foreign assets

Not Just Another Covid-19 Announcement (Part II)

March 19, 2020 | by Dennis N. Brager

On Tuesday evening our tax lawyers sent out an announcement discussing some of the tax filing and payment implications of the Covid-19 virus. We indicated that Secretary of Treasury Mnuchin had announced payment and filing extensions for the 2019 income tax returns.

Mnuchin was quoted as saying “We encourage those Americans who can file their taxes to continue to file their taxes on April 15,” Mnuchin said. “Because for many Americans, you will get tax refunds.”

We took that to mean that the filing deadline as well as the payment deadline was extended. This is the problem with tax guidance by Tweet and press conference. On Wednesday morning the IRS issued an announcement which states that there is no filing extension.

Not Just Another Covid-19 Announcement

March 17, 2020 | by Dennis N. Brager

Some of you may be concerned about the impact of the Coronavirus aka Covid-19 outbreak on your taxes, and those of your clients. The news from the IRS has been slow in coming. On Friday of last week President Trump declared a National Emergency. At the same time, he directed Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to provide relief from “tax deadlines” to Americans who are adversely impacted by the emergency. This allows the IRS to extend various deadlines for up to a one-year period. This authority is not, however, self-executing. That is, the IRS must specify exactly which due dates, and for how long they are being extended.

Prior to President Trump’s announcement Secretary Mnuchin had told reporters that most deadlines would be extended for “small businesses” and most individuals other than the “super rich.” Our tax lawyers couldn’t find a definition of super rich anywhere in the Internal Revenue Code. Finally, this morning, Tuesday March 17^th, after partnership and certain LLC returns were already due, Mnuchin stated in a press conference that the filing deadline for the 2019 income tax return would be extended by 90 days. For individuals that would mean July 14^th. Presumably, the IRS will actually extend the date to July 15^th just to make things a touch easier. Individuals living overseas already have an extension to June 15^th so presumably they would have until September 15^th to file.

In addition to stating that the income tax filing deadline would be extended, Mnuchin also stated that the 2019 payment deadline for income taxes owed of less than $1 million dollars for individuals or $10 million for corporations. This would be an interest and penalty free extension. For those who are over the thresholds it is unclear whether the entire amount due would be subject to interest and penalties or just that amount over the threshold. It is also not clear whether the filing extension would apply to those who owe taxes in excess of the cut-off amount.

Dennis Brager Published in Fox News Article

January 22, 2020 | by Dennis N. Brager

Recently, Dennis was interviewed by Fox News on his thoughts on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s move to North America and how it may impact their taxes. Below is an excerpt of the quote:

“Basically speaking, the U.S. has a system of taxation which is different from the vast majority of countries in the world in that in the United States, if you’re a U.S. citizen, it doesn’t matter where you’re living in the world, you pay tax on all of your income wherever you earn it.”

He also went on to say, “So if Meghan takes a modeling job in the U.K., she still pays tax in the United States. She’s still subject to all the reporting requirements that U.S. citizens are.”

Should I Wait to Disclose My Offshore Accounts?

November 6, 2017 | by Dennis N. Brager

If you aware that you have unreported foreign financial accounts that expose you to liability for Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) or Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) violations, you should carefully consider the risks of waiting to disclose your offshore accounts, including the following:

The IRS does not have to continue to offer offshore disclosure programs, and can change the terms of these programs whenever they wish. The Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) or Streamlined Filing Procedures can be ended at any time. If the terms of the programs are changed, they could be less favorable to taxpayers, resulting in higher fines or stricter eligibility requirements.
You are not eligible for offshore disclosure programs if you are currently under IRS examination. This is true even if the examination is for issues completely unrelated to your undisclosed offshore accounts. Once the IRS begins to ask questions and request information from you, you may be put into a very difficult situation if you have foreign accounts that you haven’t disclosed, and you won’t be able to receive any type of amnesty from these programs.

The Tax Consequences of Inheriting Foreign Assets

September 18, 2017 | by Dennis N. Brager

U.S. taxpayers who inherit foreign assets must handle the tax consequences of their inheritances with great care. In addition to taxing all worldwide income, the U.S. also includes foreign assets in the gift and estate tax calculation, which determines whether estate tax will be assessed. Heirs who receive foreign assets also have to consider their Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) and other foreign account reporting requirements, or risk facing significant penalties.

What Happens When You Inherit a Foreign Account?

If you are a “United States person”—including citizens, permanent residents,(individuals who hold green cards) or must file taxes due to their substantial presence in the United States—you may suddenly have an FBAR filing requirement if you inherit a foreign financial account. If the aggregate of all of your foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any point during the year, you must file an FBAR.

What are Foreign Asset Reporting Requirements?

August 8, 2017 | by Dennis N. Brager

Taxpayers with foreign financial accounts may have several different reporting requirements, depending the type of account and the amount of funds in the accounts. The first of these requirements comes from the 1040 tax return, specifically Schedule B.

Schedule B requires the disclosure or any interest or dividends received by the taxpayer, including interest from foreign accounts. Part III specifically asks about foreign accounts, including whether the taxpayer had an interest in signature authority over any foreign financial accounts, and whether the taxpayer has a Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) filing requirement or received a distribution from a foreign trust. A failure to answer these questions honestly could result in tax fraud penalties, and possibly lead to other penalties related to a failure to file FBARs.

Foreign Bank Account Reports (FBARs)