Asher Rubinstein will be a featured speaker in an upcoming Strafford live webinar, “FBAR and U.S. Tax Reporting and Compliance Requirements for Foreign Assets” scheduled for Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 1pm EST. We have a limited number of complimentary registrations for clients and friends of the firm.
The IRS has made modifications over the past several years to the programs that allow for late reporting of previously undisclosed offshore assets. At the same time, the IRS continually reaffirms its commitment to cracking down on U.S. taxpayers failing to disclose foreign assets. Taxpayers and their advisers must act quickly to take advantage of the benefits of a pre-emptive disclosure, before the IRS learns of the foreign asset from a foreign financial institution, a foreign banker, FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) report, tax treaty with a foreign government or alternative means of discovery.
The two most significant programs aiding taxpayers with unreported foreign assets are the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) and the Streamlined Procedures for domestic (SDOP) and foreign (SFOP) residents. Taxpayers may benefit from substantially reduced or no penalties for failure to report offshore accounts and assets. However, taxpayers and their advisors must be aware of the risks in each of the programs. The penalties imposed upon taxpayers who willfully fail to disclose offshore assets are extremely punitive.
Taxpayers and their advisers must evaluate whether a disclosure program will help a taxpayer avoid increased IRS penalties, and whether the taxpayer is eligible to enter one of the programs. Eligibility is very fact-specific. If eligible, counsel must guide the taxpayer in meeting the very specific information requirements of the disclosure program. The OVDP, SDOP and SFOP may end at any time without notice, at which point the taxpayer may face the full measure of penalties (including criminal consequences).
The Webinar panel will provide taxpayers, legal counsel and tax advisers with the tools necessary to navigate the new rules regarding the FBAR and offshore voluntary disclosure programs.
We will review these and other key issues:
- Delinquent IRS informational return procedures;
- FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) reporting regulations for foreign financial accounts;
- IRS Form 8938, introduced only a few years ago, required for the reporting of foreign financial assets, including financial accounts and foreign assets not held in financial accounts;
- Reporting requirements for foreign trusts, foreign foundations and foreign corporations, and how to come into compliance if you haven’t filed the relevant forms (e.g., IRS Form 3520 for offshore trusts, Form 5471 for foreign corporations);
- The IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) for coming into IRS compliance, and the benefits and requirements of the OVDP.
- The IRS Streamlined disclosure requirements, the lower penalties in the Streamlined program, and eligibility for the Streamlined program, including a discussion of what constitutes “willful” versus “non-willful” failure to report offshore assets.
After our presentations, we will engage in a live question and answer session with participants so we can answer your questions about these important issues directly.
For more information about this Webinar, please visit the Webinar program description.
Contact us with any questions about this Webinar or other offshore reporting and IRS compliance issues.