Posts

Foreign Inheritance Tax Attorney San Francisco | International Tax Lawyers California

Receiving a foreign inheritance may open a litany of US international tax compliance obligations. Therefore, one of the first things you should do is to seek the help of an international tax attorney who specializes in foreign inheritance reporting.  If you reside in San Francisco, California, you need to look for a Foreign Inheritance Tax Attorney San Francisco. You will find that Sherayzen Law Office Ltd. is very likely to be the perfect fit for you.

Foreign Inheritance Tax Attorney San Francisco: Why Foreign Inheritance is So Important to Your US international Tax Compliance

There are two main reasons why receiving a foreign inheritance may be a critical event for your US international tax compliance. First, receiving a foreign inheritance means that you have additional assets, income and transactions to report to the IRS.  The way that US international tax law works, it means that it is usually more than just one requirement is triggered. Rather, it may be a set of issues and reporting obligations that require an experienced international tax attorney to resolve them correctly. 

The multitude and complexity of issues can be fairly large: from the reporting of the foreign inheritance itself, income recognition, transfer of cash/assets to the United States to additional reporting requirements concerning newly acquired foreign assets and offshore voluntary disclosures involving prior noncompliance. You should keep in mind that noncompliance with these requirements may result in the assessment of high IRS penalties.

The second reason why a foreign inheritance is so important and so dangerous is the relative complacency with respect to and even complete nonrecognition of the potential US tax consequences of receiving a foreign inheritance with all of the multitude of issues to which I alluded above.  The problem is not just that many US taxpayers are completely ignorant of the fact that a foreign inheritance may require extensive US tax compliance. Even worse, many taxpayers erroneously but ardently believe that a foreign inheritance is something completely unrelated to the United States and should not have any US tax consequences. At best, they may focus on Form 3520 reporting while overlooking the complexity of the rest of the issues involved in receiving a foreign inheritance.

This is precisely why I highly recommend consulting an international tax lawyer with extensive experience in foreign inheritance US tax reporting, such as Sherayzen Law Office, if you have received or about to receive a foreign inheritance.

Foreign Inheritance Tax Attorney San Francisco: International Tax Lawyer

I just mentioned that you need to seek the help of an international tax attorney rather than just a foreign inheritance tax attorney.  Why is that?

The answer is simple: a foreign inheritance attorney is first and foremost an international tax lawyer – i.e. a lawyer with profound knowledge of and extensive experience in US international tax law, particularly in the area of US international tax compliance. This means that a lawyer must be familiar with such common US international tax forms as Form 3520 (critically important for foreign inheritance reporting) and Form 8938.  He must also understand and be able to identify related US international tax compliance forms such as Forms 3520-A, 5471, 8858, 8865 cetera.  Of course, every US international tax lawyer must be very familiar with FinCEN Form 114 commonly known as FBAR.

In addition to these information returns, an international tax lawyer must be familiar with all types of foreign income reporting.  This requirement includes the knowledge of foreign rental income, PFIC complianceGILTI income, capital gains concerning foreign real estate, et cetera.

Sherayzen Law Office is a highly experienced international tax law firm with respect to all of these income tax and information return requirements, including specifically all of the aforementioned forms.

Foreign Inheritance Tax Attorney San Francisco: Tax Planning

It is highly prudent to engage in tax planning concerning a foreign inheritance. This is important not only for the purpose of limiting future tax burdens, but also to control future US tax compliance costs.  

Sherayzen Law Office has extensive experience in foreign inheritance US tax planning for its clients in San Francisco and all over the world.  We also have highly valuable experience of combining income tax planning with offshore voluntary disclosures.

Foreign Inheritance Tax Attorney San Francisco: Offshore Voluntary Disclosures

Perhaps you learned late about your US international tax compliance requirements concerning foreign inheritance. In fact, this is a very common situation. In this case, you will find yourself in a very uncomfortable position of facing potentially multiple high IRS penalties for multiple violations of US international tax law.

For this reason, your foreign inheritance tax attorney must also have a profound understanding of the IRS voluntary disclosure options. In fact, in my experience, a discussion of a foreign inheritance often leads to the identification of past US international tax noncompliance and the immediate discussion of IRS offshore voluntary disclosure to remedy past noncompliance.

