Month: November 2017

Our Repeal FATCA movement seemed to be withering on the vine just a week ago. Tax Reform seems like it was going to pass us by. Then the news that Rand Paul introduced an amendment calling for the repeal of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), and now, now we have the momentum on our side. Adding to this today is the Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) is now putting this issue front and center — urging a “YES” vote to Repeal FATCA. Below are key highlights from ATR.

Senator Rand Paul has lent his clout to the repeal of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). He testified at the FATCA hearing in April and he has not forgotten about our cause. Below is an email I received from our friends, Jim Jatras and Nigel Green from RepealFATCA.com. You will find the action you should take right now if you are sick and tired of the damage FATCA is causing.

Have you ever looked closely at your W-2 and see box 13, “Statutory Employee” and wonder what it means? In this article I’ll explain this unique status and why it can be really important — I’ll be using a real life example of a client of ours who came to us with six years of unfiled returns. Effectively paralyzed by the number; too afraid to file as it looked like he would owe $800,000.

The trickle of IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) Opt-outs has now developed into a steady stream for us. We have had some incredible successes, but we have also run into frustrations. In this article, I’ll discuss the benefits and drawbacks for those who are considering whether or not to Opt-out of the Standard OVDP 27.5% or 50% penalty.

Our friends Jim Jatras and Nigel Green have signed a blistering letter to Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin regarding the utter failure of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the inaction of Republicans to do anything about repealing this disaster even though the repeal of FATCA was a formal plank of the national Republican Party platform. The copy sent to me by Jim Jatras follow.

In support of the argument that there is nothing simple about the IRS, in this article I examine the seemingly ‘simple’ IRS W-4 Form, an Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate. This is the form an employee fills out to indicate his tax situation to the employer so that the employer knows the “correct” amount of tax to withhold from an employee’s paycheck. But like anything involving the IRS, things can get complicated and in a hurry.

According to at least one US tax professional, the IRS is beginning a campaign to encourage tax professionals to whistle-blow on their clients. I find this horrific. It encourages a complete breach of trust and will work to further diminish the entire profession. In this article I will lay out my exact reasoning why I may do think unconventionally, but I will never be a whistle-blower and encourage all tax professionals to follow suit.

We’ve been reporting on the ramp-up in the amount of International Practice Units the IRS has been developing to assist auditors in assessing large additional tax bills and assessments. We’ve also commented on how the IRS’s bark is sometimes worse than its bite. But recent news leads us to believe a long winter for those with overseas accounts and income is going to start.

Back in April of 2016, we expressed our opinion on how insanely wrong we thought the journalists were who released the Panama Papers information. Unfortunately, they’re back. This time, they’ve released the ‘Paradise Papers’, a leak of more than 13 million documents pertaining to money stored in offshore accounts.