Posts

Madison FBAR Attorney | FBAR FATCA OVDP IRS Lawyer

/0 Comments/in , /by

Do you reside in Madison and have undisclosed foreign accounts? Are you searching for a highly-knowledgeable Madison FBAR Attorney to help you resolve this situation? Then, read this essay in order to understand who is considered to be a Madison FBAR Attorney and and why you should retain the services of my firm, Sherayzen Law Office, Ltd..

Madison FBAR Attorney: Geographical Location

There is a traditional preference among people to choose an attorney who lives in their city due to perceived communication problems with an attorney outside of their city. Also, often, the fact that their attorney is local sometimes gives an illusion of a better control over the case.

This is an incorrect view when it comes to a case that involves FBARs – in reality, the geographical location of a Madison FBAR Attorney does not have any impact on the attorney’s ability to conduct your FBAR case. The reason is that FBAR is federal law; the state of Wisconsin and the city of Madison have no impact over the implementation and enforcement of FBAR. This means that the physical location of a Madison FBAR Attorney does not affect the effectiveness of his legal representation of his clients in Madison or any other city.

Furthermore, the communication issue is a mythical problem in today’s world. The development of modern communications technologies has eliminated the entire advantage of retaining a local Madison FBAR Attorney. Even if your attorney lives and works in Madison, almost your entire communication with him is going to be through email, telephone and regular mail – i.e. the same as if your attorney resides in Madison. The infrequent person-to-person meetings can now be replicated through a video Skype conference.

Finally, retaining a local Madison FBAR Attorney has no impact on the control over the case by the client. It all depends on the personality of the attorney; a good attorney would maintain control over the legal side of the case, while allowing his client to make informed choices with respect to issues that require a client’s input (such as a personal preference for a voluntary disclosure path).

All of this analysis leads us to two important conclusions. First, a Madison FBAR Attorney is any attorney, irrespective of his residence, who offers his FBAR services in Madison. Second, the geographical location should not have influence over your decision to retain a Madison FBAR Attorney; the personality and, as will be explained below, the knowledge of your attorney is what really matters.

Madison FBAR Attorney: Knowledge of International Tax Law and FBARs is the Key

We are now approaching the key consideration that you should have in retaining a Madison FBAR Attorney: his knowledge of the subject matter.

The subject matter that your Madison FBAR attorney must know should be broader than just FBARs. Rather, he should know about FBAR, the place this form occupies within the US international tax system and how FBAR interacts with other US international tax compliance requirements, such as foreign income reporting, FATCA Form 8938, Form 8621, foreign business ownership information returns, et cetera. This profound knowledge of US international tax law should also include the knowledge of remedying past noncompliance, including the various voluntary disclosure options.

Thus, FBAR issues are often highly intertwined with the rest of the US tax laws and this interaction is what will make the real impact on your tax position in the United States. This is why your Madison FBAR Attorney should be highly knowledgeable in US international tax law in general, not just FBARs.

Madison FBAR Attorney: Contact Sherayzen Law Office

We are now ready to answer the main underlying question of this essay: who should you retain if you are looking for a highly-skilled Madison FBAR Attorney? While the actual choice is ultimately personal, based on the objective criteria, Sherayzen Law Office definitely should be a top candidate in your search.

Sherayzen Law Office is a leading tax firm in the area of FBAR compliance due to profound knowledge of the subject matter and extensive experience of dealing with FBARs and related issues including foreign income reporting, FATCA compliance (Form 8938), PFIC compliance (Form 8621), Subpart F rules, all types of US international reporting returns (3520, 3520-A, 5471, 8865, 8858, 926, et cetera), US income tax returns (individual, partnership and corporate) for domestic and foreign persons and other issues.

Furthermore, Sherayzen Law Office has helped hundreds of clients with their past FBAR noncompliance. In fact, this is one of the leading international tax law firms in the world with experience in all major IRS offshore voluntary disclosure programs, including 2009 OVDP, 2011 OVDI, 2012 OVDP and the still current (as of August of 2016) 2014 OVDP.

This is why, if you are looking for a Madison FBAR Attorney, you should contact Sherayzen Law Office, Ltd. today to schedule Your Confidential Consultation!

Foreign Life Insurance Policies – FBAR Reporting

/0 Comments/in , /by

Foreign Life Insurance Policies are very popular around the world, especially in India, Germany and France (Assurance Vie accounts). Yet, very few U.S. taxpayers (especially H-1B holders and U.S. permanent residents) are aware of the fact that these policies may be subject to numerous and complex IRS tax reporting requirements in the United States. In this article, I would like to generally discuss the FBAR requirements applicable to foreign life insurance policies.

