Foreign Bank Account Reporting
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Reporting foreign bank accounts, as well as U.S. citizens living overseas who are required to file US Tax Returns are rather complex for most individuals, including tax attorneys and CPAs.
Fortunately for you, JG Associates has provided these valuable services to hundreds of tax payers with overseas accounts and tax returns. We understand exactly what to do to make sure your rights are protected. In most cases, we complete the task in just days.
Our vast knowledge of the IRS and their procedures has allowed us to take the lead in resolutions when it comes to overseas accounts. We never back-down to the IRS’s intimidating tactics. In fact, not one of our 40,000+ clients has ever been criminally charged with tax problems.
If you are an American citizen with more than $10,000 in one or more foreign banks or financial institutions, you are required to report it to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN). Failure to do so in a timely fashion can result in severe penalties and/or criminal prosecution.
At least the IRS created an amnesty program for voluntary compliance called the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP). The OVDP allows taxpayers to voluntarily file past due FBARS and amend their tax returns. This allows them to report the income from these accounts and receive reduced penalties and avoid criminal prosecution.
Currently, a date has not been set to end the OVDP program, but the IRS has advised that they can end the program at any time. If you have a duty to report, you need to step forward and do it now. After all, Congress passed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (as part of the HIRE Act of 2010). It requires foreign financial institutions to reveal the assets of U.S. taxpayers to the IRS or face stiff penalties. As a result of FATCA, banks around the world are now cooperating with the U.S. government. Should the IRS discover that you have or had foreign financial accounts subject to the reporting requirements and decide to audit you, it is too late to find cover under the voluntary program. You will be subject to maximum penalties and may even face criminal prosecution.
Testimonials
”I am a US citizen living in Germany. I make good money as a mechanical engineer for a German company. I was filing self-prepared German income tax returns and paying the German income tax, but I had no idea that I was also supposed to file US tax returns. To make matters worse, I also had a savings account in a German bank that accumulated to over $200,000. $150,000 of that money was inherited from my mother when she passed a few years ago.A year ago, I discovered that I should have been filing and paying US taxes on money I earned in excess of the income exclusion. I didn´t know what to do, so I went to a local accounting firm and they informed me that I needed to file US tax returns before the FBAR filing deadline. I should have also been filing an annual report in the US to disclose any money I had in a foreign bank account. I learned later that this is called FBAR. They told me that they could not prepare my US tax returns and could not help me with the reporting before the FBAR deadline. I went online and read about JG Associates, so I emailed them for advice. They explained that they would prepare my back US tax returns, but I needed to send them copies of my German tax returns which were in German of course. JG Associates told me that their staff can interpret foreign language returns and handle back dated currency conversion. What a relief. JG Associates and their priceless FBAR instructions exceeded my expectations.”
“I am 55 years old and have always lived and worked in the US. About 10 years ago, my wealthy aunt died and left me a large sum of money in a French bank account. I liked the interest rate it was paying, so I decided to keep the account there. I also added money to the account here and there over the years. I have always filed and paid my taxes on time, but never reported the interest income on the French account. Then I read an article in the newspaper that the IRS was starting to crackdown on taxpayers not disclosing foreign bank accounts. I then realized that I may be affected by this crackdown and didn´t know what to do. I had questions, like ‘How far back do I have to report,’ ‘How many years tax returns do I have to amend,’ and ‘Who is going to be able to read my bank statements that were in French?’ I spoke to a couple local accounting firms and it became obvious that they did not have a clue. That’s when I found JG Associates online. They amended 8 years tax returns and handled all of the back FBAR filings. I could not have been more pleased with the results. I highly recommend JG Associates”