Offshore Voluntary Disclosures is a core area of our international tax practice at Sherayzen Law Office. We have helped hundreds of US taxpayers worldwide, including in San Francisco, to bring their tax affairs into full compliance with US tax laws. This work included the preparation and filing of all kinds of offshore voluntary disclosures including: SDOP (Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures)SFOP (Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures)DFSP (Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures), DIIRSP (Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures), et cetera.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Professional Foreign Inheritance Tax Help

Sherayzen Law Office is an international tax law firm that specializes in US international tax compliance, including foreign inheritance reporting.  We have helped numerous clients around the world with their foreign inheritance US tax compliance. We can help you! Hence, if you are looking for a Foreign Inheritance Tax Attorney San Francisco, contact us now to schedule Your Confidential Consultation!

Foreign Inheritance Tax Attorney Los Angeles | International Tax Lawyers California

Receiving a foreign inheritance may open a litany of US international tax compliance obligations. Therefore, one of the first things you should do is to seek the help of an international tax attorney who specializes in foreign inheritance reporting.  If you reside in Los Angeles, California, you need to look for a Foreign Inheritance Tax Attorney Los Angeles. You will find that Sherayzen Law Office Ltd. is very likely to be the perfect fit for you.

Foreign Inheritance Tax Attorney Los Angeles: Why Foreign Inheritance is So Important to Your US international Tax Compliance

There are two main reasons why receiving a foreign inheritance may be a critical event for your US international tax compliance. First, receiving a foreign inheritance means that you have additional assets, income and transactions to report to the IRS.  The way that US international tax law works, it means that it is usually more than just one requirement is triggered. Rather, it may be a set of issues and reporting obligations that require an experienced international tax attorney to resolve them correctly. 

The multitude and complexity of issues can be fairly large: from the reporting of the foreign inheritance itself, income recognition, transfer of cash/assets to the United States to additional reporting requirements concerning newly acquired foreign assets and offshore voluntary disclosures involving prior noncompliance. You should keep in mind that noncompliance with these requirements may result in the assessment of high IRS penalties.

The second reason why a foreign inheritance is so important and so dangerous is the relative complacency with respect to and even complete nonrecognition of the potential US tax consequences of receiving a foreign inheritance with all of the multitude of issues to which I alluded above.  The problem is not just that many US taxpayers are completely ignorant of the fact that a foreign inheritance may require extensive US tax compliance. Even worse, many taxpayers erroneously but ardently believe that a foreign inheritance is something completely unrelated to the United States and should not have any US tax consequences. At best, they may focus on Form 3520 reporting while overlooking the complexity of the rest of the issues involved in receiving a foreign inheritance.

This is precisely why I highly recommend consulting an international tax lawyer with extensive experience in foreign inheritance US tax reporting, such as Sherayzen Law Office, if you have received or about to receive a foreign inheritance.

Foreign Inheritance Tax Attorney Los Angeles: International Tax Lawyer

I just mentioned that you need to seek the help of an international tax attorney rather than just a foreign inheritance tax attorney.  Why is that?

The answer is simple: a foreign inheritance attorney is first and foremost an international tax lawyer – i.e. a lawyer with profound knowledge of and extensive experience in US international tax law, particularly in the area of US international tax compliance. This means that a lawyer must be familiar with such common US international tax forms as Form 3520 (critically important for foreign inheritance reporting) and Form 8938.  He must also understand and be able to identify related US international tax compliance forms such as Forms 3520-A, 5471, 8858, 8865 cetera.  Of course, every US international tax lawyer must be very familiar with FinCEN Form 114 commonly known as FBAR.

In addition to these information returns, an international tax lawyer must be familiar with all types of foreign income reporting.  This requirement includes the knowledge of foreign rental income, PFIC complianceGILTI income, capital gains concerning foreign real estate, et cetera.

Sherayzen Law Office is a highly experienced international tax law firm with respect to all of these income tax and information return requirements, including specifically all of the aforementioned forms.