I will not be discussing here the requirements for a qualified foreign life insurance policy, because it is mostly irrelevant since the great majority of foreign life insurance policies would not be qualified policies.

Types of Foreign Life Insurance Policies

Before we start exploring which foreign life insurance policies (also known as Life Assurance Policies) are subject to the FBAR requirement, it is important to distinguish three general categories of foreign life insurance policies.

In the order of rising complexity, the first category of foreign life insurance policies consists of simple, straightforward life insurance policies with no cash surrender value, no income payments and no income accumulations. The taxpayer simply makes the required premium payments and he expects a fixed-amount payout at death.

The second category of foreign life insurance policies has a cash-surrender value, but no income. The taxpayer pays a premium and expects a certain payout when the policy is surrendered or matures. The cash surrender value grows over time mostly through premiums and bonuses which would be paid out when the policy is surrendered. There is also a potential death benefit.

Finally, the third category of foreign life insurance policies has a cash-surrender value with investments and/or income. There is a large variety of investment life insurance policies. The most common arrangement, though, is where the taxpayer pays a relatively large initial premium which is invested in foreign mutual funds; the growth in mutual funds will usually determine the cash-surrender value. Oftentimes, the cash-surrender value in these policies is tax-free if certain requirements are met (for example, Assurance Vie policies in France or certain life insurance policies in India).

In some cases (for example, in Malaysia), an investment foreign health insurance policy may be tied into a life insurance policy.

FBAR – FinCEN Form 114

FinCEN Form 114 – Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (commonly known as FBAR) is the most important US tax information return. FBAR must be filed by a US tax resident if the aggregate value of foreign financial accounts (in which this US person has financial interest and/or over which this US person has signatory authority) exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. The 2015 FBAR must be received by the IRS by June 30, 2016 without any extension possible; however, starting the reporting for the calendar year 2016 (i.e. 2016 FBAR) the FBARs are due on April 15 with an extension possible.

The importance of FBAR stems from the draconian FBAR penalties. Unlike many other information returns, FBAR imposes penalty not only on the willful non-filing, but also on the non-willful failure to file the FBAR. The willful FBAR penalties range from criminal penalties with up to 5 years in prison to up to $100,000 penalty per account per year. The FBAR statute of limitations is six years, which means that up to six years maybe subject to a penalty (though, usually it would be 2-4 years).

Foreign Life Insurance Policies and FBAR Reporting

Foreign life insurance policies must be reported on the FBAR if they have a cash-surrender value. Therefore, foreign life insurance policies that fall into categories two and three described above are always reportable. Investment foreign life insurance policies promoted by national governments (such as Assurance Vie accounts in France) are reportable even if they are considered to be held by a foreign trust (such as Superannuation Accounts in Australia).

The first category of foreign life insurance policies I listed above (i.e. life insurance policies without any cash-surrender value) are not likely to be reportable, but there are exceptions.

The determination of whether your foreign life insurance policies are reportable on the FBAR should be made by an international tax attorney; I strongly discourage any attempt by US taxpayers to make this determination without legal assistance.

Foreign Life Insurance Policies and Other Reporting Requirements

It is important to note that other US reporting requirements may apply to foreign life insurance policies. Examples include FATCA Form 8938, PFIC compliance, foreign trust reporting, et cetera.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Help With Foreign Life Insurance Policies

If you have foreign life insurance policies, contact Sherayzen Law Office for assistance as soon as possible. Foreign life insurance policies can be extremely complex and the US reporting requirements associated with them vary from country to country. Sherayzen Law Office has accumulated tremendous experience in dealing with foreign life insurance policies from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Europe and Asia. We can help You!

Contact Us Today to Schedule Your Confidential Consultation!

Offshore Accounts Disclosure and John Doe Summons

/in , , /by

If a taxpayer is about to conduct a voluntary disclosure of his offshore accounts, a question arises about his eligibility to do so in a situation where the IRS already served a “John Doe” summons or made a treaty request seeking information that may identify a taxpayer as holding an undisclosed foreign account or undisclosed foreign entity. The answer is that it depends on the timing of the disclosure.

Background Information

In an earlier article, I discussed the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) now closed eligibility requirements. Specifically, I discussed the timeliness eligibility requirement of IRM 9.5.11.9 and how a failure to satisfy this requirement will prevent the taxpayer from conducting a voluntary disclosure.

