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Milwaukee FBAR Lawyer | IRS FATCA Tax Attorney

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Who is considered to be a Milwaukee FBAR Lawyer? This is a question that is important to all residents of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Let me try to answer this question.

Milwaukee FBAR Lawyer Definition: Legal FBAR Services Provided in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The term Milwaukee FBAR Lawyer includes two broad categories of international tax lawyers. The first category consists of lawyers who reside in Milwaukee and offer FBAR services to the residents of Milwaukee. The second category is comprised of lawyers who reside outside of Milwaukee but offer FBAR services to the residents of Milwaukee.

The first category is self-explanatory, but the second category requires a bit more explanation of one issue: why is an FBAR lawyer who resides outside of Milwaukee still considered a Milwaukee FBAR lawyer? The answer is relatively simple – FBAR is a federal compliance requirement and any licensed US international tax lawyer can practice it in any of the 50 states and the District of Columbia irrespective of his physical location. Local Milwaukee law and even Wisconsin law have nothing to do with FBARs.

A Milwaukee FBAR Lawyer Must be an International Tax Lawyer

I mentioned above that both categories of the definition of a Milwaukee FBAR Lawyer must consist of only international tax lawyers. I wish to emphasize this point – not any lawyer should advise with respect to FBARs, only US international tax lawyers.

This emphasis on knowledge of the US international tax law is not incidental; it is based on the fact that FBAR is merely a part of a much bigger US international tax law. These concepts are so deeply interrelated that it would be nonsensical to advise a client on his legal position just on the FBARs without the related US international tax law issues or the US international tax law without the FBARs.

This is why your Milwaukee FBAR lawyer should have a profound knowledge of and experience in both FBARs and all related US international tax laws and regulations.

Sherayzen Law Office is a Premier International Firm Well-Positioned to be Your Milwaukee FBAR Lawyer

Sherayzen Law Office is the perfect candidate to be Your Milwaukee FBAR Lawyer. Not only does its team has a profound knowledge of FBARs and US international tax law, but its professional legal team is also highly experienced in dealing with these issues, including all Offshore Voluntary Compliance programs related to delinquent FBARs. We have helped hundreds of US taxpayers worldwide with their FBAR issues and we can help You!

Contact Sherayzen Law Office today to schedule Your Confidential Consultation!

Boulder FBAR Lawyer | Offshore Accounts Tax Attorney

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The definition of a Boulder FBAR Lawyer is much broader than many people believe. In this brief essay, I would like to explain who is considered to be a Boulder FBAR Lawyer and why you should retain the services of Sherayzen Law Office, Ltd. for professional help with your FBAR issues.

Boulder FBAR Lawyer Definition: Legal FBAR Services Provided in Boulder, Colorado

Obviously, the definition of a Boulder FBAR lawyer includes all FBAR lawyers who are physically located in Boulder, Colorado, and offer services there. However, this definition also includes every international tax lawyer who offers FBAR services in Boulder, Colorado,

This is the case because FBAR is a creation of federal law, not state law. This means that, irrespective of his physical location, an international tax lawyer can provide his FBAR services in Boulder as long as he is licensed to practice law in any of the 50 states or District of Columbia. What is really important is the competence and experience of an international tax lawyer, not his residence in Boulder.

Boulder FBAR Lawyer’s Knowledge of US International Tax Law is the Key Factor

Indeed, the competence of a lawyer should be the key factor in retaining the services of a Boulder FBAR lawyer. The level of competence of an FBAR lawyer depends on his knowledge of and the experience in US international tax law in general and FBARs specifically.

Why this emphasis not just on FBARs, but competence in US international tax law? First, FBAR forms just a part of a much bigger area of US international tax law. Second, in almost all cases, the FBAR issues are related to and often depend on other international tax compliance requirements (e.g. foreign income determination). In fact, the interaction between FBAR and other international tax issues is a major factor that determines a taxpayer’s legal position. This is why your Boulder FBAR lawyer should have a profound understanding of both FBARs and US international tax law in general.