Foreign Inheritance Tax Attorney Los Angeles: Tax Planning

It is highly prudent to engage in tax planning concerning a foreign inheritance. This is important not only for the purpose of limiting future tax burdens, but also to control future US tax compliance costs.  

Sherayzen Law Office has extensive experience in foreign inheritance US tax planning for its clients in Los Angeles and all over the world.  We also have highly valuable experience of combining income tax planning with offshore voluntary disclosures.

Foreign Inheritance Tax Attorney Los Angeles: Offshore Voluntary Disclosures

Perhaps you learned late about your US international tax compliance requirements concerning foreign inheritance. In fact, this is a very common situation. In this case, you will find yourself in a very uncomfortable position of facing potentially multiple high IRS penalties for multiple violations of US international tax law.

For this reason, your foreign inheritance tax attorney must also have a profound understanding of the IRS voluntary disclosure options. In fact, in my experience, a discussion of a foreign inheritance often leads to the identification of past US international tax noncompliance and the immediate discussion of IRS offshore voluntary disclosure to remedy past noncompliance.

Offshore Voluntary Disclosures is a core area of our international tax practice at Sherayzen Law Office. We have helped hundreds of US taxpayers worldwide, including in Los Angeles, to bring their tax affairs into full compliance with US tax laws. This work included the preparation and filing of all kinds of offshore voluntary disclosures including: SDOP (Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures)SFOP (Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures)DFSP (Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures), DIIRSP (Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures), et cetera.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Professional Foreign Inheritance Tax Help

Sherayzen Law Office is an international tax law firm that specializes in US international tax compliance, including foreign inheritance reporting.  We have helped numerous clients around the world with their foreign inheritance US tax compliance. We can help you!

Hence, if you are looking for a Foreign Inheritance Tax Attorney Los Angeles, contact us now to schedule Your Confidential Consultation!

California Streamlined Disclosure Lawyer | FBAR FATCA Tax Attorney

If you are a California resident with undisclosed foreign assets and you believe that you were non-willful with respect to your prior reporting noncompliance, you would be looking for professional help to bring your US tax affairs into full compliance with US international tax law through Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures. In other words, you are looking for a California streamlined disclosure lawyer. In this essay, I would like to analyze everyone included within the definition of a California streamlined disclosure lawyer.

California Streamlined Disclosure Lawyer: International Tax Lawyer

The first point to understand is that all California streamlined disclosure lawyers are international tax lawyers. The reason for this is very simple: an offshore voluntary disclosure of noncompliance concerning foreign assets and foreign income generated by these assets falls within a specific sub-area of US international tax law. In other words, an offshore voluntary disclosure is part of US international tax law. This means that, when you are looking for a lawyer who can help you with Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures, you are searching for an international tax lawyer.

California Streamlined Disclosure Lawyer: Voluntary Disclosure Expertise

You are not searching, however, for just any international tax lawyer. You want to find a lawyer who has developed expertise in a very narrow sub-field of offshore voluntary disclosures within US international tax law.

This means that you are looking for an international tax lawyer who specializes in offshore voluntary disclosure and who is familiar with the various offshore voluntary disclosure options. Offshore voluntary disclosure options include: SDOP (Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures), SFOP (Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures), DFSP (Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures), DIIRSP (Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures), VDP (IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice) and Reasonable Cause disclosures. Each of these options has it pros and cons, which may have tremendous legal and tax (and, in certain cases, even immigration) implications for your case.

California Streamlined Disclosure Lawyer: Geographical Location Does Not Matter

While the expertise and experience in offshore voluntary disclosures are highly important in choosing your international tax lawyer, the geographical location (i.e. the city where the lawyer resides) does not matter. The reason for it is also very simple: offshore voluntary disclosure options were all created by the IRS and form part of US international (i.e. federal) law; the local California law has no influence over how SDOP will be processed. This means that any international tax lawyer who specializes in this field may be able to help you irrespective of whether this lawyer resides in California or Minnesota.

Moreover, the development of modern means of communications pretty much eliminated any communication advantages that a lawyer in California might have had in the past over the out-of-state lawyers. This is especially true in our world today where the pandemic greatly reduced the number of face-to-face meetings.