Under IRM 9.5.11.9, a voluntary disclosure is timely if it is received by the IRS before either of the following events occurs:

(a) the IRS has initiated a civil examination or criminal investigation of the taxpayer, or has notified the taxpayer that it intends to commence such an examination or investigation. Notice, it is not relevant whether the IRS has initiated a civil examination which is not related to undisclosed foreign accounts or undisclosed foreign entities – either of the two, civil examination and criminal investigation, will prevent OVDP participation;

(b) the IRS has received information from a third party (e.g., informant, other governmental agency, or the media) alerting the IRS to the specific taxpayer’s noncompliance;

(c) the IRS has initiated a civil examination or criminal investigation which is directly related to the specific liability of the taxpayer; or

(d) the IRS has acquired information directly related to the specific liability of the taxpayer from a criminal enforcement action (e.g., search warrant, grand jury subpoena).

General Analysis

For the purposes of this essay, John Doe summons and treaty requests most likely fit the situation described in paragraph (b). Hence, the main criteria regarding the taxpayer’s eligibility to conduct voluntary disclosure of his offshore accounts in such situations would be whether the IRS already received information under the John Doe summons, treaty request or other similar action and whether the information is sufficiently specific.

For example, the mere fact that the IRS served a John Doe summons, made a treaty request or has taken similar action does not make every member of the John Doe class or group identified in the treaty request or other action ineligible to participate.

On the other hand, if the IRS or the U.S. Department of Justice already obtained information under a John Doe summons, treaty request or other similar action that provides evidence of a specific taxpayer’s noncompliance with the tax laws or FBAR reporting requirements, that particular taxpayer will become ineligible for OVDP and Criminal Investigation’s Voluntary Disclosure Practice.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Help With Offshore Voluntary Disclosure

Based on the analysis above, it is evident that a taxpayer concerned that a party subject to a John Doe summons, treaty request or similar action will provide information about him to the IRS should apply to make a voluntary disclosure as soon as possible.

This is why you should contact Sherayzen Law Office. Our experienced international tax law firm can help you with the entire voluntary disclosure process, including initial assessment of your FBAR liability, determination of available voluntary disclosure options, preparation of all of the required legal and tax documents, and rigorous representation of your interests during your negotiations with the IRS.

FBAR Attorney

/in , /by

If you are looking for an attorney to help you with your FBAR issues, contact Sherayzen Law Office.

Sherayzen Law Office is an international tax and business law firm that specializes in FBAR compliance among other international tax issues. Our office is located in Minneapolis, but we have clients throughout the United States and overseas.

Helping U.S. taxpayers who have FBAR issues is one of our most important specializations. FinCEN Form 114 formerly Form TD F 90-22.1, the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (commonly known as the “FBAR”), is not the most complex form in the Internal Revenue Code, but it is definitely one of the most severe forms when it comes to penalties. A lot of U.S. taxpayers either do not know about this form, do not realize how important it is, or they already realized that they should have filed the FBAR earlier and do not know how to get out of the vicious cycle of non-compliance.

Our international tax firm is highly experienced in these delinquent FBAR matters, including the voluntary disclosure process. We will analyze your case thoroughly, determine your FBAR liability and identify your voluntary disclosure options. Once you make your choice with respect to your voluntary disclosure option, we will create and implement a customized case strategy, including preparation of all of the necessary tax forms and legal briefs.

Clients of Sherayzen Law Office enjoy the personal attention of Mr. Eugene Sherayzen, the firm’s owner, who will be working with you throughout the process in order to make sure that your case proceeds efficiently. He is easily accessible by phone and email throughout the case.

We believe that each case is unique, especially in such complex matters as FBAR voluntary disclosure. Our international tax law firm will be looking for the unique features in your particular fact pattern to determine the most expeditious and favorable manner to proceed with your case.

One the biggest problems facing U.S. taxpayers in finding the right FBAR representation at this point is the tendency among some accounting firms and even law firms to disregard the special circumstances of a case and automatically channel their clients into the 2012 OVDP (Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program) at the highest penalty rates with the idea that they will figure out later what the strategy of the case will be and whether the taxpayer needs to opt-out of the program.

We believe that this is an incorrect approach which completely disregards the individual circumstances of each taxpayer and may subject them to an unnecessarily high penalties and additional legal and accounting fees. Each case should be thoroughly analyzed at the beginning of the process before the taxpayers enters the 2012 OVDP, not in the middle or even at the end of the voluntary disclosure.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Help with FBARs

If you have any undisclosed foreign financial accounts, contact Sherayzen Law Office as soon as possible for an individual, comprehensive, creative and ethical approach to your voluntary disclosure process.