Boulder FBAR Lawyer: Out-of-State Ability to Communicate is Not a Problem

Some readers may wonder why I emphasize the competence as a key factor in retainer of a Boulder FBAR lawyer and ignore the ease-of-communication considerations. It seems that some persons still cling to an obsolete belief that it would be more convenient to communicate with a local Boulder FBAR lawyer rather than an out-of-state one.

This is a flawed belief that I have been battling for a long time now. There are two reasons for why the communications factor no longer depends on the actual residence of your Boulder FBAR lawyer. First of all, the development of modern means of communications completely resolved the communications issues of the earlier centuries. Email, Video Skype Conferences, telephone and text messages make your out-of-state Boulder FBAR lawyer as equally accessible as your local Boulder FBAR lawyer.

Second, in reality, almost the entire course of communication between you and your local lawyer is going to be exactly the same as it would be between you and your out-of-state lawyer – i.e. email, telephone and even regular mail. Your local Boulder FBAR lawyer simply would not have the time to meet with you every time he needs to communicate something to you. Moreover, given the large amount of issues that often arise with respect to FBARs, personal meetings on every issue would simply make the case too expensive and inconvenient.

There is one additional point that is worth making here. While the geography of your Boulder FBAR lawyer does not matter, it is important that the lawyer is accessible to you and you can communicate with him on the progress of the case. However, this is a retainer factor that is highly personal to each lawyer.

In my case, my clients have no problems communicating with me; most of the time I will be able to respond before the end of the day and, often, immediately.

Sherayzen Law Office is Your Preferred Choice for Your Boulder FBAR Lawyer

Sherayzen Law Office is a highly experienced international tax law firm with profound knowledge of FBARs. We have been helping our clients worldwide with their FBAR issues for a very long time; in fact, we are one of the few firms which advised clients with respect to all major IRS voluntary disclosure programs, including 2009 OVDP, 2011 OVDI, 2012 OVDP, 2014 OVDP and Streamlined Procedures (Domestic and Foreign). We can help you!

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

Sarshar Guilty Plea & Undisclosed Israeli Bank Accounts | FBAR Lawyer

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On August 1, 2016, the IRS scored another victory in a case involving Israeli Bank Accounts; the IRS and the DOJ announced that Mr. Masud Sarshar, a California businessman, was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of corruptly endeavoring to impair and impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws. Mr. Sarshar already signed a plea agreement agreeing to plead guilty and pay more than $8.3 million in restitution to the IRS. If the court accepts the parties’ agreement, Mr. Sarshar will be sentenced to 24 months in prison. Additionally, Mr. Sarshar agreed to pay a civil FBAR penalty in the amount of 50 percent of the high balance of his undeclared accounts for failure to disclose his Israeli bank accounts.

Facts of the Sarshar Case

Mr. Sarshar owned and operated Apparel Limited Inc., a clothing design business. Under his plea, he admitted that, between 2006 and 2009, he used unreported bank accounts at Bank Leumi and two other Israeli banks to hide $21 million of business revenue from the IRS. The accounts were owned by him personally and in the name of entities that he created with assistance of at least two relationship managers at the Israeli banks.

Between 2007 and 2012, Mr. Sarshar also earned more than $2.5 million in interest income from these accounts; none of this income was reported on his individual and corporate tax returns. No FBARs were ever filed.

In order to use the funds on his accounts, Mr. Sarshar utilized a creative stratagem where Bank Leumi would loan funds to Mr. Sarshar through its U.S. branch while the funds in Israel were used as a collateral. Mr. Sarshar was able to bring back to the United States approximately $19 million of his offshore assets without creating a paper trail or otherwise disclosing the existence of the offshore accounts to U.S. authorities.

What is particularly surprising about this case is the creativity of the Israeli bankers in getting the information to Mr. Sarshar. At Mr. Sarshar’s request, none of the banks sent him account statements by mail; rather, they provided them to him in person in Los Angeles. In order to conceal the statements, a Bank Leumi banker would upload the account statements on a USB drive which she concealed in necklace worn during her U.S. trips. Sometimes, the meetings with bankers occurred in Mr. Sarshar’s car. Moreover, the Israeli bankers also advised Mr. Sarshar to obtain Israeli and Iranian passports to prevent him from being flagged as a U.S. citizen by the compliance departments at both banks.

