Jan Allen to Speak on IRS FBAR and Willfulness

On October 11, 2017 from noon to 2:00 pm pacific time, Jan Allen will speak on IRS FBAR and willfulness during a live webcast entitled:

“Willfulness and the IRS Disclosure Programs: Are You Compliant?”

The program will answer the questions of US taxpayers and foreign nationals who live and work in the United States who have bank and investment accounts outside of the US.  For many years, the US Congress and the IRS was convinced US taxpayers were shielding income and assets from the IRS using offshore accounts and multiple corporate shell strategies.  Congress worked with the US Department of the Treasury and the IRS to develop the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act or FATCA.  FATCA forces sovereign nations and foreign banks and investment houses to comply with US demands or face exclusion from access to US Markets.

The Justice Department filed suit against major Swiss bank and financial institutions resulting in a huge financial settlement worth hundreds of millions of dollars.  FATCA requires foreign banks, investment houses and sovereign tax agencies to provide detailed account information directly to the IRS in electronic format disclosing the accounts, balances and transactions as well as taxpayer identification numbers and credentials.  The IRS wants to know clearly who has a “beneficial interest” in any foreign account.

These accounts have been required to be reported on the IRS Foreign Bank Account Report or FBAR for over 10 years.  The failure to list every account and accurate information regarding balances and related income exposes the US taxpayer to huge penalties and interest for each year in question.  IRS FBAR and willfulness penalties are based upon the highest accumulated balance at any point in a tax year, and have no relation to present balance or available funds. As a result, penalties often exceed the present value of the account.