Delinquent FBARs - Form TDF 90.22.1 Is Replaced By Form 114!

On September 30, 2013, FinCEN posted, on their internet site, a notice announcing FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (the current FBAR form). FinCEN Form 114 supersedes TD F 90-22.1 (the FBAR form that was used in prior years) and is only available online through the BSA E-Filing System website.

On July 29, 2013, FinCEN posted a notice on their internet site that introduced a new form to filers who submit FBARs jointly with spouses or who wish to have a third party preparer file their FBARs on their behalf. The new FinCEN Form 114a, Record of Authorization to Electronically File FBARs, is not submitted with the filing but, instead, is maintained with the FBAR records by the filer and the account owner, and made available to FinCEN or IRS on request.

Differences Between TDF 90.22.1 & Form 114: 

• The FinCEN Form 114 supersedes TD F 90-22.1 as the official FBAR form. 
• The new FinCEN Form 114 is only available online on BSA E-Filing System website. 
• A paper copy of the FinCEN Form 114 will not be accepted. 
• The system allows the filer to enter the calender reported, including past years on the online form. 
• The online form offers an option to explain a late filing. 
• It also lets you indicate if a filing is being made in conjunction with an IRS compliance program. 
• If you are filing FBAR with your spouse jointly or if you wish to have a third party preparer file your FBARs on your behalf, you can use the new FinCEN Form 114a. This form is not filed with the Form 114 but maintained with the FBAR records by the filer. 

Have Un-Reported Offshore Income?

Value Your Freedom?

 

Contact the Tax Lawyers at

Marini & Associates, P.A.

  

for a FREE Tax Consultation Contact US at

www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms

or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243) 

Source:

IRS

Call

Send SMS

Add to Skype

You'll need Skype CreditFree via Skype

Report to Congress: Credit Suisse Help US Taxpayers Hide Billions in Offshore Accounts!

Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) of the United States Senate will hold a hearing, “Offshore Tax Evasion: The Effort to Collect Unpaid Taxes on Billions in Hidden Offshore Accounts,” on Wednesday, February 26, 2014, beginning at 9:30 a.m., in Room G-50 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. 

The PSI hearing on February 26 is for the stated purpose of continuing the PSI’s examination of tax haven bank facilitation of U.S. tax evasion, focusing on the status of efforts to hold Swiss banks and their U.S. clients accountable for unpaid taxes on billions of dollars in hidden assets. Witnesses include representatives from Credit Suisse and the U.S. Department of Justice.

The report alleges that Credit Suisse Group AG helped thousands of U.S. taxpayers hide billions in assets offshore. The report shows that Credit Suisse opened Swiss accounts for more than 22,000 U.S. customers that, at their peak, totaled between $10 billion and $22 billion. The “vast majority” of these accounts were hidden from the U.S. and despite years of investigations by the Justice Department, the bank has turned over just 238 names to U.S. authorities.

22,000 U.S. Customers with 12 Billion Swiss Francs. The investigation found that, as of 2006, Credit Suisse had over 22,000 U.S. customers with Swiss accounts whose assets, at their

peak, exceeded 12 billion Swiss francs (CHF). Although Credit Suisse has not determined or

estimated how many of those accounts were hidden from U.S. authorities, the data suggests the

vast majority were undeclared. To date, due to Swiss Government restrictions, the United States

has obtained the names of only about 230 U.S. clients with hidden accounts at Credit Suisse. 

Recruiting U.S. Clients and Facilitating Secrecy. The investigation found that, from at

least 2001 to 2008, Credit Suisse recruited U.S. clients to open Swiss accounts, and employed a

number of banking practices that helped its U.S. customers conceal their Swiss accounts from

U.S. authorities. Those practices included:

1. Sending Swiss bankers to the United States to secretly recruit clients and service existing accounts;
2. Sponsoring a New York office that served as a hub of activity on U.S. soil for Swiss bankers; and helping customers mask their Swiss accounts by referring them to “intermediaries” that could form offshore shell entities for them and by opening accounts in the name of those offshore entities.
3. One former customer described how, on one occasion, a Credit Suisse banker travelled to the United States to meet with the customer at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and, over breakfast, handed the customer bank statements hidden in a Sports Illustrated magazine.
4. Credit Suisse also sent Swiss bankers to recruit clients at bank sponsored events, including the annual “Swiss Ball” in New York and golf tournaments in Florida. The Credit Suisse New York office kept a document listing “important phone numbers”of intermediaries that formed offshore shell entities for some of the bank’s U.S. customers.
5. Credit Suisse also encouraged U.S. customers to travel to Switzerland, providing them with a branch office at the Zurich airport offering a full range of banking services.
6. Nearly 10,000 U.S. customers availed themselves of that convenience.

