Case in point is U.S. v. George Gaynor Jr., case number 2:21-cv-00382, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, where Lavern Gaynor, whose grandfather was a founder of Texaco Inc., now a subsidiary of Chevron Corp., filed amended tax returns and foreign bank account forms in 2012 and 2013 to disclose her overseas assets, she did so in a so-called quiet disclosure, according to the government's complaint.
Lavern Gaynor died April 12, 2021, according to the complaint and the FBAR penalties were initially assessed for 2009, 2010 and 2011 by the IRS in May 2019.
The Amount At Issue As Of The Beginning Of June
Had Increased To $20.9 Million As Result Of
Accrued Interest, According To The Current Filing.
The government sued the estate in May 2021, contending that Gaynor moved her assets from one Swiss bank to another in order to avoid her tax reporting obligations. She also didn't tell her accountant about the bank accounts and attempted to quietly disclose the accounts later without alerting the IRS to her noncompliance, the government said.
The estate filed a counterclaim in July 2021, arguing that the FBAR penalties assessed against Gaynor for 2009, 2010 and 2011 should have been abated upon her death in April 2021 under federal common law. Furthermore, the initial $18.4 million penalty and interest constitutes an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment, according to the estate's filing.
Moreover, the estate is entitled to a $3,000 refund for amounts it paid against the FBAR liabilities because Gaynor never owed the penalties, the estate argued.
Now U.S. government counsel got the green light from a Florida federal court Monday to negotiate and recommend a settlement in a case seeking more than $20.9 million in foreign bank account penalties and interest from a Texaco heiress' estate.
Bottom line is fix your pre-undeclared foreign income matters while you're still alive, so your heirs won't be stuck with this problem!
The IRS provides many alternative avenues to address your previously undisclosed foreign income. Don't wait until it's too late!
Read more at: Tax Times blog
