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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!

Omaha FBAR Attorney | OVDP IRS International Tax Lawyer

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As the headquarters of Berkshire Hathaway, Omaha (Nebraska) draws a large number of foreign-born professionals. A high percentage of these professionals still have foreign accounts overseas and they are in great needs of assistance from an Omaha FBAR attorney. Oftentimes, they cannot find an attorney they like in Omaha (especially, since this is not a very large city with a lot of international tax attorneys) and they not sure they can use the help of out-of-state FBAR attorneys who offer their services in Omaha. This essay is meant to help these persons by defining the term Omaha FBAR Attorney.

Omaha FBAR Attorney: What is FBAR

The Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) is probably the most important information return with respect to disclosure of foreign accounts by US tax residents. Its importance stems from the low filing threshold and very high civil and criminal penalties.

As of the calendar year 2016, under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) §5314 and in accordance with the FinCEN regulations, the FBAR must be filed by a US person who has a financial interest in or signatory authority over one or more foreign financial accounts with an aggregate value greater than $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. See 31 U.S.C. §5314; 31 C.F.R. §1010.350; 31 C.F.R. §1010.306(c).

Thus, there are five requirements that must be satisfied in order for the FBAR filing requirement to arise. First, the filer must be a US person. Second, this US person had a bank or financial account (or accounts) during the calendar year in question. Third, this foreign bank or financial account must be foreign – i.e. in the foreign country. Fourth, during the calendar year, the US person had a financial interest in the account or signature or other authority over the financial account. Finally, the fifth requirement is that the aggregate value of the account or accounts (converted to US dollars) exceeded $10,000 at any point during the calendar year.

All five of these requirements contain important terms (such as “US person”, “financial account” and “financial interest”) which have very specific definitions; so, one must be very careful before making any assumptions about the applicability of FBARs to his situation (in fact, this is really the job for FBAR attorney). The definition of “financial account” is especially fraught with danger and may include anything from a normal investment account to a gold bar stored under the custody of a foreign bank. Please, see other relevant articles on sherayzenlaw.com for more details.

Omaha FBAR Attorney: Definition

Armed with this understanding of FBARs, we can now turn to the main subject of this article – who is considered to be an Omaha FBAR Attorney. There are two aspects to this concept: geographical and substantive.

From the outset, it should be stated that the geographical location of an attorney does not matter. An attorney can reside in Omaha, Nebraska or Minneapolis, Minnesota and still be considered an Omaha FBAR Attorney if this attorney offers his services in this city.

The reason for this geographical indifference lies in the fact that FBAR is a purely federal compliance requirement; it has no particular ties to Omaha or any other specific city or state (or a foreign country, for that matter). As long as a person is a US tax resident and he has foreign accounts, he is potentially subject to FBAR requirement even if he physically resides outside of the United States. Since FBAR is a uniform requirement that does not respect borders and jurisdictions, the same is almost true of the FBAR attorneys, except that an attorney must be licensed to practice in any of the fifty states or Washington D.C. and FBAR must be within the realm of his main area of practice.

The substantive requirement that forms part of the definition of an Omaha FBAR attorney is related to what I just mentioned – FBAR must be within the realm of the main area of an attorney’s legal practice in order for this attorney to be considered an Omaha FBAR attorney.

What is this main area of practice? US international tax law – an Omaha FBAR attorney must be an international tax attorney, because FBAR compliance is part of the much broader US international tax law.

Retain Sherayzen Law Office as Your Omaha FBAR Attorney

If have undisclosed foreign accounts or if you need assistance with your annual FBAR compliance, you should contact Sherayzen Law Office for professional help. Sherayzen Law Office is a leading international tax law firm in the area of FBAR compliance. Our highly-experienced international tax team, headed by its founder Attorney Eugene Sherayzen, has helped hundreds of US taxpayers around the globe with their FBAR compliance and other international tax issues (including offshore voluntary disclosures under the OVDP, Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures, Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures, Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures, Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures and Reasonable Cause Disclosures (also known as “noisy disclosures”)).

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

IRS FBAR Audit and IRC Section 6103 | FBAR Tax Attorney Minneapolis

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This article explores a certain relationship between tax returns and an IRS FBAR Audit. In particular, the critical question that I seek to answer in this writing is when the IRS is able to use US tax returns as evidence to support and/or commence an IRS FBAR Audit.

