Articles Posted in FBAR Violations

Most, if not all, Payroll Protection Program (PPP) borrowers are focused on the question of whether they will be able to have their PPP loan forgiven.  Many questions have arisen, and some but not all, have been answered by the Loan Forgiveness Application and instructions   released by the SBA on Friday, May 15, 2020.  Here are some of the highlights.

  • Annual “cash” payroll costs are capped at $100,000 per employee. While this is not news, the SBA calculates that this amount on a pro-rata basis for the 8 week “Covered Period” is $15,385. If you do the math, that is equal to 8 weeks per year divided by 52 weeks multiplied by $100,000. Some were hoping that those on a semi-monthly pay schedule could use a larger amount based upon 24 pay periods per year. Apparently not.
  • Alternative Payroll Covered Period. The Covered Period is generally eight weeks (actually 56 days) beginning on the date the loan is first funded. The Alternative Payroll Covered Period is only for employers with bi-weekly or more frequent payroll schedules. Therefore, it doesn’t appear to apply to employers who pay semi-monthly. It begins on the on the first day of the first payroll period following the PPP Loan Disbursement Date and ends 56 days later.  The following example is provided:  Alternative Payroll Covered Period: “… if the Borrower received its PPP loan proceeds on Monday, April 20, and the first day of its first pay period following its PPP loan disbursement is Sunday, April 26, the first day of the  Alternative Payroll Covered Period is April 26 and the last day of the Alternative Payroll Covered Period is Saturday, June 20.”  This suggests that one cannot include payments for a payroll period that begins before the PPP Loan Disbursement Date but is paid after that date. However, that is inconsistent with the Press Release issued concurrently by the SBA which states that the form and instructions provide “Flexibility to include eligible payroll and non-payroll expenses paid OR incurred during the eight-week period after receiving their PPP loan.” (emphasis supplied).  See more below.

When the 50 Percent Penalty Applies During Offshore Voluntary Disclosure
The Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) normally comes along with an “offshore penalty” equal to 27.5 percent of the highest aggregate account balance of the previously unreported foreign financial assets. However, the penalty is increased to 50 percent for taxpayers who have accounts at foreign financial institutions that are under investigation by the IRS or Department of Justice, or who are cooperating with the U.S. government regarding accounts held by U.S. persons. These foreign financial institutions have been referred to as “bad banks”, and the list of bad banks has continued to grow each year.

How the 50 Percent Penalty Works

Not only does a taxpayer face a 50 percent offshore penalty for any assets held at a bad bank, the taxpayer must pay the 50 percent penalty on all of their unreported foreign assets. For example, a taxpayer with a $10,000 account at a bad bank and $500,000 at a foreign bank that is not under investigation will be subject to the 50 percent penalty on the total of both accounts, despite the fact that the majority of their funds are held at a bank that is not under investigation.

How Does Living Overseas Impact Your FBAR and FATCA Obligations?
U.S. taxpayers who live overseas may still have a Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) and form 8938 filing report for their foreign financial accounts. In general, your FBAR obligations will not be impacted by the fact that you live overseas. If you are a U.S. person and your aggregate account balance of foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 during the year, you must file an FBAR, regardless of where you live.

Your Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) obligations using form 8938 require a bit more discussion. Whether you need to file a form 8938 could be impacted by country of residency because there are different threshold amounts depending on whether you live in the U.S. or abroad.

Form 8938 Thresholds for Taxpayers Living Abroad

What is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) sets reporting requirements for both foreign financial insinuations and U.S. taxpayers who hold specified foreign assets. If your foreign financial institution is in a country that has an agreement with the United States, then you will be asked whether or not you are a U.S. person for tax purposes. Answering “yes” to this question will trigger a requirement on behalf of the financial institution to report your account information to the IRS.

Individual Requirements Under FATCA

By requiring foreign financial institutions to report account information for U.S. taxpayers, the government and the IRS have made it easier to track tax evasion by individuals who are hiding money in foreign bank accounts. In addition, taxpayers must file their own report of their foreign accounts, which is done on form 8938.

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