Streamlined Foreign Offshore Eligibility

Streamlined Foreign Offshore Eligibility

Streamlined Offshore Voluntary Disclosure – foreign or domestic?

Streamlined Offshore Voluntary Disclosure – foreign or domestic?

How easy is it to freeze a Swiss bank account?

How easy is it to freeze a Swiss bank account?



Easy. If you ignore a letter from your Swiss bank telling you that they are going to freeze your account.

Do you qualify for the 2014 streamlined OVDP 0% FBAR penalty?

FBAR Penalty webinar

Tax Debt Relief: Know Your IRS Tax Settlement Options

The IRS offers numerous settlement options to taxpayers who are struggling to settle their tax owed. In this post, we will discuss about the advantages and disadvantages of some of the most common IRS tax settlement options.

1. Audit Reconsideration

Advantages: There are many situations in which a taxpayer may qualify for this option. Even in cases where the time limit to appeal is expired, the taxpayer can still request audit reconsideration.

Drawbacks: Your tax return should be audited originally and you should have valid reasons with evidence for not attending the audit. The process can take very long and sometimes, you may be required to appeal.

2. Full Payment Installment Agreement

Advantages: An easiest settlement plan to obtain, a full payment installment agreement can help avoid levies and garnishments. Liens will be withdrawn once full payment of taxes is made.

Drawbacks: A collection information statement is required, if the tax amount owed is over $25,000. One biggest drawback is that the interest and penalties will continue to accrue while you still owe. You may get limited time to repay and the IRS can also file a tax lien, when needed.

3. Partial Pay Installment Agreement (PPIA)

Advantages: Partial Payment Installment Agreement allows taxpayers to pay an affordable monthly payment, based on their financial situation. It is easier to obtain than an offer in compromise and you settle the debt for less than the total amount owed.

Drawbacks: It requires full financial disclosure and you will be even required to pay down your debt with any liquid assets. The IRS will reassess your financial situation every so often. Furthermore, the federal tax lien and its impact remain in place right until the expiration of the collection period.

4. Penalty Abatement

Advantages: Tax penalties that start out as a small amount can quickly spiral out of control, so in certain cases, a penalty abatement can stop the accrual, or even remove them completely.

Drawbacks: For many, penalty abatement isn't an appropriate solution because of their bad history of non-compliance. Even if you qualify, you still need to pay the base amount of owed tax in full.

5. IRS Offer in Compromise

Advantages: An offer in compromise allows the taxpayer to pay a reduced amount of the original tax liability. During the negotiation process, the IRS will suspend collection activity and when accepted, any tax liens on the taxpayer’s property will be lifted.

Drawbacks: This offer in compromise program is not for everyone and it can be difficult to get approved. The OIC will be kept in the public records for a year or more. The IRS has the right to intercept your tax refund and any payments you make. For a period of 5 years from the time the IRS accepts your offer, you must stay current with tax filings and payments.  If not, the IRS has the power to revoke the Offer.

6. Currently-Non-Collectible (CNC)

Advantages: This plan will prevent all "enforced collection" activity from the IRS (like levies and garnishments) and you don't have to pay any monthly payments till your financial condition improves.

Drawbacks: The drawback of “Non-collectible" status is that all outstanding liabilities will continue to accrue interest and penalties. This option will provide some temporary relief but does not solve all of your tax problems.

7. Bankruptcy

Advantages: Chapter 7 bankruptcy allows full discharge of older tax debts. The process is really quick; a taxpayer can receive a bankruptcy discharge within 4 months of filing.

Drawbacks: Trust fund taxes are not dischargeable in Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It will damage your credit rating drastically. Even in bankruptcy, the tax lien will not go away.

Tax help for IRS FBAR Problem – Attorney and Tax Resolution

We know exactly how you must be feeling. You perhaps just discovered about this IRS FBAR form and your surprise is well-justified: The United States of America stands out as the only country that tax its people for their world-wide income. Even worse, the IRS provides no exceptions for expatriates, dual citizens, resident aliens, and H-1B VISA holders. As a matter of fact, the only other nation that taxes income in the same way is North Korea!

So if you're new, or not so new, to the United States, your failure to file FBARs and report your overseas income is completely understandable.

Complicated FBAR form
In our IRS FBAR blog site - which is actually read by thousands of tax payers and tax experts - we've written at length about how complex the FBAR guidelines are. Not only you are expected to be familiar with the IRS’ really weird taxation program, you're also expected to understand the requirements of the tricky IRS FBAR form. The FBAR format changes each and every year, and yet you're still expected to fully understand your obligations.

Even worse, it's hard to get someone qualified to assist you. We have seen a lot of tax payers who thought that they were completing it in the correct way and found out they weren’t.

It is not just the FBAR form all you have to worry about
Partnerships, Foreign Corporations, and Foreign Trusts all have got their FBAR equivalent forms with corresponding penalty charges. Forms that include Form 5471, Form 5472, Form 8891, and Form 3250 also have complex filing requirements and substantial penalties if it is not done properly.

FBAR is extremely specialized
This system is not really fair. You have to understand that. You also want an IRS FBAR lawyer, working with you, who knows precisely how you are feeling. You require a law firm that has successfully closed a lot of OVDP and other FBAR cases.

Regrettably, we have seen FBAR cases mishandled by lawyers and Certified Public Accountants who “dabbled” in FBAR problems. We are regularly called in to solve issues that never ever should have occurred. It is best, nevertheless, when an FBAR case is handled correctly in the first place.

Do you need a highly qualified FBAR Attorney?
At IRSMedic: We are a specialized tax resolution firm, having our very own dedicated off-shore disclosure and FBAR penalty department. Since the very first Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative in the year 2009, our firm has helped several thousand American taxpayers deal with their un-filed FBARs, unfiled tax returns, unreported income and FBAR penalty abatement.

We have helped tax payers from all over the nation, with plenty of clients from Dallas, Houston, San Jose, San Francisco, Connecticut, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Atlanta, San Diego, Miami, Washington DC, and New York.

Our firm has helped expatriates and dual citizens with their US taxes from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, France, Switzerland, Ireland Spain, Dubai, Iran, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Panama, Mexico, Argentina, India, Singapore, Canada, Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

The excellent news: You can certainly put this behind you
Professional FBAR legal representation is actually difficult to find. We know you like to get the FBAR problems right behind you forever! You would like to move up with your life rather than carry on living in fear of what the Internal Revenue Service is planning to do. The great news is our firm has helped others in very similar scenarios and we could also help you personally.