rules. The end-product of this analysis are targeted investigation and, ultimately, criminal prosecutions of non-compliant U.S. taxpayers and their advisors.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Legal Help With FBARs

If you have undisclosed foreign financial accounts that should have been reported to the IRS, contact Sherayzen Law Office as soon as possible. Our experienced tax firm will analyze the facts of your case, identify you potential FBAR liability and propose a specific course of action to deal with your specific situation. Sherayzen Law Office will guide you though your entire voluntary disclosure, including the preparation of all of the necessary tax documents and rigorous IRS representation.

United Kingdom Signs Bilateral Agreement to Combat Offshore Tax Evasion and Implement FATCA

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On September 14, 2012, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it has signed a bilateral agreement with the United Kingdom to implement the information reporting and withholding tax provisions commonly known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Enacted by Congress in 2010, these provisions target non-compliance by U.S. taxpayers using foreign accounts. The bilateral agreement signed this week is based on the model published in July of this year and developed in consultation with France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom and marks an important step in establishing a common approach to combatting tax evasion based on the automatic exchange of information.

“Today’s announcement marks a significant step forward in our efforts to work collaboratively to combat offshore tax evasion,” said Treasury Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy Mark Mazur. “We are pleased that the United Kingdom, one of our closest allies, is the first jurisdiction to sign a bilateral agreement with us and we look forward to quickly concluding agreements based on this model with other jurisdictions.”

The Treasury Department is in communication with several other governments who have expressed interest in concluding a similar bilateral agreement to implement FATCA and expects to sign additional bilateral agreements in the near future.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Help With Disclosing Offshore Financial Accounts

If you have undisclosed foreign bank and financial accounts, contact Sherayzen Law Office for legal help. Our experienced international tax firm will examine your case, suggest the proper course of action, prepare all of the documentation necessary for your voluntary disclosure and defend your interests during negotiations with the IRS.

Treasury and the IRS Issue Proposed Regulations for FATCA Implementation

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On February 8, 2012, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations for the next major phase of implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

FATCA and FFI Reporting under Proposed Regulations

FATCA was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 2010 as part the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act. This law specifically targets non-compliance by U.S. taxpayers using foreign accounts.

FATCA requires foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to report to the IRS information about financial accounts held by U.S. taxpayers, or by foreign entities in which U.S. taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest.

The proposed regulations lay out a step-by-step process for U.S. account identification, information reporting, and withholding requirements for FFIs, other foreign entities, and U.S. withholding agents.

The proposed regulations implement FATCA’s obligations in stages to minimize burdens and costs consistent with achieving the Congress’ compliance objectives. The rules and implementation schedule are also adjusted to allow time for resolving local law limitations to which some FFIs may be subject.

In order to avoid being withheld upon under FATCA, a participating FFI will have to enter into an agreement with the IRS to:

a) Identify U.S. accounts,
b) Report certain information to the IRS regarding U.S. accounts,
c) Verify its compliance with its obligations pursuant to the agreement, and
d) Ensure that a 30-percent tax on certain payments of U.S. source income is withheld when paid to non-participating FFIs and account holders who are unwilling to provide the required information.

Registration will take place through an online system which will become available by January 1, 2013. FFIs that do not register and enter into an agreement with the IRS will be subject to withholding on certain types of payments relating to U.S. investments.

Effect of FATCA Regulations on Non-Disclosure of Foreign Accounts

Once implemented, the regulations will mark a major breakthrough in IRS efforts to identify U.S. taxpayer non-compliance through offshore holdings. In essence, the FFIs reporting will supply the IRS with continuous and accurate information that will allow them to identify failure to by the US taxpayers to disclose foreign financial accounts.

Armed with this information, one can expect the IRS to acquire new tremendous enforcement tools throughout the world. It is very likely that the IRS will be able to substantially increase its investigations of non-compliant U.S. taxpayers as well as successfully prosecute them.

Immediate Effect of FATCA: Urgency in Voluntary Disclosures

Thus, the ultimate effect of FATCA will be felt on the number of voluntary disclosures. At this point, a large number of currently non-compliant U.S. taxpayers are in high danger of being discovered and prosecuted by the IRS within relatively near future.

Since voluntary disclosure is not generally available in case of IRS investigation and/or prosecution, it appears that the need for these taxpayers to engage in voluntary disclosure is becoming increasingly urgent. Combined with other creation of FATCA – Form 8938 – I expect to see a large number of voluntary disclosures in 2012.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Help With Offshore Voluntary Disclosure

If you currently have undisclosed foreign bank and financial accounts or unreported foreign income, contact Sherayzen Law Office. Our experienced voluntary disclosure firm will help you identify the extent of your tax reporting requirements, analyze your potential tax liabilities, describe available voluntary disclosure options, and guide you throughout your voluntary disclosure, including completing the required documentation, setting forth your legal case, and rigorous IRS representation.