Lessons of the Sarshar Case

Several lessons and conclusions can be drawn from this case. The first conclusion is that the IRS continues to focus on Israeli banks in its tax enforcement efforts. The focus on Israel is something that Sherayzen Law Office has repeatedly stated in the past. Again, we want to repeat our prediction that we will see more cases involving Israel and other countries outside of Switzerland. This means that, if you have undeclared bank accounts in Israel, you are at an increased risk of detection and prosecution by the IRS. This lesson can be expanded into a general statement that you run a high risk of getting caught by the IRS if you have undisclosed foreign accounts in any country that has implemented FATCA.

The second lesson that can be drawn from the Sarshar case is that he should have entered into a voluntary disclosure program while he had a chance to do it. It is very important to understand that, in a willful situation, using the IRS offshore voluntary disclosure program is indispensable to prevent the imposition of higher penalties and a criminal prosecution.

The third lesson is that Sarshar case reaffirms the most common fact pattern that leads to IRS criminal prosecution – willful divergence of U.S. earnings to overseas accounts to avoid taxation, the usage of entities to hide the ownership of foreign accounts and persistence in violation of U.S. laws. Even one of these factors might have been sufficient for the IRS to commence a criminal investigation; in this case, all three were present.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office if You Have Undisclosed Foreign Accounts in Israel or Any Other Country

If you have undisclosed foreign accounts in Israel or any other country, contact Sherayzen Law Office for legal help. Our experienced team of international tax professionals, headed by our founder and international tax attorney Eugene Sherayzen, can help you resolve all of your tax problems in the United States.

Contact Us Today to Schedule Your Confidential Consultation!

FBAR PFIC Reporting | FBAR Tax Attorney

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FBAR PFIC Reporting is an important issue for U.S. shareholders of passive foreign investment companies (“PFICs”). I will now briefly explore the FBAR PFIC Reporting requirement and when it applies to U.S. shareholders of a PFIC.

FBAR PFIC Reporting: FBAR Background

FinCEN Form 114, the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, commonly known as FBAR, originally came into existence as a result of the 1970 Bank Secrecy Act. FBAR is one of the main and arguably the most important international tax requirement in the IRS. The form must be filed by every U.S. tax resident who has foreign financial accounts the aggregate value of which exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. The aggregate value should be calculated based on all foreign bank and financial accounts in which this U.S. tax resident has financial interest or over which he has signatory or other authority.

Failure to file an FBAR may result in the imposition of draconian FBAR penalties, including criminal penalties in grave cases of willful noncompliance.

FBAR PFIC Reporting: PFIC Definition

PFIC (Passive Foreign Investment Company) is one of the most complex tax requirements of the U.S. tax system. In addition to the potentially tremendously burdensome tax compliance required for PFICs, PFICs may result in the imposition of a much higher income tax with PFIC interest on the PFIC tax.

The basic definition of a PFIC is any foreign corporation in which: “(1) 75 percent or more of the gross income of such corporation for the taxable year is passive income, or (2) the average percentage of assets (as determined in accordance with subsection (e)) held by such corporation during the taxable year which produce passive income or which are held for the production of passive income is at least 50 percent.” IRC Section 1297(a). While many types of companies may unexpectedly be classified as PFICs by the IRS, foreign mutual funds seem to be the most common trap for the unwary U.S. taxpayers.

If a U.S. taxpayer has PFICs, he/she is required to file a separate Form 8621 “Information Return by a Shareholder of a Passive Foreign Investment Company or Qualified Electing Fund” for each PFIC.

FBAR PFIC Reporting: Three Potential FBAR Requirements

There are three most common situations when an FBAR should be filed for a PFIC, assuming the statutory aggregate threshold of $10,000 is satisfied. First, FBAR PFIC reporting is required if a PFIC is held in a financial account; in this case, FBAR PFIC reporting will occur for the account itself (which, in India especially, may correspond to the folio number of a PFIC in any case). For example, if a U.S. person has an Assurance Vie account in France that contains PFICs, he would have to report the Assurance Vie account on the FBAR, including the value of the PFICs.