The bank’s own investigation indicates that Swiss bankers were well aware that some U.S. clients wanted to conceal their accounts from U.S. authorities, and either turned a blind eye to the accounts’ undeclared status, or at times actively assisted those accountholders to hide assets from U.S. authorities.

Have Un-Reported Offshore Income?

Value Your Freedom?

 

Contact the Tax Lawyers at

Marini & Associates, P.A.

  

for a FREE Tax Consultation Contact US at

www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms

or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243) 

Call

Send SMS

Add to Skype

You'll need Skype CreditFree via Skype

IRS Criminal Investigation Issues Annual Report

 
The Internal Revenue Service today announced the release of its IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) Annual Report for fiscal year 2013, reflecting significant increases in enforcement actions against tax criminals and a robust rise in convictions, including identity theft.

CI investigates potential criminal violations of the Internal Revenue Code and related financial crimes in a manner to foster confidence in the tax system and compliance with the law.

High points of fiscal year 2013 include:

• a 12.5 percent increase in investigations initiated compared to the prior year.
• a nearly 18 percent gain in prosecution recommendations compared to the prior year.
• CI initiated 5,314 cases
• CI recommended 4,364 cases for prosecution.
• These increases were accomplished at a time when agent resources decreased more than 5 percent.
• Meanwhile, convictions rose more than 25 percent compared to the prior year.

The conviction rate is especially important because it reflects the quality of our case work, our teamwork with law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, and it represents an increase over 2011 and 2012,” said Richard Weber, Chief of Criminal Investigation.

CI continues to play a vital role in the fight against identity theft. CI initiated over 1,400 investigations and recommended prosecution of over 1,250 individuals who were involved in identity theft crimes during fiscal 2013.

In addition, the 36-page report summarizes a wide variety of IRS CI activity on a range of tax crimes, money laundering, public corruption, terrorist financing and narcotics trafficking financial crimes during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2013.

 “Our cases involved individuals and corporations from all segments of society. They led us into corporate board rooms, offices of public officials, tax preparation businesses, identity theft gangs and narcotics trafficking organizations,” Weber said.

 "This report highlights some of the many noteworthy cases that were completed by CI, which is just the tip of the iceberg of the complex cases we completed this past year,”

IRS-CI continues to make our mark in history as the best financial investigators in the world." 

Have Un-Reported Income?

Value Your Freedom?

Contact the Tax Lawyers at

Marini & Associates, P.A.

  

for a FREE Tax Consultation Contact US at

www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms

or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243) 

Sources

IR-2014-18

CI Annual Report

Call

Send SMS

Add to Skype

You'll need Skype CreditFree via Skype

Additional FATCA Guidance Submitted for Publication.

Regulations revising and further clarifying the final FATCA regulations under chapter 4 have been submitted to the Office of the Federal Register for publication.

Regulations to coordinate the FATCA regulations under chapter 4 with the withholding and information reporting rules under chapters 3 and 61, and section 3406 have also been submitted to the Office of the Federal Register for publication.

DISCLAIMER:  This guidance has been submitted to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) for publication and is currently pending placement on public display at the OFR and publication in the Federal Register.  The version of the regulations released today may vary slightly from the published document if minor editorial changes are made during the OFR review process.  The document published in the Federal Register will be the official document.

Click here to preview these regulations.  

Have FATCA Problems? 

 

Contact the Tax Lawyers at

Marini & Associates, P.A.  

 

for a FREE Tax Consultation

at: www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms or

Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243)

Call

Send SMS

Add to Skype

You'll need Skype CreditFree via Skype

The US Knows Where Offshore Tax Evaders Live & Bank!

Move up Move down

IRS Reveals Dirty Dozen Scams For 2014 Kelly Phillips Erb Contributor

Despite Offshore Haul, IRS Hunts Quiet Disclosures, First Time FBARs Robert W. Wood Contributor

No Jail Time For Beanie Babies Billionaire Tax Evader Ty Warner Janet Novack Forbes Staff

What's The FBAR Statute Of Limitations? Robert W. Wood Contributor

The US is track down hidden offshore accounts, and the latest news is a report that shows which states have the most taxpayers disclosing such accounts (California is No. 1), and where they are located (Switzerland is tops).

Taxpayers in at least 45 states and the District of Columbia reported accounts in 68 countries and territories.

The new U.S. Government Accountability Office report: “IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program: 2009 Participation by State and Location of Foreign Bank Accounts,” is a supplement to  its March 2013 report, “Offshore Tax Evasion: IRS Has Collected Billions of Dollars, but May be Missing Continued Evasion.”

In the new report, the GAO looked at 10,500 tax returns for 2008 filed by 2009 disclosure participants, and the 12,889 accompanying FBAR forms. Some taxpayers disclosed dozens of offshore accounts with multiple banks and in multiple countries; some disclosed just one account in one country.

