International Data Exchange Service for FATCA Launched
On January 12, 2015, the IRS announced that it had opened a data exchange service for enrollment by financial institutions and countries to use for complying with a U.S. tax law. The purpose of the data exchange service is to facilitate the exchange of information between foreign financial institutions and host country tax authorities, on the one hand […]
What’s In Your Wallet? Uncle Sam Wants To Know
Folks with Panamanian bank accounts may soon be getting some official-looking envelopes in the mail, as the Justice Department recently served John Doe subpoenas on FedEx, DHL, Western Union and a number of other shipping and wire transfer companies. These summonses require the targets to turn over any documents or material relating to their business […]
National Taxpayer Advocate Lambasts IRS’s OVDP Programs and FBAR Penalties
Here ye, here ye! National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson recently gave her annual report to Congress. And she didn’t mince words. She lambasted the IRS for relentlessly asserting onerous offshore penalties including its disproportionate treatment of non-willful taxpayers caught in the labyrinth of foreign asset reporting. Ms. Olson’s report asks the IRS to change its […]