Sherayzen Law Office May Be Your California Streamlined Disclosure Lawyer

Sherayzen Law Office, Ltd. is a highly-experienced international tax law firm that specializes in all types of offshore voluntary disclosures, including SDOP, SFOP, DFSP, DIIRSP, VDP and Reasonable Cause disclosures. Our professional tax team, led by attorney Eugene Sherayzen, has successfully helped our US clients around the globe, including in California, with the preparation and filing of their Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures disclosure. We can help you!

Contact Us Today to Schedule Your Confidential Consultation!

§318 Downstream Trust Attribution | Foreign Trust Tax Lawyer & Attorney

The attribution of stock ownership to constructive owners is a highly important feature of US domestic and international tax law. The Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) §318 contains complex constructive ownership rules concerning corporate stock; these rules vary depending on a specific §318 relationship. This article focuses on an important category of §318 relationships – trusts. Since these rules are very broad, I will discuss today only the §318 downstream trust attribution rules; the upstream rules and important exceptions to both sets of rules will be covered in later articles.

§318 Trust Attribution: Downstream vs. Upstream Attribution

Similarly to other §318 attribution rules, there are two types of §318 trust attribution: downstream and upstream. The downstream attribution rules attribute the ownership of corporate stocks owned by a trust to its beneficiaries. The upstream attribution rules are exactly the opposite: they attribute the ownership of corporate stocks owned by beneficiaries to the trust. As I stated above, this article focuses on the downstream attribution.

§318 Downstream Trust Attribution: Attribution from Trust to Beneficiary

Under §318(a)(2)(B)(i), corporate stocks owned, directly or indirectly, by or for a trust are considered owned by the trust’s beneficiaries in proportion to their actuarial interests in the trust.

Notice that the size of the actuarial interest does not matter. Moreover, §318(a)(2)(B) will apply even if the beneficiary does not have any present interest in a trust, but only a remainder interest (also calculated on an actuarial basis). This rule is the exact opposite of the §318 estate attribution rules.

Furthermore, the decision to attribute shares based on the actuarial interest, rather than actual one, may result in a paradoxical result where stocks are attributed to a person who will never become the actual owner of the shares.

§318 Downstream Trust Attribution: Determination of Actuarial Interest

Treas. Reg. §1.318-3 stated that, in determining a beneficiary’s actuarial interest in a trust, the IRS will use the factors and methods prescribed (for estate tax purposes) in 26 CFR § 20.2031-7.

The attribution of shares from the trust to its beneficiary should be made on the basis of the beneficiary’s actuarial interest at the time of the transaction affected by the stock ownership.

§318 Downstream Trust Attribution: Unstable Proportionality

The adoption of the attribution of stock based on the actuarial interest in a trust creates a constant calculation problem for beneficiaries, because the actuarial interest of the beneficiary in a trust varies from year to year. The variation of actuarial interest means that the number of shares attributed from a trust to its beneficiary will change every year.

For example, the actuarial interest of a beneficiary with a life estate in a trust will decrease every year as he ages. On the other hand, the actuarial interest of the owner of the remainder interest in the trust will increase with each year. Hence, the number of stocks attributed to the life tenant will decrease each year, while the attribution of stocks to the holder of the remainder interest will increase each year.

§318 Downstream Trust Attribution: Special Presumption Concerning Power of Appointment

Based on 95 Rev. Proc. 77-37, §3.05 (operating rules for private letter rulings), the IRS has adopted a special presumption with respect to when children will be considered beneficiaries for the purpose of §318 trust attribution rules. In order to understand this rule, we need to describe the setting in which it will most likely apply.

Oftentimes, estate plans are set up where the surviving spouse will have a life interest in a trust’s income and a power of appointment over the trust corpus. In such situation, estate planners often insert a clause that, if a spouse fails to exercise the power of appointment, the trust corpus will automatically go to the children.

In this situation, the IRS stated that, absent evidence that the power of appointment was exercised differently, it is presumed that it was exercised in favor of the children. By adopting this presumption, the children are immediately considered beneficiaries for the purpose of the stock attribution rules under §318.