Second, FBAR PFIC reporting is required if a PFIC shareholder has signature authority over foreign financial accounts owned by a PFIC. In this case, FBAR PFIC reporting will occur for these foreign financial accounts in Section IV of the FBAR.

Finally, the third most common situation where FBAR PFIC reporting is required is a scenario where a U.S. person owns more than 50% of a PFIC and this PFIC has foreign financial accounts. In such case, the U.S. person is assumed to have a financial interest in the foreign financial accounts of this PFIC and he needs to disclose these accounts on his FBAR.

FBAR PFIC Reporting: Filing Form 8621 does NOT Satisfy the FBAR Filing Requirement

It is important to emphasize that filing form 8621 for a PFIC does not relieve the filer from his FBAR obligations. Even if Form 8621 is filed, the filer must also file the FBAR.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Professional Help with FBAR PFIC Reporting

FBAR PFIC reporting can be extremely complex and it is very easy to make mistakes with respect to what needs to be disclosed and how. These mistakes, however, can be expensive to remedy and may result in imposition of various large penalties.

This is why, if you have PFICs that require FBAR and Form 8621 disclosure, you need to contact Sherayzen Law Office for professional help. Our team of experienced tax professionals will help you properly disclose your PFICs on your FBAR and report your PFIC income on your personal or business tax returns. If you have not complied with your FBAR PFIC reporting requirement in the past and wish to remedy this situation, Sherayzen Law Office will also help you with the voluntary disclosure of your FBARs and PFICs, including the preparation of all necessary tax forms and legal documents.

Contact Us Today to Schedule Your Confidential Consultation!

Foreign Inheritance FBAR Reporting | FBAR Lawyer

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Foreign Inheritance FBAR Reporting is one of the most common issues among U.S. taxpayers with foreign parents, uncles, aunts, siblings and other relatives. The issue discussed in this article is not reporting foreign inheritance itself (although this is an important concern which I already addressed in other articles), but whether FBAR needs to be filed upon the receipt of a foreign inheritance. Let’s explore this subject in more detail.

Foreign Inheritance FBAR Reporting: What is FBAR?

The Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, officially now called FinCEN Form 114 and also known as “FBAR”, is one of the main U.S. international tax requirements for reporting bank and financial accounts overseas. FBAR should be filed by every U.S. tax resident who has foreign financial accounts the aggregate value of which exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. The aggregate value should be calculated on all foreign bank and financial accounts in which this U.S. tax resident has financial interest or over which he has signatory or other authority.

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 (an extension is possible).

Foreign Inheritance FBAR Reporting: Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts

A foreign inheritance may be received by a U.S. heir in a great variety of forms: cash, bank accounts, investments, business ownership, real estate, a foreign trust beneficiary interest, jewelry, art, intellectual property, et cetera. For the FBAR reporting purposes, it is important to understand exactly what the U.S. heir in inheriting.

Foreign Inheritance FBAR reporting becomes relevant when a U.S. heir receives either financial interest in or signatory (or other) authority over any foreign bank and financial accounts. It is important to emphasize that, no matter how brief is this financial interest or signatory authority, the foreign inheritance FBAR reporting will come into play as long as the aggregate value of all accounts exceeds $10,000.

I often see that U.S. heirs would set up foreign accounts in which foreign inheritance is deposited and they would believe that such accounts would not be reportable because they are simply depositing foreign inheritance. This is incorrect – as soon as foreign accounts are involved, foreign inheritance FBAR reporting considerations immediately become relevant whether these are inherited foreign accounts or accounts which are set up to receive the inheritance.

Contact Foreign Inheritance FBAR Lawyer for Professional Help

If you received a foreign inheritance, you need to contact Sherayzen Law Office as soon as possible for professional help. Mr. Sherayzen has successfully advised hundreds of U.S. taxpayers with respect to U.S. tax compliance foreign inheritance issues. He can help You!

Contact Us Today to Schedule Your Confidential Consultation!