Checklist and tips on international tax issues

irsTaxpayers with financial interests both inside and outside the U.S. face the greatest risk of compliance complications with the Internal Revenue Service. We’ve known that collection of taxes on assets and income outside the U.S. has been a major focus of IRS over the past decade. Now the service is taking that effort a step forward with a new effort called “campaigns”.

This alphabetical checklist of issues below is extracted and edited from a list complied by an international tax attorney of situations with potential IRS tax consequences.

  • Accidental Americans
  • Americans Overseas
  • Corporate Taxes
  • Foreign Person Doing Business in USA or with US Persons
  • Expatriation
  • FATCA
  • FBAR
  • Foreign Corporations
  • Foreign Earned Income and Housing Exclusions
  • Foreign Gifts or Bequests Foreign Trusts and Estates
  • Foreign Persons Moving to the USA
  • Form 5471 and Form 5472
  • Gift & Estate Taxes
  • Green Card Holders
  • Non-US Spouse
  • Nonresident Aliens (NRA)
  • Offshore Accounts
  • Offshore Voluntary Disclosure
  • Passive Foreign Investment Company (PFIC)
  • Passport Revocation (Tax Debt)
  • Real Estate Investment
  • Reporting Rules
  • Sharia and US Tax Issues
  • Social Security and Self Employment Tax
  • Streamlined Filing Procedure
  • Transition Tax / Deemed Repatriation Tax
  • Withholding Tax

While federal tax policies are not meant to be intimidating or to create anxiety, that is exactly the effect on many taxpayers subject to foreign transaction reporting. The topic sometimes triggers fear and anxiety. The solution is simply to be cognizant and thoughtful in addressing tax reporting requirements so as to not allow a lack of understanding from creating fear of tax issues.

In my own experience, the deliberate decision to ignore tax reporting requirements or willingness to follow non-traditional tax advice (tax shelter promoters)  is far more likely to be a cause of IRS problems than unintentional misunderstanding of a complex tax topic.


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