US Expatiation More Than Doubling.

America’s rich are renouncing their citizenship at record levels.

New data from Uncle Sam show that defections by Americans are expected to double this year, largely to avoid any stiff tax bills resulting from the proposed 55 percent hike on the rich; as well as the likely expiration on Dec. 31 of the Bush era tax cuts.

As many as 8,000 US citizens are projected by immigration officials to renounce in 2012, or about 154 a week, versus 3,805 in 2011, or about 73 per week.

High-net-worth individuals are making decisions that having a US passport just isn’t worth the cost anymore.

They’re able to do what they do from any place in the world, and they’re choosing to do it from places with much lower tax rates,” he said.

There’s a catch to renounce citizenship — and thus escape any future US taxes forever — a citizen must buy that unique freedom with a a one-time exit tax of 15 percent on the fair-market value of all assets — including real estate, securities, businesses and personal belongings — less their basis price.

Many see it as a cheaper way to get out from under any tax liabilities on future wealth, while their assets have lower values during the weak economy. The step before dumping citizenship is, of course, finding a new homeland and getting citizenship there.

There are numerous tax-haven nations and island regimes around the world eagerly welcome disenchanted rich Former Americans with quick citizenship, business deals and protections from the US Justice Department and the IRS.

Among the popular spots: Australia, Norway, Singapore, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Guernsey and Antigua.

There is another way to have your cake and eat it, too. The US possessions in the Caribbean — St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix — give a 90 percent tax credit to US citizens living there at least 183 days a year, resulting in an effective tax rate of just 3.5 percent, he said.

If you have any question regarding the Alternative of Expatriating from the US, contact the Tax Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Tax Consultation at www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).

For more on this story, go to FoxNews.

FATCA Compliance deadline extended for QIs

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is giving qualified intermediaries (QIs) an extra year to achieve compliance with the Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which requires foreign banks to notify the assets of US taxpayers to the IRS.

Foreign banks cannot remain as QIs unless they become FATCA-compliant, and those whose QI status expires at the end of 2012 have now had their renewal date extended until the end of 2013.

Qualified Intermediaries and FATCA Implementation

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Though final regulations for foreign financial institutions (FFIs) have not been issued, some basics of the administration of the Qualified Intermediary (QI) Program and FATCA implementation are known. These include the following:

1. QI's must become FATCA compliant to retain their QI status and the QI agreement will be modified to reflect the Chapter 4 requirements.

2. The renewal of the QI agreement for QI's whose renewal is expiring December 31, 2012 has been extended per Notice 2011-53 until December 31, 2013.

3. The renewal of the QI agreement will be accomplished through the online FATCA FFI registration system. This online registration system will be available no later than Jan. 1, 2013.

If you have any FATCA question, contact the Tax Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Tax Consultation at www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).

DISREGARDED ENTITIES - DISREGARDED FOR ALL PURPOSES?

Under the check the box rules, entities owned by one person can often be disregarded for federal tax purposes. Such entities are referred to as "disregarded entities."

As time has progressed since the passage of the check the box rules, the IRS has created more and more exceptions to the disregarded treatment. For example, disregarded entity status is ignored or modified in regard to employment and withholding taxes of a disregarded entity.

The IRS has now issued final treasury regulations that provide that an entity whose disregarded status is ignored for employment tax purposes will be treated as a corporation. Treas. Regs. §301.7701-2(c)(2)((iv)(B).

It would be helpful to put in one place the several exceptions that now exist to disregarded entity status. The following is a summary of the principal exceptions, but is not intended to be exhaustive. If any readers think I have missed anything major, please feel free to comment to this posting and let us know what the item is.

A. Status is modified if the single owner of the entity is a bank. Treas. Regs. §301.7701-2(c)(2)(iii).

 

 

B. Status is modified for certain tax liabilities. Treas. Regs. §301.7701-2(c)(2)(iii). These include: (1) federal tax liabilities of the entity with respect to any taxable period for which the entity was not disregarded; (2) federal tax liabilities of any other entity for which the entity is liable; and (3) refunds or credits of federal tax.

