The IRS released their yearly Dirty Dozen tax scams for 2018. Offshore tax cheating remains on its list this year, despite the large number of taxpayers who have voluntarily come forward since the offshore voluntary disclosure program was implemented. Here’s are some figures from the IRS’ offshore compliance efforts:

• There have been more than 56,400 disclosures and the IRS has collected more than $11.1 billion from the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) since it opened in 2009.
• In addition, another 65,000 taxpayers have made use of separate streamlined procedures to correct prior non-willful omissions and meet their federal tax obligations.
• The IRS conducted thousands of offshore-related civil audits that resulted in the payment of tens of millions of dollars in unpaid taxes. The IRS has also pursued criminal charges leading to billions of dollars in criminal fines and restitutions.

Source: IR-2018-62, March 19, 2018.

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The IRS announced recently that it is ending the OVDP program which has been in existence since 2009. Here are more details from the announcement.

WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today announced it will begin to ramp down the 2014 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) and close the program on Sept. 28, 2018. By alerting taxpayers now, the IRS intends that any U.S. taxpayers with undisclosed foreign financial assets have time to use the OVDP before the program closes.

“Taxpayers have had several years to come into compliance with U.S. tax laws under this program,” said Acting IRS Commissioner David Kautter. “All along, we have been clear that we would close the program at the appropriate time, and we have reached that point. Those who still wish to come forward have time to do so.”

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IRC 6038 Penalties in Dewees v. United States

Dewees v. United States, 16-cv-01579 (D.C. 2017) is a difficult case. The IRS appears to have been unusually tough on this taxpayer.

Dewees is a U.S. citizen living in Canada, where he operates a consulting business. Because the business is incorporated abroad, Dewees was required to furnish certain annual information about the company to the IRS. Unfortunately for Dewees, he neglected to do so for over a decade.

U.S. citizens who hold controlling interests in foreign corporations must annually file IRS Form 5471, which discloses certain ownership and financial information about the corporation. In addition, U.S. citizens living abroad must disclose holdings in foreign bank accounts over certain thresholds by filing a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”).

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Form 8938 & Statute of Limitations

IRC § 6038D, enacted on Mar. 18, 2010, and effective for taxable years beginning after the date of enactment, imposes reporting requirements with respect to certain “specified foreign financial assets”. The requirements are satisfied by an accurately filed Form 8938.

Form 8938, Statement of Foreign Financial Assets, is required to be filed by specified individuals who are beneficial owners of specified foreign assets in excess of the filing threshold.

IRS statute of limitations are time periods established by law to review, analyze, and resolve taxpayer and/or IRS tax-related issues. The Internal Revenue Code requires the IRS to assess, refund, credit, and collect taxes within specified limits. Once the applicable statute of limitations has expired, the IRS cannot assess additional tax, allow a claim for refund, or take collections action.

The general statute of limitations on assessment of taxes on a tax return is three years under IRC § 6501(a). There are at least two exceptions unique to offshore compliance cases:

1. IRC § 6501(e)(1)(A)(ii) Where income attributed to a specified foreign financial asset is omitted and in excess of $5,000, the statute may be extended to 6 years with respect to the omitted income from the specified asset.
2. IRC§ 6501(c)(8)(A) Where Form 8938 or any other international information return is required to be filed with a tax return, the statute is extended for any tax imposed under Title 26 with respect to any tax return, event, or period to which such information relates for three years after the information is provided (e.g., filing an accurate and complete form). Read more

CFCs, Tax Deferral, and Subpart F Income

While a U.S. corporation is subject to tax on its earnings and then its shareholders on their dividends, the U.S. has no taxing jurisdiction on a foreign corporation that neither receives U.S.-source income nor has income effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business. However, any dividends earned by U.S. shareholders from foreign corporations are taxable. Without anti-deferral rules in place, U.S. individuals could make investments through foreign entities and indefinitely defer taxation in the U.S. by not issuing dividends. In addition to PFIC rules, Subpart F provisions are powerful anti-deferral mechanisms to prevent this deferral of foreign earned income. Subpart F rules, discussed below, apply to CFCs.

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Foreign Account Reporting and Exchanges of Information

A question those who are seriously non-compliant with reporting of foreign accounts and assets sometimes ask is, “how will the IRS discover my account?” Hopefully this article will shed some light.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

Automatic exchanges of foreign account information with the IRS are received by foreign financial institutions (FFIs) pursuant to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) which was passed into law in March 2010. FATCA requires financial institutions (FIs) to report certain information about certain financial accounts held by United States taxpayers, or by foreign entities in which United States taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest.

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FIRPTA witholding rules may apply to a disposition of a U.S. real property interest by a foreign person.  Such transactions are subject to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 (FIRPTA) income tax withholding. FIRPTA authorized the United States to tax foreign persons on dispositions of U.S. real property interests.

Here’s what buyer and sellers need to know in situations where the buyer might be considered a foreign person.

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United States v. Paul Manafort and Robert Gates: An Offshore Tax Evasion Case

On October 27, 2017, the Government filed criminal charges against former Trump aides, Paul J. Manafort and Richard W. Gates, III. While these are only allegations and all defendants should be considered innocent until otherwise proven, the case provides some important lessons in offshore compliance cases. I expect that many with undisclosed offshore assets will be unnerved by this case, but hopefully by understanding the particular facts in this case, such individuals won’t jump to conclusions about the best way to proceed in their situation.

There are a number of federal charges in the case, so I will try to discuss only the facts as they relate to offshore tax non-compliance.

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IRS Audits of Streamlined Applications

A question that’s asked by every client in a streamlined compliance filing is: “will I get audited?” This article will hopefully shed some light.

Here’s what the IRS says:

Returns submitted under either the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures or the Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures will not be subject to IRS audit automatically, but they may be selected for audit under the existing audit selection processes applicable to any U. S. tax return and may also be subject to verification procedures in that the accuracy and completeness of submissions may be checked against information received from banks, financial advisors, and other sources.

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Foreign Life Insurance Taxation

Life insurance can be good way to ensure that loved ones are taken care of in the event of an unfortunate situation. However, owning a foreign life insurance policy with cash value can prove to be more of a headache than it’s worth. We’ve come across such types of investments regularly in our offshore compliance cases; the reporting and tax obligations can be burdensome. Hopefully, this article will help foreign insurance policy owners understand their U.S. tax obligations.

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