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Report Foreign Bank and Financial Account Information by June 30

If you or one of your clients has a bank or other financial account in a foreign country, or has signature authority over such an account, that client may be required to report the account using Form TD F 90-22.1 to the Treasury Department by June 30. Reporting of such accounts may be required, even if they do not generate any taxable income.

Form TD F 90-22.1 is not a tax form and should not be filed with any income tax return. It may be filed either electronically or on paper. However, requests for an extension of time to file this form cannot be granted. Details are on the FBARpage on IRS.gov.

Read more at: Tax Times blog

Draft of Form W-8BEN with FATCA Changes

The IRS released modified versions of draft Form W-8BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding, for individuals and entities.

The draft Form, now divided into W-8BEN and W-8BEN-E, is a pre-release, but as expected, it indicates changes to come for foreign financial institutions and withholding agents.

The new form reveals a foreign financial institution employment identification number (FFI-EIN) and a FATCA ID for participating FFIs and deemed-compliant FFIs. In order to protect taxpayer confidentiality, the IRS decided to issue entities the two different numbers to serve different roles.
The FFI-EIN will be used for filing purposes and the FATCA ID will be used for public verification purposes. A foreign tax identifying number will now also be required on Form W-8BEN.

According to KPMG, informal conversations with the IRS officials indicate future instructions will clarify how a beneficial owner is to complete the foreign tax identification number line as a resident jurisdiction that does not routinely use tax identification numbers and address a withholding agent’s due diligence concerning this line.

Draft forms W-8IMY are expected to be released by the end of the month.

If you have any questions regarding Form W-8BEN, 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).

Read more at: Tax Times blog

US clients turned away by Singapore Banks due to onerous US tax laws

That is what some of the world's largest wealth-management firms are saying ahead of Washington's implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which seeks to prevent tax evasion by Americans with offshore accounts.

HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Bank of Singapore and DBS all say they have turned away business.

"I don't open US accounts, period," said Ms Tan Su Shan, head of private banking at DBS, South-east Asia's largest lender, who described regulatory attitudes toward US clients as "draconian".

The 2010 law, to be phased in starting Jan 1 next year, requires financial institutions based outside the United States to obtain and report information about income and interest payments accrued to the accounts of American clients. It means additional compliance costs for banks and fewer investment options and advisers for all US citizens living abroad, which could affect their ability to generate returns.

The almost 400 pages of proposed rules issued by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in February create "unnecessary burdens and costs", the Institute of International Bankers and the European Banking Federation said in an April 30 letter to the IRS, one of more than 200 submitted to the agency. The IRS plans to hold a hearing May 15 and could amend how and when some aspects of the rules are implemented. It cannot rescind the law.

Most of the hedge funds I know in Asia won't take American clients," said Mr Faber.

Bank of Singapore, the private-banking arm of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC), ranked strongest in the world for the last two years by Bloomberg Markets magazine, has turned away millions of dollars from Americans because it does not want to deal with the regulatory hassle, according to chief executive officer Renato de Guzman. The bank had US$32 billion (S$40 billion) under management as of the beginning of the year.

"It's too complex, too challenging," he said. "You probably should have a dedicated team to handle them or to understand what can be done or what cannot be done."

At industry meetings he attends in Singapore, not accepting US clients is "quite a prevailing sentiment", he added. There are 18 private banks operating in Singapore, including units run by UBS, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and HSBC, he said.

"We have enough business in Asia, so we don't want to make our lives too difficult," Mr de Guzman said.

Asia has the world's fastest-growing number of people with more than US$1 million in investable assets, according to a report last year by Bank of America and Capgemini. Singapore is Asia's largest wealth-management centre, with US$512 billion in offshore assets in 2010, data compiled by the Boston Consulting Group show... BLOOMBERG

Read more at: Tax Times blog

Tax Delinquents May Have Passports Canceled & Be Questioned at Air & Sea Ports

Almost unnoticed, Congress is close to approving a law under which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will be able to revoke the passports of Americans who owe substantial unpaid taxes.
It would allow federal officials to revoke or deny passports to delinquent taxpayers who owe the Internal Revenue Service $50,000 or more.
The provision passed the Senate in February and is before the House now. Revenues it generates would be used to help fund a highway-transportation bill that extends provisions set to expire on June 30.
The measure comes on the heels of a 2011 Government Accountability Office study requested by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) and then-ranking Republican member Charles Grassley (R., Iowa).
The GAO report found that for the year it studied—2008—the State Department issued passports to more than 224,000 citizens who owed about $6 billion in tax. Most of it was for individual income taxes, and nearly two-thirds was more than three years old. 
The report also gave details of 15 cases in which passport recipients owe lots of unpaid tax.
The biggest Tax Debtor owed $46.6 million and was part-owner of a professional sports team. Another owed nearly $40 million and had traveled to 10 foreign countries in the recent past. The report said that the IRS had filed tax liens against both individuals but large amounts of tax still were uncollected.
If a taxpayer has an outstanding tax debt but can't be found, the IRS can alert Homeland Security officials to question the person on his way into the U.S. Typically, they will ask where the person is going and for how long, so the IRS can get in touch, but they can't arrest a taxpayer.
Because of the potential for abuse, people should know what's allowed and what isn't.
If you have US Tax Problems, 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 the WallStreet Journal.

Read more at: Tax Times blog

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