 

 

C. Disregarded status ignored or modified for taxes imposed under Subtitle C—Employment Taxes and Collection of Income Tax (Chapters 21, 22, 23, 23A, 24, and 25 of the Internal Revenue Code) and taxes imposed under Subtitle A, including Chapter 2—Tax on Self-Employment Income. Treas. Regs. §301.7701-2(c)(2)(iv)(A).

 

 

D. Status is modified for certain excise taxes, as described in Treas.Regs. §301.7701-2(c)(2)(v). Although liability for excise taxes isn't dependent on an entity's classification, an entity's classification is relevant for certain tax administration purposes, such as determining the proper location for filing a notice of federal tax lien and the place for hand-carrying a return under Code §6091 .

 

 

E. Conduit financing proposed regulations will treat a disregarded entity as separate from its single member. Code §7701(l).

 

 

F. Special rules will apply in hybrid situations. Hybrid situations are circumstances where an entity is not disregarded in one jurisdiction but is disregarded in another.

 

      (1) Hybrid payments made between a CFC and its hybrid branch, or between two hybrid branches of a CFC, would be recharacterized as subpart F income in the same amounts, if the conditions of the regulations are met. Those conditions are as follows: (1) the hybrid branch payment reduces the foreign tax liability of the payer; (2) the payment would have been FPHC income if paid between two CFCs; and (3) a disparity exists between the effective rate of tax on the payment in the hands of the payee and the hypothetical rate of tax that would have applied if the payment had been taxed to the payer. If no tax rate disparity exists, no recharacterization would occur. Proposed Regulations under TD 8827, 1999-30 IRB 120.

      (2) In certain cases, payments made by domestic reverse hybrid entities to related foreign interest holders are recharacterized as a dividend. Such payments are recharacterized as dividends to the extent of the interest holder's proportionate share of payments by the domestic entity to the domestic reverse hybrid entity that are treated as dividends by either jurisdiction. The recharacterization as a dividend means that the payments cannot be deducted by the domestic reverse hybrid entity. This prevents the use of a domestic reverse hybrid entity to make deductible payments to the foreign interest holder that are taxed at lower withholding tax rates. Treas.Reg. §1.894-1(d)(2)(ii)(B).

      (3) Special rules relating to allocation of foreign tax credits. Prop.Regs. §1.901-2(f)(3).

      (4) Special ruled relation to limitation on use of Dual Consolidated Losses. Treas.Reg. §1.1503-2(g)(2).

G. A new exception now has been added to the list. Under final regulations issued under Section 881, the IRS can treat a disregarded entity in a financing structure as a person separate from its owner (that is, as a non-disregarded entity), in determining whether a financing arrangement exists that should be recharacterized under the multiple-party financing rules of Code §7701(l) and Treas. Regs. §1.881-3. These rules allow the IRS to disregard the participation of one or more intermediate entities in a financing arrangement and recharacterize the financing arrangement as a transaction directly between other parties. It will often be applied where intermediate entities are employed by taxpayers to obtain treaty or other tax benefits that would not be available if a financing transaction was directly conducted between the ultimate lender and borrower.

If you have any questions relating to Disregarded Entities,  contact the Tax Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Tax Consultation at www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).

We acknowledge Charles Rubin for originally compiling this list, which we supplemented herein.

Are FBAR and FATCA requirements keeping you up at night?

We have simplified it; here is what lies ahead as it relates to FATCA implemtation over the next 5 years:

If you have any questions regarding  FATCA or Unreported Offshore Income, contact the Tax Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Tax Consultation at www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).
For more on this FATCA chart go to Convey.

IRS Seizures Did Not Always Comply with Law

The Internal Revenue Service did not always comply with statutory requirements when conducting seizures of taxpayer property, according to a new report that found a handful of instances of such violations.

The report, released Monday by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, did not identify any instances in which taxpayers were adversely affected by the violations TIGTA inspectors found, but it noted that noncompliance with the legal requirements could result in abuses of taxpayers’ rights.

TIGTA said it reviewed a random sample of 50 of the 747 seizures conducted from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011, to determine whether the IRS is complying with legal and internal guidelines when conducting each seizure.

