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Miami Foreign Trust Attorney | International Tax Lawyers Florida

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If you live in Miami, Florida, and you are an owner or a beneficiary of a foreign trust, you need to secure the help of a Miami Foreign Trust Attorney to properly comply with US international tax laws.

You should consider retaining Sherayzen Law Office as your Miami Foreign Trust Attorney. Sherayzen Law Office is a leading US international tax firm concerning US tax compliance of US beneficiaries and owners of a foreign trust. Our experience covers US taxpayers with a beneficiary and/or ownership interest in most of the countries that allow for the creation of a trust, including such important jurisdictions as: Australia, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Cook Islands, India, Japan, Jersey, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, the United Kingdom and others. We also have an experience dealing with trusts organized in the United States that are treated as foreign trusts and, vice versa, trusts organized outside of the United States but treated as US trusts.

Miami Foreign Trust Attorney: Foreign Trust Annual US Tax Compliance

Sherayzen Law Office is an experienced US international tax law firm that helps its clients to stay in full compliance with the US international tax reporting requirements concerning foreign trusts, including Forms 3520, 3520-A, 4970, 8938 and FBAR. This applies to both, US beneficiaries and US owners (including US grantors, US trustees and deemed US owners) of a foreign trust.

Miami Foreign Trust Attorney: Foreign Trust Offshore Voluntary Disclosure

Sherayzen Law Office also helps its clients to remedy past noncompliance with respect to reporting of their beneficiary and/or ownership interests in a foreign trust as well as income from a foreign trust.  The primary legal vehicle for remedying such past tax noncompliance is an offshore voluntary disclosure.

Since 2005, Sherayzen Law Office has developed a profound expertise in all forms of offshore voluntary disclosures, including: Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures, Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures, Delinquent International Information Return Submission Procedures and Reasonable Cause voluntary disclosure (also known as “Noisy Disclosures” or “Statutory Disclosures”).   Due to its unique expertise, our firm is able to handle both, the legal and the accounting sides of an offshore voluntary disclosure; i.e. we prepare all of the legal documents and tax forms for you within one firm.

Miami Foreign Trust Attorney: Foreign Trust Tax Planning

Sherayzen Law Office assists its clients with all aspects of US tax planning concerning foreign trusts.  Foreign trust tax planning can be very complex and involve multiple tax jurisdictions, but it remains one of the most effective tools to ethically and legally reduce your current income tax compliance burden.

Miami Foreign Trust Attorney:  Challenging IRS Classification and IRS Penalties

Sherayzen Law Office represents its clients before the IRS with respect to challenging IRS classification of a foreign trust as well as high IRS penalties imposed for prior tax noncompliance concerning foreign trusts.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Professional Help With Your US International Tax Compliance Concerning Your Beneficiary or Ownership Interest in a Foreign Trust

Timing is highly important in cases involving a foreign trust. Hence, if you have a beneficiary or ownership interest in a foreign trust, you contact us in order to maximize the positive impact of our involvement.

We can help You! Contact Us Today to Schedule Your Confidential Consultation!

US Income Tax Obligations of Green Card Holders: General Overview

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There is a common misconception among Green Card Holders (a common name for US permanent residents) that their US income tax obligations are limited in nature in comparison to US citizens. In this article, I seek to dispel this erroneous myth and provide some general outlines of the US income tax obligations of Green Card Holders.

US Income Tax Obligations of Green Card Holders: Worldwide Income Reporting

I receive a lot of phone calls from Green Card holders who believe that their US income tax reporting obligations are limited only to US-source income (sourcing of income, by the way, is also a very complex subject and I often see egregious mistakes committed even by experienced accountants).

This is not correct. In fact, US permanent residents and US citizens are both considered to be “tax residents of the United States.” US tax residents are required to report their worldwide income on US tax returns and pay US income taxes on foreign-source income (and, obviously, US-source income).

Thus, if you have a Green Card and you have foreign assets (such as foreign bank and financial accounts, foreign businesses, foreign trusts, et cetera), you must report the income from such foreign assets on your US tax returns.

Be careful! You must remember that all foreign income must be reported in US dollars and according to US tax laws. Leaving aside the issue of currency conversion (which is a topic for another article), the reporting of foreign income under US tax laws may be extremely challenging because foreign tax laws may treat this income in a different manner. Let me emphasize this point – the treatment of income under foreign local tax rules may not actually be the same as the treatment of the same income under US tax rules.

For example, Assurance Vie accounts in France may be completely tax-exempt if certain conditions are met. However, the annual income from these accounts must be reported on US tax returns.

Moreover, to make matters worse, these accounts may contain PFIC (Passive Foreign Investment Company) investments which are treated in a very complex and generally unfavorable manner under US tax laws. The calculation of US tax liability in this case may be extremely complex (especially since the French banks are not required to keep the kind of information that is necessary to properly calculation PFIC tax and interest).

US Income Tax Obligations of Green Card Holders: Reporting of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts

As US tax residents, the Green Card holders are also required to disclose their ownership of certain foreign bank and financial accounts to the IRS. Many US permanent residents are shocked to learn about these requirements and the draconian penalties associated with failure to file the required information reports.

The top two bank and financial account reporting requirements are FinCEN Form 114 (known as “FBAR” – the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) and Form 8938 (which was born out of FATCA). Other forms, such as Form 8621, may apply.

It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss these requirements in detail. However, it is impossible to overstate their importance, especially the FBAR, due to potentially astronomical non-compliance penalties (including criminal penalties). You can find more information about these requirements at sherayzenlaw.com.

US Income Tax Obligations of Green Card Holders: Reporting of Foreign Business Ownership

Many US permanent residents are surprised to find out that they may be required to provide detailed reports about their foreign businesses – corporations, partnerships and disregarded entities. Indeed, Green Card holders may be subject to burdensome and expensive US reporting requirements on Forms 5471, 8865, 926, 8938, et cetera. These forms may require Green Card holders to provide foreign financial statements translated under US accounting standards, including US GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Practices).

Again, you can find more information about these requirement at sherayzenlaw.com.

US Income Tax Obligations of Green Card Holders: Reporting of Foreign Trusts

Another complex trap for Green Card Holders is reporting of an ownership or a beneficiary interest in a foreign trust (generally, on Form 3520). This complicated topic is beyond the scope of this article, but you can find more information about these requirements at sherayzenlaw.com.

US Income Tax Obligations of Green Card Holders: Other Reporting Requirements

There are numerous other US income tax obligations of Green Card Holders that may apply. Moreover, US has multiple income tax treaties with various countries which may modify your particular tax situation. In order to fully determine your US tax obligations as a Green Card holder, it is best to consult with an experienced international tax attorney.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Help With Your US Income Tax Obligations

Sherayzen Law Office is a specialized international tax law firm which is highly experienced in helping US Permanent Residents with their US income tax obligations and reporting requirements. One of the unique features of our firm is that our tax team provides both legal and accounting services to our clients throughout the world.

Contact Us Now To Secure Professional Help and Avoid (or Rectify) Costly Mistakes!