The Nestmann Group keeps you up to date on important trends, developments and risks that may affect you. Here’s what’s new…
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 FATCAÂ see here, here.)
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 became the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS). by authority of first so-called "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" in 1988.
![Form 8938: Another Nail in the Coffin of Offshore Financial Privacy [Part II]](https://www.nestmann.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/articlesbankfinancialsecrecy-full-700x280.jpg)
In my last blog entry , I discussed the newest U.S. government escalation in the War Against Financial Privacy: Form 8938, the “Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets.â€
![Form 8938: Another Nail in the Coffin of Offshore Financial Privacy [Part I]](https://www.nestmann.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/articlesbank-secrecy-full-700x280.jpg)
Are you a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident alien who held assets outside the USA at any time during 2011? If so, you need to know about a rapidly approaching deadline for filing Form 8938, "Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets." Non-resident aliens may need to file this return as well in certain circumstances. See the instructions for Form 8938 for details.
The United States is one of the very few countries, and the only major country, that taxes its citizens, no matter where they live. If you haven't lived in the United States in decades, you must pay tax on your worldwide income as if you never left. Even "accidental" U.S. citizens born overseas with at least one U.S. parent, who never set foot in the United States, must file U.S. tax returns. Beneficiaries of a deceased U.S. citizen living abroad must prepare a U.S. estate tax return and possibly pay estate tax, even if they're non-U.S. citizens who have never lived in the United States.
The blogosphere has been humming the last couple of weeks with condemnation of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. This bill, which funds U.S. military forces for the coming year, has a neat little provision tucked away in Sec. 1031. It permits anyone the government claims is “a member of, or part of, al-Qaida or an associated force†to be held in military custody “without trial until the end of the hostilities authorized by the Authorization for Use of Military Force.†Including, according to numerous blog posts, U.S. citizens residing in the United States.
The United States is one of only two countries, and the only major country, that taxes its citizens, no matter where they live. If you haven’t lived in the United States in decades, you must pay tax on your worldwide income as if you never left. Even “accidental†U.S. citizens born overseas with at least one U.S. parent, who never set foot in the United States, must file U.S. tax returns. These laws affect every one of the more than 6 million U.S. citizens living abroad.
![Form 8938: Not a Prelude to a Wealth Tax…This Time [Part II]](https://www.nestmann.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/articleswealthtax-full-700x280.jpg)
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.
![Form 8938: Not a Prelude to a Wealth Tax…This Time [Part I]](https://www.nestmann.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/articleswealthtax1-full-700x280.jpg)
Back in 2010, President Obama signed the infamous Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCAâ€). Among other provisions, FATCA provides that if you hold a “specified foreign financial asset†(SFFA), you must attach a disclosure statement to your income tax return for each year in which the aggregate value of all such assets exceeds $50,000, or a larger sum as directed by the IRS.
Approximately seven million U.S. citizens live overseas. And while most of them don’t realize it, they’re subject to the same U.S. tax and reporting obligations as any other U.S. citizen.
“A man’s home may be his castle, but that does not keep the government from taking it.â€
I just learned Monday that CPA Vernon Jacobs died last Friday after an unsuccessful battle with esophageal cancer.
If you move cash or other "monetary instruments" across a U.S. border, you may be required to tell the U.S. Treasury.
There are several ways that a U.S. citizen can expatriate; i.e., end their U.S. citizen status.
The "Bush tax cuts" are now a memory. Now that 2013 has arrived, marginal tax rates on high-earning Americans have increased substantially, especially those that earn more than $250,000 annually.
U.S. citizens and permanent residents who invest offshore resemble the recently departed Osama bin Laden more than they might wish to admit.
I've long predicted there would come a time when the U.S. government began requiring individuals applying for or renewing their U.S. passports to prove tax compliance.
Last week, my friend and colleague Mark Nestmann wrote about a proposed form that may soon become necessary to complete in order to obtain a U.S. passport. Â You must disclose a great deal of extremely personal information on this form, including details of religious rites performed at your birth (e.g., circumcision).
If you have the equivalent of $500,000 or more to invest (more in some cases), you qualify for the
An article in a Mexican newspaper reports that Mexican federal police seized more than 150 gold coins from a traveler in the Mexico City International Airport. The seizure apparently occurred last year; the article is dated April 19, 2010.
In the last few months, I’ve received dozens of inquiries from readers who wish to convert their “unallocated†holdings of gold or precious metals to “allocated†form.
In March, 2010 President Obama signed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) , the largest-ever expansion of offshore disclosure requirements in U.S. history.
I've written widely in this blog about the subject of expatriation. From a U.S. perspective, that's the act of giving up your U.S. citizenship and passport, and setting up legal residence outside the United States.
After I expatriated and moved to the Caribbean, I had to confront an important issue: health care. I quickly discovered that while prices for health care services are much lower than USA (typically 50% less), the quality of care varies greatly.
High-tax countries like the United States aren't the only ones experiencing a budget crisis. Dozens of low-tax jurisdictions are, too. Like the USA, they're scrambling to raise revenues, any way they can. And in some of them, your wealth is in the crosshairs.
Offshore centers now face a perfect financial storm. In more prosperous times, revenues from the offshore sector, along with tourism, helped fuel these countries' economies. Their governments emulated more developed nations by borrowing heavily to build up their infrastructure. They also bought votes with social programs and bloated government payrolls.
Those readers living in the United States take property and casualty insurance for granted. But if you move abroad, you’ll quickly discover that coverage on your property may not be available. If it is available, it may be more expensive and contain more exclusions than a U.S. policy.
Expatriation—giving up U.S. residence and nationality, including your U.S. passport—is an admittedly radical step. But it's the only way that a U.S. citizen or long-term resident can permanently disconnect from future tax obligations. (For background on this and other reasons why you might want to expatriate, click here.)
The Obama administration continues to work diligently to crack down further on U.S. citizens and residents who invest offshore. One of those efforts has now come to fruition.Â
In the last few months, I've noted increasing interest from clients wanting to take physical delivery of their precious metals holdings. This appears to be a worldwide trend. Colleagues in Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Singapore have informed me that many of the wealthiest investors in Asia and Europe are now demanding delivery of their gold holdings from bonded warehouses in London, Chicago, and elsewhere.