In the majority of seizures, the IRS followed all the legal guidelines, and TIGTA did not identify any instances in which the taxpayers were adversely affected. However, in 11 seizures, TIGTA identified 14 instances in which the IRS did not comply with a particular requirement of the Tax Code. .More specifically they found :

· Five instances in which the sale of the seized property was not properly advertised. (I.R.C. § 6335(b))

· Four instances in which the amount of the liability for which the seizure was made was not correct on the notice of seizure provided to the taxpayer. (I.R.C. § 6335(a))

· Three instances in which proceeds resulting from the seizure were not properly applied to the taxpayer’s account. (I.R.C. § 6342(a))

· Two instances in which the required information relating to the sale of the seized property was either incorrect or not provided to the taxpayer. (I.R.C. § 6340(c)).

Netherlands – changes in legal framework on Dutch BVs

Introduction of the “Flex BV”

With effect from October 1, 2012 new rules will come into force in the Netherlands regarding the incorporation and daily management of Dutch BVs. The new rules are aimed at providing greater flexibility in the set up and day to day management of BVs. This flash email provides you with a brief overview of the most significant changes of the so-called “Flex BV”.

Simplified incorporation procedure

· No minimum capital (of Euro 18,000) required;

· No bank declaration required;

· An auditor declaration on contributions in kind is no longer required;

· Nominal value of shares can be denominated in currencies other than Euros.

Distributions to shareholders

· Distributions to shareholders are to be approved by the management board;

· It will be the management board’s responsibility to assess if it is “reasonably foreseeable” that the Flex BV can fulfil its obligations following the distribution. If the assessment is negative, the management board can withhold their approval;

· The introduction of joint and several liability for management board members for the approval of distributions, in the event such a distribution will cause a deficit;

· Liability of the shareholders for any deficit caused by a dividend distribution resulting in a deficit up to the full amount of the distribution.

Governance

· General meeting of shareholders may be held outside the Netherlands;

· Written resolutions of the shareholders may be adopted by a simple majority;

· Annual general meetings may be replaced by written resolutions.

Shares

· Shares with no or limited entitlement to distributions are allowed;

· Shares with no voting rights are allowed;

· Lock up period in articles is allowed;

· Share transfer restriction is no longer mandatory.

All existing BVs will be governed by the new law. However, their existing articles of association may hold more stringent stipulations that will still have to be adhered to. In case of a conflict between the existing articles of association and the new law, the new law will prevail. There is no need for an existing BV to make any changes to its articles of association, but to benefit fully from the flexibility of the new legislation, an amendment may be considered.

Should you require more information on any of these topics,contact the Tax Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Tax Consultation at www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).

Authorities Bought Coutts Bank's Depositor's List

The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has bought another stolen CD containing confidential details of Swiss bank accounts, it is reported.

The state is already notorious for having bought a CD containing bank client data stolen from Credit Suisse in Zurich, which led to the prosecution of hundreds of German taxpayers with undeclared Swiss accounts. Earlier this year the Swiss government issued warrants for the arrest of the three Westphalian tax officials responsible, but the state prime minister defended them as ‘only doing their duty’.

This time the victim is said to be the Zurich branch of Coutts, the long-established private bank now owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland. The Financial Times' German edition reported at the weekend that the North Rhine-Westphalia tax authorities had offered EUR3.5 million for the CD, which is said to have been on the market since last November at least. It is touted by its current possessors to contain details of 1,000 German clients.

So far, though, Coutts is denying knowledge of the theft. ‘We have no evidence to suggest any such breach has taken place’, a spokesperson told the Associated Press newswire.

This may spell problems for US depositors as well, since there is an information sharing agreement between United States and Germany and the last time the German government purchased a disc of depositors was from Credit Suisse, which later caused the US to investigate and issue a John Doe summon to Credit Suisse.

The IRS OVDP remains in effect and offers a limited form of amnesty with manageable penalties and no prosecution.
The IRS resently released helpful FAQs. In general, these FAQs say the IRS will not penalize taxpayers who don’t owe additional taxes (even if they didn’t properly declare their foreign accounts). Just file your past due FBARs, the IRS says.

The IRS also showed some relief to dual nationals living outside the U.S., noting that a new relief program’s details would be out by September 1, 2012. But on a more threatening note, the IRS says it can rule taxpayers ineligible for the IRS amnesty program.

If you have UNREPORT FOREIGN INCOME, contact the Tax Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Tax Consultation at www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).