If you are a foreign national living and working in the San Diego or anywhere in the US, you are required to pay tax on all US income to the IRS, and FBAR reporting will absolutely apply to you. For example, assume there is a foreign national who owns a business or property here in San Diego, and has conducted cash transactions for several years. They may be involved in food preparation, landscaping, home or office cleaning or some other service where cash payments can be exchanged for goods or services. They may own property and require their tenants to make rental payments by money order or cash. They may have wired some of it home. They may have accumulated it in a local bank account. Over the course of many years this strategy has provided some with bank accounts well into a six or seven figure balance. The problem is how to move the money or what happens if they die?
The bottom line is that it is much more difficult to hide or move money in today’s world. The US banking industry has become much more regulated and auditors are making notes of suspicious activity and are required to pass this information on to the authorities and the IRS. The US Justice Department has made landmark progress in the past few years forming (or forcing) agreements with foreign banks, financial institutions and investment houses. These institutions are now providing specific account information including US Social Security or Federal ID numbers allowing the IRS to connect the dots. If you or someone you love has been conducting business in the US as a foreign national, and has under-reported or failed to report income it is time to come clean with the IRS. There is simply too much at stake. Contact us for a free consultation at 866-631-3470, and we will help you to analyze what has happened and develop the best possible strategy to move forward.
