Posts Tagged ‘Offshore investment’
Will Mitt Romney Tone Down the U.S. “War on Offshore?”
I don’t spend much time following the U.S. presidential campaign. My assumption is that every candidate will promptly forget everything he promised as soon as he is inaugurated. This is particularly true if the promise is to limit governmental powers or authority. For instance, candidate Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay prison, end warrantless wiretapping, [...]
IRS: Offshore Banks Will Need to Disclose Precious Metals Held by U.S. Clients
Earlier this week, I participated in to a teleconference sponsored by the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and the International Law section of the American Bar Association. The conference addressed the expanded offshore asset disclosure requirements brought into effect by the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). (For background on FATCA see here, here, [...]
IRS Admits Offshore Enforcement Efforts Leading to Soaring Expatriation Rates
Occasionally, the U.S. Congress discovers to its great surprise that the agency it created to collect revenues for the federal government, the Internal Revenue Service, engages in systematic abuse of taxpayers. In one such moment in 1979, Congress created the Office of the Taxpayer Ombudsman as a taxpayer advocate within the IRS. This office eventually [...]
Asset Protection with Annuities and Life Insurance
Only minimal protection exists under federal bankruptcy laws for life insurance and annuity contracts, but laws in some states exempt certain annuities and life insurance policies from creditor claims. It’s also difficult for a creditor to sustain a fraudulent conveyance argument if you purchase a life insurance contract or (especially) an annuity. This is because [...]
Your Second Home—Offshore
Owning real estate in another country provides many benefits for U.S. investors: * A non-reportable offshore asset (if owned individually). * A refuge in times of political or economic uncertainty. * The possibility for profit from rental income or if the value of the property appreciates. * In one country (St. Kitts and Nevis), purchase [...]
The IRS Wants Your Electronic Data
Other than the crisis in Europe or Herman Cain’s latest mistress, what else is happening in the world? In case you missed it, on October 18, the IRS issued what’s called a “Chief Counsel Advice” (CCA) concerning what it calls “original electronic data files.” Basically, the IRS now asserts the right to issue a summons [...]
Form 8938: Not a Prelude to a Wealth Tax…This Time [Part II]
In my last blog entry, I described the latest salvo against offshore financial privacy from the IRS: the requirement to file a tell-all form annually with your tax return detailing “foreign financial assets” with an aggregate value exceeding $50,000. The IRS recently issued a draft version of this Form 8938, along with preliminary regulations on [...]