Category: Tax Planning

HISTORY OF FOREIGN BANK ACCOUNTS AND U.S. REPORTING

Below is the history of the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, hereinafter also referred to as FBAR and its relationship to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), U.S. Treasury.

I. Statutory and Regulatory Provisions

The legislative framework generally referred to as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) consists of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended by the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act), Public Law 107–56 (October 26, 2001), and other legislation, including the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act).[2] The BSA is codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b, 12 U.S.C. 1951–1960, and 31 U.S.

Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury.

ACTION: Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions directive SUMMARY: The directive, issued pursuant to an April 15, 2021 Executive Order. DATES: Directive 4 (as amended) under Executive Order 14024, “Prohibitions Related to Transactions Involving the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the

FBAR now has a close cousin named CTA

Foreign Bank Account Reporting, commonly known as FBAR now has a close cousin named CTA. CTA is being created as of the beginning of the year 2021 and named the Corporate Transparency Act, to flush out Beneficial owners of Foreign Entities such as Corporations, LLC, and others where ownership is 25%

Recently enacted legislation termed “CTA” that may affect your tax planning

Recently enacted legislation termed “CTA” may affect your tax planning.

The recently enacted legislation is part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) enacted by Congress on January 1, 2021, through the override of a presidential veto. The NDAA is a series of federal laws primarily specifying the annual budget and expenditures of the United States Department of Defense. The NDAA for Fiscal Year 2021 includes the expansive Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA). The AMLA bolsters existing anti-money laundering legislation through several amendments to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), which has been the primary statutory vehicle for financial institutions to assist the federal government in detecting and preventing money laundering since its passage in 1970. The amendme

Warning to Individuals with Malta Personal Retirements

The IRS has now issued their opinion on their understanding of the meaning of pension fund for purposes of the United States–Malta income tax treaty (Treaty). The competent authorities, CA, have entered into this agreement on December 23, 2021, after becoming aware that U.S. taxpayers with no conn

Potentially abusive use of the US-Malta tax treaty

Some U.S. citizens and residents are relying on an interpretation of the U.S.-Malta Income Tax Treaty (Treaty) to take the position that they may contribute appreciated property tax-free to certain Maltese pension plans and that there are also no tax consequences when the plan sells the assets and distributes proceeds to the U.S. taxpayer. Ordinarily, the gain would be recognized upon disposition of the plan’s assets and distributions of the proceeds. The IRS is evaluating the issue to determine the validity of these arrangements and whether Treaty benefits should be available in such instances and may challenge the associated tax treatment.

FinCEN Report to U.S. Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

United States Senate on May 2019 Issue: Eliminating anonymous shell corporations by collecting beneficial ownership information in order to preserve our national security and protect our people from harm. I. THE MERCHANT OF DEATH A Russian arms dealer nicknamed the “The Merchant of Death,

U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, FinCEN.

COVID-19 FRAUD: Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General initiated an investigation into the submission on behalf of five businesses of fraudulent Paycheck Protection P

U.S. Individuals AllegedTax Criminals Denmark

U.S. INDIVIDUALS ALLEGED TAX CRIMINALS BY DENMARK

Part III.

SETTLEMENT REACHED WITH NORTH CHANNEL BANK In August of 2020, the North Channel Bank offered an unusual statement in their website addressing the indictment proceedings of the Kingdom of Denmark against North Channel Bank. Below are excerpts of this statement:

“Over the past three years, under the current management, the bank has cooperated with the investigating authorities in a very transparent manner and supported the investigations.” The business organization under the Bank’s name was used to facilitate”…the illegal cum-ex business at the expense of Denmark and Belgium was already ceased by the current management in early 2017.” The Bank did act quickly to remove any employees where

U.S. Individuals Alleged Tax Criminals by Denmark

U.S. INDIVIDUALS ALLEGED TAX CRIMINALS BY DENMARK Part II. INDIVIDUALS AND COMPANIES IDENTIFIED. As discussed in Part I. of this continuing Article, Denmark is vigorously looking for the 6 individuals who have allegedly defrauded the Government of Denmark of more than $2.1 billion via a dividend-tax