IRS FBAR Audit and the IRS Examination of US tax Returns

In discussing the relationship between the US tax returns and IRS FBAR Audit, the focus is on the information uncovered by the IRS during the examination of US tax returns that may be used to commence or advance an IRS FBAR Audit. It is possible, however, for the IRS to use a taxpayer’s tax returns in other contexts, not just examinations, to further an IRS FBAR Audit.

In a previous article, I already discussed the enormous amount of useful information that US tax returns contain and that can be used by the IRS to commence an IRS FBAR Audit. In addition to the obvious Schedule B, the tax returns contain foreign income documents, tax fraud evidence, patterns of noncompliance and other useful evidence that can be used in an IRS FBAR Audit.

This means that, in a lot of cases, there is a direct relationship between tax returns and the subsequent IRS FBAR Audits.

Tax Return Confidentiality Under IRC §6103(a) Prevents Automatic Disclosure for the IRS FBAR Audit Purposes

Despite their utility, there is one problem with the ability of the IRS to use tax return information in an IRS FBAR audit – US tax return information is confidential and protected from disclosure under IRC (Internal Revenue Code) §6103(a). This protection extends to the disclosure of tax returns and tax return information within the IRS, especially for use in investigating a Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) violation. Why are we discussing the BSA? The reason is simple – BSA is the legislation that created FBAR.

In other words, the tax return information (which is collected under U.S.C. (United States Code) Title 26 cannot be automatically shared within the IRS for the purposes of Title 31 FBAR violation. Rather, the IRS has to find a legal justification for the disclosure of this information. The usual proper statutory basis for this justification can be found in IRC §6103(h).

IRC §6103(h) and Authorization to Share Tax Return Information for the IRS FBAR Audit Purposes

The exploration of §6103(a) exceptions under §6103(h) leads us into a complicated world of tax analysis. I will try to simplify this analysis while reducing as much as possible the risk of leaving out important details.

In general, under IRC §6103(h), disclosure of returns and return information is authorized without written request to officers and employees of the Treasury Department as long as these officers’ and employees’ official duties require such disclosure for tax administration purposes. “Tax administration” is a term of art in this context – it is a fairly broad term that covers the administration, management and supervision of the Internal Revenue Code and “related statutes”, including assessment, collection and enforcement under the IRC and these “related statutes.” See §6103(b)(4).

The key question then is whether BSA is a “related statute”. If it is, then the IRS employees can use tax return and return information to commence an IRS FBAR Audit.

IRS FBAR Audit: Is BSA a “Related Statute”?

From the outset, it is important to emphasize that the IRS does not treat BSA as a “per se” related statute, because BSA reports are required a variety of purposes, not just tax compliance. For example, FBARs can be used for such government purposes as counter-terrorism, money-laundering investigations and law enforcement in general.

Therefore, the IRS will deem the BSA as a related statute only if there is a good-faith determination that a BSA violation was committed in furtherance of a Title 26 violation or if such violation was part of a patter of conduct that violated Title 26. See IRM 4.26.14.2.3 (07-24-2012). In lay terms, the FBAR violation has to be related to a tax violation in order for the IRS to be able to utilize the taxpayer’s tax returns and tax return information in an IRS FBAR Audit.

Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut straightforward answer to when the FBAR is related to a tax violation. Rather, this determination should be made based on the facts and circumstance of each case.

IRS FBAR Audit vs. DOJ Criminal Investigation: IRC §6103(i)

It is important to emphasize that the “related-statute” limitation applies only to IRS examiners in a civil IRS FBAR Audit. If, however, a taxpayer is the subject of a criminal Department of Justice (“DOJ”) grand jury investigation, then the DOJ prosecutors are not subject to §6103(h). Instead they can use §6103(i) to access the taxpayer’s tax returns and tax return information.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Professional Help with an IRS FBAR Audit

If you are subject to an IRS FBAR Audit, contact Sherayzen Law Office as soon as possible for professional help. Without proper representation, an IRS FBAR Audit can lead to disastrous consequences to the taxpayer’s financial life due to imposition of the draconian FBAR Penalties.

