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We previously posted on April 25, 2016 that Over 20 Countries Join UK-led Pilot for Automatic Data Sharing! where we discussed the international expansion of a UK-led deal to automatically share information on the ultimate owners of companies as over 20 jurisdictions, including British crown dependencies, overseas territories and EU member states sign up.

Now HM Treasury has published a list of 41 countries which have committed to sharing beneficial ownership information. 

Shortly after the leak of the “Panama Papers,” the G5 countries, spearheaded efforts to take such collective action, unveiling a new agreement to do so at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in Washington, D.C. in April 2016. 

Belgium, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Jersey, Luxembourg, Malta and Netherlands, are countries where many trusts and companies are established for worldwide tax planning based upon their favorable local tax laws and there confidentiality laws; have also joined the list of other countries that have agreed to take collective action on increasing beneficial ownership transparency, including disclosing the real person associated with each company or trust. 

The list include the following countries which support the initiative for Automatic Exchange of Information on Beneficial Ownership:

1. Afghanistan
2. Anguilla
3. Austria
4. Belgium
5. Bermuda
6. Bulgaria
7. Cayman Islands
8. Croatia
9. Cyprus
10. Czech Republic
11. Denmark
12. Estonia
13. Finland
14. France
15. Gibraltar
16. Germany
17. Greece
18. Hungary
19. Iceland
20. India
21. Ireland
22. Isle of Man
23. Italy
24. Jersey
25. Latvia
26. Lithuania
27. Luxembourg
28. Malta
29. Mexico
30. Montserrat
31. Netherlands
32. Nigeria
33. Poland
34. Portugal
35. Romania
36. Slovakia
37. Slovenia
38. Spain
39. Sweden
40. United Arab Emirates
41. United Kingdom

The next stage will be for the development of a global standard for this exchange.  

 Have "Unreported" Offshore Income?

 

Want to Know which OVDP Program
is Right for You?

 

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)

 

 

The June 15 deadline applies to U.S. citizens and resident aliens living overseas, or serving in the military outside the U.S. on the regular April 15 due date.

To use the two-month extension, taxpayers must attach a statement to their tax return explaining which of these two situations applies. See U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad for more information.

Taxpayers who cannot meet the June 15 deadline can get an automatic extension until Oct. 15, 2015. This is an extension of time to file, not an extension of time to pay. Interest, currently at the rate of three percent per year compounded daily, applies to any payment made after April 15, 2015. In some cases, a late payment penalty, usually 0.5 percent per month, applies to payments made after June 15, 2015.

Taxpayers abroad, regardless of income, can use Free File to request a tax-filing extension. Alternatively, eligible taxpayers can download and file Form 4868, available on IRS.gov.

In some cases, an additional extension beyond Oct. 15 may be available. Additional extension of time for taxpayers out of the country. In addition to the 6-month extension, taxpayers who are out of the country can request a discretionary 2-month additional extension of time to file their returns (to December 15 for calendar year taxpayers). To request this extension, you must send the Internal Revenue Service a letter explaining the reasons why you need the additional 2 months. 

Details are in Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad. In addition, members of the military and others serving in Afghanistan and other combat zone localities normally have until at least 180 days after they leave the combat zone to file their returns and pay any taxes due. For details, see Extension of Deadlines in Publication 3, Armed Forces Tax Guide.

Federal law requires U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens to report any Worldwide Income, including income from foreign trusts and foreign bank and securities accounts on their federal income tax return.

Additionally, U.S. persons with foreign accounts whose aggregate value exceeded $10,000 at any time during 2014 must file electronically with the Treasury Department a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR).

Form 114 replaces TD F 90-22.1, the FBAR form used in the past. It is due to the  Department by Tuesday, June 30, 2015 must be filed electronically, and is only available online through the Treasury BSA E-Filing System website. This June 30 due date cannot be extended and tax extensions do not extend the FBAR filing due date. For details on FBAR requirements, see Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR).

 

We previously posted Mossack Fonseca Affected Taxpayers with Potential Exposure Should Consult with Counsel To Consider Their Legal Options Now! where we discussed that on May 6, 2016 the ICIJ announced that the unknown source behind a leak of 11.5 million financial and legal documents regarding shell companies from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca has offered to provide the same documents to governments that he gave to a team of reporters.  

Now the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers revelations has decided to close its offices in the British-dependent territories of Jersey, Isle of Man and Gibraltar.

The firm Mossack Fonseca said that it will consolidate its branch and service office network following the Panama Papers leak in April, which revealed how Mossack Fonseca helped clients, including world leaders such as Argentine President Mauricio Macri and associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to establish anonymous shell companies.

Mossack Fonseca "will be ceasing operations" in those territories, "but we will continue serving all of our clients", it said. "This decision has been taken with great regret, as Mossack Fonseca has had a presence in these locations for more than 20 years," the Panama-based law firm added. The office closures were part of a strategy to "consolidate our service office network," it said.

More than two thousand entities were linked to Gibraltar in the “Panama Papers” online database; however, in a disclaimer, its publishers, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, stressed there are legitimate uses for offshore companies, with no implication of wrongdoing.

Data from the leaked files ranked the U.K. as the country with the largest number of links to offshore firms. Some 17,963 of the 214,000 shell companies listed in the report can be traced to Britain, compared with 6,254 shell companies with links to the U.S., according to the data.

Even when only a subset of the stolen documents are publicized, the DOJ can often obtain additional, nonpublic material through grand jury subpoenas served on the entities or individuals that now possess the stolen files or through mutual legal assistance treaties to foreign authorities. 

This raises the question of whether U.S. government investigators are able to make use of these "Privileged Materials" that appear to have been hacked from Mossack Fonseca, an overseas law firm?

 

Any arguments to preserve privilege should be presented as promptly as reasonably possible to minimize the potential for a judicial finding of waiver of privilege.

 

It may take months or even years for the full implications of such leaks to be clear, but for those who anticipate potential legal exposure, the time for them to assess their legal options is now.

 

All U.S. Taxpayers with

"Unreported Income" or "Money"

in Offshore Accounts

Need To Come Clean NOW

BEFORE Their Illegal Activity is Identified! 

 

 

 Want to Know which OVDP Program
is Right for You?

 

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

Sources

GBC

Law360

The Business Reporter