§318 Downstream Trust Attribution: Planning to Avoid Attribution

In order to prevent the application of the trust attribution rules under §318, a beneficiary must renounce his entire interest in the trust. See Rev. Rul. 71-211. Such renunciation is valid only if it is irrevocable and binding under local law.

§318 Downstream Trust Attribution: Special Case of Voting Trusts

Under Rev. Rul. 71-262 and CCA 200409001, §318(a)(2)(B) does not apply in the context of a voting trust (i.e. where trustee has the right to vote the stock held in trust, but the dividends are paid to the certificate holder). This is because the certificate holder is deemed to be the owner of the shares and there is no attribution of ownership from the trust.

§318 Downstream Trust Attribution: Grantor Trusts and Employee Trusts

While it is beyond the scope of this article to describe them in detail, there are special rules that apply to the attribution of stock from grantor trusts and employee trusts. I will discuss these rules in more detail in the future.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Professional Help With US Tax Issues Concerning Foreign Trusts

If you are considered an owner or a beneficiary of a foreign trust, contact Sherayzen Law Office for professional help with your US tax compliance issues. Our firm is highly experienced in US international tax law, including foreign trust compliance. We have also helped taxpayers around the world with their offshore voluntary disclosures involving foreign trusts.

Contact Us Today to Schedule Your Confidential Consultation!

Broadcom Re-domiciliation Approved | International Tax Lawyer & Attorney

On January 29, 2018, Broadcom Board of Directors approved the plan for Broadcom re-domiciliation in the United States. This move was expected after Broadcom’s November of 2017 pledge to president Trump that the company would return to the United States.

Broadcom Re-domiciliation: A Story of Tax Inversion and Tax Remorse

The story of the Broadcom re-domiciliation began fairly recently in February of 2016. At that time, Broadcom did what was very popular during the Obama administration – tax inversion. California-based Broadcom allowed itself to be acquired by Singapore’s Avago Technologies Limited with the result of creation of a single Singapore entity.

The real motivation for the inversion was lowering the corporate taxes. At that time, during the political climate that existed in the United States, Broadcom thought that it was a good move.

Now, Broadcom believes that the tax inversion might not have been such a great thing to do in light of the new developments and certain consequences that it did not seem to have anticipated prior to tax inversion. First of all, Broadcom’s business in the US has continued to expand as it stepped-up its acquisition strategy. Already in 2017, barely a year and a half after tax inversion, Broadcom has stated that the benefits of this business strategy outweigh the potential additional taxes it might have to pay when it returns to the United States (especially after the tax reform – see below).

Second and closely related to the first reason, as a foreign company based in Singapore, Broadcom is under constant scrutiny of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFI”). CFI focuses on the review of transactions that may result in control of a US business by a foreign person and the impact of such control on US national security. This is an irritating and expensive factor that continuously hinders Broadcom’s acquisition strategy in the United States.

Third, Broadcom apparently did not anticipate that the tax reform be so radical and so beneficial to corporations. There is one issue in particular that makes Broadcom re-domiciliation in the United States so important. At the time of its tax inversion, Broadcom established a deferred tax liability on its balance sheet with respect to integration of the company’s intellectual property (“IP”). Under the old law, this deferred tax liability would have become payable at 35% tax rate in the United States.

Now, under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“TCJA”), this deferred liability will be recognized in fiscal year 2018 as deemed repatriated foreign earnings at a much lower tax rate. This means that Broadcom re-domiciliation in 2018 will save the company a huge amount in taxes; or, as the company itself put it: “a material reduction in the amount of other long-term liabilities on our balance sheet”.

Broadcom Re-domiciliation Approved Within One Month of TCJA

The tax motivation behind Broadcom re-domiciliation became especially evident in light of the fact that the Broadcom Board approved it within just one month of the passage of TCJA. Moreover, in its filings with SEC, Broadcom directly stated that, as a result of TCJA, the tax cost of being a US-based multinational company has decreased substantially.

Sherayzen Law Office will continue to observe the impact of the recent tax reform on the behavior of US companies that went through tax inversion.