Category: Tax Planning

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.

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” 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

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.

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 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