April Deadlines for Tax Year 2017

If you have not filed but think you might owe to the IRS (or a state), you have until April 17 to file and pay before penalties and interest are added to the liability. If you are requesting an extension, or are living outside the U.S., you still have to pay to avoid the penalties by April 17.

Do you file your own taxes with Turbo Tax? Or?

Be warn about being a SCAM target.

Popular tax software may expose taxpayers to phishing attacks as warned by the IRS. They have warned of a "phishing epidemic. The various tax softwares include popular  TurboTax, and FreeTaxUSA, H&R Block and TaxAct.  Click here to watch a video from CNBC on how you can be targeted!

Do you need assistance in filing your FBAR?

The U.S. Department of Treasury requires all Americans with foreign bank and other financial accounts to be transparent in reporting the balance. However, the threshold set by the government is to have an aggregate value of $10,000 on any one day over all your non-U.S. accounts. Do you need to file? Don’t forget that the deadline is April 17 but there is an automatic extension to October 15. Ask us if you need assistance or have questions.

Unsure about filing? Did you make enough to file?

Check this link for a chart of the minimum income needed to avoid filing your tax return each year. Click here

Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures? or Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program?

The IRS recently announced it will discontinue the 2014 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program on September 28, 2018. After this date, submission for the program will not be accepted.

The Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures is currently not planned for termination. The IRS did indicate that the Streamlined Procedure may also be discontinued. With the involvement of foreign banks to its account holders, communication is becoming prevalent to US Persons the requirements of report to the IRS and Department of Treasury. The FATCA requirements has become a hot topic among expats globally since foreign banks threaten to block accounts to its US Persons clients. By becoming more informed, the US government is assuming that US Persons are more knowledgeable about their obligations. Furthermore, it may become apparent to the IRS that Americans are “willfully” not becoming compliant by taking advantage of these programs. The US government is becoming more up-to-date on non-reporting citizens and residents through the modern technologies of information gathering.

If you have a wish to become complaint by taking advantage of the OVDP or Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures, please contact us for further information.

“American expats are affected by tax reform”

Uncle Sam needs to stop penalizing Americans and U.S. green card holders living abroad.  Read more about the news in this NBC News story here ….