FBAR and International Tax Alert Report

FBAR & International Tax Alert Report

The willful failure to file the FBAR report or retain records of your foreign accounts can potentially lead to a ten-year prison sentence and fines of up to $500,000. This criminal penalty applies to all US citizens pursuant to 31U.S.C Section S322B and 31 C.F.R. Section 103.S.9.C It may also apply to persons living in the United States who are not citizens.

If you fail to answer the question truthfully on schedule B of your Form 1040 which asks if you “have an interest in or a signature or other authority over a financial account in a foreign country”, then your false statement might be deemed a criminal offense by the IRS per the sections mentioned above if other surrounding facts and circumstances apply.

Our office is headed by a former international IRS tax agent with 37 years experience as a CPA and Associate Professor of accounting. Don’t want this to happen to you?  Call our office immediately for a free five-minute consultation so you can avoid the dire circumstances described above and deal with the other associated problems, or visit taxadvisorexpert.com. 

Offshore International Today                                                                                    Aug 2011

FBAR Offshore Bank Accounts and Foreign Income Attacked by IRS

You may want to think about participation in the IRS’ offshore tax amnesty program (called the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative). Do you want to play audit roulette with the IRS?  Some clients think they are too small to be prosecuted. They are wrong.
To the average businessperson, only the guys with tens of millions secretly stashed in Swiss bank accounts get prosecuted. Don't tell that to Michael Schiavo. He was just prosecuted for hiding money in a Swiss account back in 2003. How much money does the IRS say he hid? A whopping $90,000. That’s it.
But wait, there is more to the story. Schiavo attempted to do a quiet disclosure during the 2009 amnesty but instead of filling out the amnesty paperwork, he simply trusted that by coming forward voluntarily he could avoid criminal prosecution. He was wrong on all counts. Nothing is too small for the IRS, and nothing is too old.
“So, to save a whopping $40,624 in taxes, this guy risked a felony conviction and prison time, not to mention steep penalties that could very easily eat up the entire $90,000, and also his criminal and civil defense costs.
 The smart taxpayers are the ones coming forward and not having to look over their shoulders for the next 10 years.
Time is running out. The tax amnesty runs through August but it takes at least days to jump through all the hoops. We will also fight hard to reduce the penalties down even more. Remember, the IRS can go as low as 5%.            

            Our office is headed by a former international IRS tax agent with 37 years experience as a CPA and Associate Professor of accounting. Don’t want this to happen to you?  Call our office immediately for a free five-minute consultation so you can avoid the dire circumstances described above and deal with the other associated problems, or visit taxadvisorexpert.com. 

The information provided herein is not intended as legal, accounting, financial or any type of advice for any specific individual or other entity. You should contact an appropriate professional for any such advice.

Lance Wallach, National Society of Accountants Speaker of the Year and member of the AICPA faculty of teaching professionals, is a frequent speaker on retirement plans, financial and estate planning, and abusive tax shelters. He writes about 412(i), 419, and captive insurance plans. He speaks at more than ten conventions annually, writes for over fifty publications, is quoted regularly in the press and has been featured on television and radio financial talk shows including NBC, National Pubic Radio's All Things Considered, and others. Lance has written numerous books including Protecting Clients from Fraud, Incompetence and Scams published by John Wiley and Sons, Bisk Education's CPA's Guide to Life Insurance and Federal Estate and Gift Taxation, as well as AICPA best-selling books, including Avoiding Circular 230 Malpractice Traps and Common Abusive Small Business Hot Spots. He does expert witness testimony and has never lost a case.