Our experienced and highly-knowledgeable legal team, headed by Mr. Eugene Sherayzen, can help you! Contact Us Today to Schedule Your Confidential Consultation!

Seattle FBAR Attorney | FATCA International Tax Lawyer

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Due to Seattle’s proximity to Canada and a large amount of foreign professionals employed by high-tech firms (especially Microsoft), there is a large number of residents of Seattle, Washington, who have an obligation to report their foreign accounts. The great majority of these people need the assistance of professional Seattle FBAR attorney, but they find it difficult to decide who to retain. Often, they find that the attorney who they like lives outside of Seattle (for example, in Minneapolis) and they are not sure if they should prefer him over local Seattle FBAR Attorneys. This short essay is devoted to defining the term Seattle FBAR Attorney and the description of the main criteria which should guide you in retaining your Seattle FBAR Attorney.

Seattle FBAR Attorney: Definition

The term Seattle FBAR Attorney includes two groups of FBAR attorneys. First, all of the FBAR Attorneys who reside in Seattle, Washington, should be considered Seattle FBAR Attorneys.

The second group includes all FBAR Attorneys who reside outside of Seattle but offer their FBAR services to the residents of Seattle. Hence, the geographical location of your FBAR Attorney does not actually matter, only the geographical scope of his FBAR services.

Why is this case? The answer is relatively simple – FBAR is a federal compliance requirement. This means that neither the State of Washington nor the city of Seattle have anything to do with it.

Seattle FBAR Attorney: Knowledge of International Tax Law and FBARs is the Key Criteria for Retainer

Now that we know who is considered to be a Seattle FBAR Attorney, we can turn to the key criteria for choosing the right Seattle FBAR Attorney. There are two main considerations in choosing your FBAR Attorney: professional and personal.

The professional criteria consists of the requirement that your Seattle FBAR Attorney be an international tax lawyer with a lot of experience working with FBAR and FBAR-related issues.
It is not enough for your attorney to simply know what the FBARs are and how to prepare them. FBAR issues are often deeply intertwined with other US international tax requirements that determine a taxpayer’s legal and tax positions. Therefore, your Seattle FBAR Attorney must have profound knowledge of other related international tax law issues, regulations and compliance requirements.

In addition to the knowledge of the subject-matter (i.e. “objective criteria”), there is also a subjective criteria – do you feel he is devoted to your case. The issue of trust is the most important consideration here – both the client and the attorney will feel frustrated with the case if there is a deep distrust between them. This distrust may have a great influence on the outcome of the case.

Thus, in retaining your Seattle FBAR Attorney, you need to be looking for an international tax attorney who satisfies both criteria.

Seattle FBAR Attorney: Means of Communication is Not an Issue

Is there a difference between the ability to communicate with an out-of-state Seattle FBAR Attorney and a local one? Should this issue become part of the retainer criteria?

The answer is “no”: the objective ability to communicate (i.e. the availability of the modes of communication, rather than an attorney’s personal attitude toward communicating with a client) is not an issue in retaining a Seattle FBAR Attorney. The development of modern communications technology has eliminated the entire advantage of retaining a local Seattle FBAR Attorney. Even if your attorney resides in Seattle, almost all of your communication with him is going to be through email, telephone and regular mail – i.e. the same as if your attorney resides in Minneapolis. The person-to-person meetings are now easily replaced by a video Skype conference.

Obviously, personal subjective ability (i.e. availability and readiness to communicate with his clients) of a Seattle FBAR Attorney (irrespective of where he actually resides) to communicate with his clients is part of the subjective criteria for the retainer already discussed above.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office to Retain Your Seattle FBAR Attorney

Based on the analysis above, Sherayzen Law Office should be one of the preferred choices in your search for a Seattle FBAR Attorney. Sherayzen Law Office holds a leading position in the world on FBAR compliance due to its highly-experienced international tax team, headed by its founder Attorney Eugene Sherayzen. We have helped our clients throughout the world with FBAR compliance and all related international tax issues, including voluntary disclosure of foreign accounts under the IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures, Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures, Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures, Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures and Reasonable Cause Disclosures (also known as “noisy disclosures”).

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