Table 1: 2009 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program Participants by State 2008 tax return mailing address

Table 1: 2009 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program Participants by State 2008 tax return mailing address	Frequency	Percent
Alabama	26	<1%
Alaska	20	<1%
Arizona	146	1%
Arkansas	17	<1%
California	2,524	24%
Colorado	139	1%
Connecticut	210	2%
Delaware	17	<1%
District of Columbiaa	49	<1%
Florida	1,022	10%
Georgia	143	1%
Hawaii	59	1%
Idaho	11	<1%
Illinois	291	3%
Indiana	47	<1%
Iowa	17	<1%
Kansas	22	<1%
Kentucky	24	<1%
Louisiana	39	<1%
Maine	25	<1%
Maryland	203	2%
Massachusetts	307	3%
Michigan	129	1%
Minnesota	59	1%
Mississippi	11	<1%
Missouri	57	1%
Montanab	—	—
Nebraska	11	<1%
Nevada	97	1%
New Hampshire	40	<1%
New Jersey	631	6%
New Mexico	31	<1%
New York	1,844	18%
North Carolina	125	1%
North Dakotab	—	—
Ohio	159	2%
Oklahoma	17	<1%
Oregon	58	1%
Pennsylvania	269	3%
Rhode Island	25	<1%
South Carolina	50	<1%
South Dakotab	—	—
Tennessee	48	<1%
Texas	512	5%
Utah	26	<1%
Vermont	26	<1%
Virginia	184	2%
Washington	231	2%
West Virginiab	—	—
Wisconsin	49	<1%
Wyomingb	—	—
Subtotal of suppressed states b	29	<1%
Other addresses a,c	457	4%
TOTAL	10,533	100%

2: Locations of Foreign Bank Accounts Reported on Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) Forms by 2009 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program Participants Country or territory

2: Locations of Foreign Bank Accounts Reported on Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) Forms by 2009 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program Participants Country or territory	Frequency	Percent a
Switzerland	5,427	42%
United Kingdom	1,058	8%
Canada	556	4%
France	528	4%
Israel	510	4%
Germany	484	4%
China	394	3%
Hong Kong	362	3%
Taiwan	307	2%
India	306	2%
Italy	189	1%
Luxembourg	174	1%
Australia	161	1%
Singapore	156	1%
Cayman Islands	148	1%
Liechtenstein	142	1%
Netherlands	121	1%
Austria	116	1%
Ireland	110	1%
Sweden	107	1%
Belgium	106	1%
Mexico	102	1%
Isle of Man (UK)	90	1%
South Korea	86	1%
Japan	83	1%
Spain	82	1%
South Africa	81	1%
Jersey (UK)	72	1%
New Zealand	72	1%
Bahamas	69	1%
Brazil	59	<1%
Thailand	54	<1%
Bermuda	52	<1%
Denmark	52	<1%
Norway	50	<1%
Greece	49	<1%
Virgin Islands (British)	49	<1%
Monaco	45	<1%
Panama	44	<1%
Philippines	39	<1%
Costa Rica	33	<1%
Netherlands (Antilles)	32	<1%
Colombia	29	<1%
Turkey	29	<1%
Guernsey	26	<1%
Hungary	25	<1%
Malaysia	25	<1%
United Arab Emirates	22	<1%
Jamaica	20	<1%
Dominican Republic	18	<1%
Lebanon	18	<1%
Poland	18	<1%
Venezuela	18	<1%
Chile	15	<1%
Cyprus	15	<1%
Finland	15	<1%
Antigua & Barbuda	14	<1%
Argentina	14	<1%
Iran	14	<1%
Portugal	14	<1%
Russia	14	<1%
Egypt	13	<1%
Uruguay	13	<1%
Sri Lanka	12	<1%
Guatemala	12	<1%
Czech Republic	11	<1%
Pakistan	11	<1%
Saint Kitts & Nevis	10	<1%

 The 58 other countries and territories included had 1% or less of the total number of foreign bank accounts reported.

Offshore tax evasion continues to be a hot issue in Washington. The IRS included “hiding income offshore” on its dirty dozen list of tax scams for 2014, touting the voluntary disclosure program and warning: “It is in the best long-term interest of taxpayers to come forward, catch up on their filing requirements and pay their fair share.” The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a hearing on February 26, “Offshore Tax Evasion: The Effort to Collect Unpaid Taxes on Billions in Hidden Offshore Accounts.”

At the same time, the National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson, in her January annual report to Congress, points out the impact of the disclosure programs on taxpayers who make honest mistakes as one of the most serious problems encountered by taxpayers.

Have Un-Reported Income From an Offshore Account?

Contact the Tax Lawyers at 

Marini & Associates, P.A.  

 

for a FREE Tax Consultation

at: www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms or

Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243888 882-9243)

Sources

GAO

Forbes

Call

Send SMS

Add to Skype

You'll need Skype CreditFree via Skype