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Guest Post: Don't Forget - The Deadline To Come Clean Is This Thursday
Submitted by Simon Black of Sovereign Man
Don't Forget: The Deadline To Come Clean Is This Thursday
Are you a US taxpayer? Do you have at least $10,000 in overseas
accounts? It’s time to put those annual disclosure statements in the
mail… and quickly. Let me explain.
Each year by June 30th, US taxpayers are obliged to report all
foreign financial accounts in which they have either a beneficial
interest or signature authority, so long as the aggregate value of all
the accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. The
form is known as the FBAR.
You must accurately disclose the highest value of each account during
the previous calendar year on your FBAR… so make sure you go back
through your bank and brokerage statements to check.
Let me give you a few examples:
Iggy Noramus is a US citizen who keeps all of his money in the United
States. He happily watches the value of his dollars depreciate and
completely ignores important warning signs like the Treasury Department
confiscating pension funds to make up for their budget shortfalls. Iggy
does not need to file the FBAR.
Guy Sharpe is also a US citizen who took action in 2010 to set up a
foreign bank account in Hong Kong after reading an issue of Sovereign
Man: Confidential. He only funded the account with $1,000, figuring
that he just wanted to have an overseas account ready in an emergency.
Guy doesn’t need to file the FBAR either.
Dee Pockets is a US citizen with four overseas accounts. One personal
account in Switzerland has just over $1 million, one business account
in Singapore has $5 million, one small account in Belize has just $50,
and a Cayman brokerage has $250,000. Dee must file the FBAR and declare
each of the four accounts.
Goldie Bugg is another US taxpayer who established an account in 2010
with GoldMoney; she opened the account with only $8,000 at the
beginning of the year, but the market value of her gold peaked at
$11,500 during 2010. Goldie must file an FBAR as well.
The gold ruling is new this year, and we first reported this back in
March. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Division (FinCEN) made it quite
clear that any gold held in the custody of another firm or individual
constituted a foreign financial account and needs to be reported on the
FBAR.
Frankly I’m starting to believe that this was part of a larger
movement to recast gold as a ‘financial instrument,’ subjecting precious
metals to regulation, control, and potential confiscation.
Given what we’re seeing now with so many brokerages cutting off their
OTC gold contracts, this hypothesis is becoming more credible. I’ll
have more on this working theory in another letter.
For now, make sure that you get your FBAR’s filed in time. The
Treasury Department changed its language in the instructions this year,
spelling out that they expect to receive the report by June 30th, which
is this coming Thursday.
The form
only takes a few minutes to fill out (assuming you have the
information), and the instructions are self-explanatory. Consult your
tax advisor with any questions.
If you don’t have a foreign bank account yet, you really ought to consider it for four key reasons:
1) A foreign bank account often makes it much easier to diversify out
of the dollar. If you believe that, excluding some short-term rallies,
the dollar’s long-term trend is lower, you can easily hold foreign
currencies in a foreign account.
2) Foreign banks are often much stronger, not these quasi-zombie
banks propped up with deceptive accounting rules and public funds we see
in the west. Singapore, for example, has never had a banking failure,
ever. I’ve even recommended one bank in SMC that keeps 100% of deposits
in cash equivalents.
3) Banks overseas are typically much more innovative. In the west,
banks think they’re being innovative when they get a Twitter account. In
Asia, you can sign up for the next big IPO from an ATM. You can send a
worldwide wire transfer from your mobile. You can denominate accounts in
different currencies and precious metals.
4) Foreign banks are not controlled by your government. Get sideways
with a bureaucrat in your home country and see what happens to your
assets; there are dozens of agencies and courts out there, whether at
the state, local, or federal level, that can freeze you out of your own
money with a single phone call.
They can’t do that if your money is offshore. Capital controls, fear
and intimidation tactics, frivolous lawsuits, etc. have limited impact
on offshore accounts. It’s often possible to apply through the mail, and
I’ve seen some banks with account minimums as low as $0.
If you have any savings at all, I strongly urge you to consider
moving at least a portion of it overseas for the reasons I outlined
above.
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AKA:
Under the HIRE Act, Capital Controls.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhx2KjaASh0#at=3m29s
$30M gone.
You forgot the U. It should be FUBAR
Can we claim gold @$42.22/ounce like THEY do? In that case I have less than $10,000 worth of gold.
Now that is funny.
Dear US Citizen:
We own your ass. You belong to us. Do you understand that, serf? Even if you live in another country all year long, you still have to pay US taxes. If you want to abandon your US citizenship for tax purposes, the answer is "no": We'll keep collecting taxes from you for an additional 10 years after you give up your US passport. Why? Because you are our bitch. That's why.
If you place money in a foreign bank, you need to report back to us and tell us what you're doing even if it's outside of our jurisdiction. In short: There is nothing you can do to escape financial bondage.
Why? Because we own your ass, serf. You think you are free? Hahahaha. You're property. Your sole purpose in this world is generating tax revenue to feed the machine. No matter where you run, no matter what you do: We will track you down and make you pay, slave. Yes, we know that citizens of other countries like England, France, Japan, Brazil, etc. don't need to pay taxes to their respective governments if they live abroad. But those people aren't 'property' like you are, serf. You're an American and that means you're ours. No matter where you live and no matter what you do, we still own you and your earnings are ours.
Is that understood? Oh, and if you resist we will imprison you. And if you think you can "run out the clock" under the statute-of-limitations, surprise! There is no statute of limitations on tax debts. We own you forever, bitch.
Thank you for your time,
The Internal Revenue Service
Actually, giving up one's U.S. citizenship is procedural if you are up to date with your IRS filings. All you have to do is to relocate, acquire a 2nd citizenship (or are lucky enough to already have one) and then to officially denounce your U.S. citizenship at a local consulate. It's all explained here:
http://www.taxmeless.com/USCitizenRenounce.htm
that actually is a very interesting legal argument to make, if one must.
Can we claim gold @$42.22/ounce like THEY do? In that case I have less than $10,000 worth of gold.
Never noticed your nome de plume before. Far fucking out!
Fuck these US Gov IRS Nazi's!
Simon Black ... Working for Uncle Sam? This article seems like something from the IRS itself.
The whole article makes it seem like the reason you put money offshore is for dollar stability. Bullshit! The reason you put money offshore is to keep Uncle Sam's grubby fingers off it.
Signing a FuBAR defeats the entire purpose of offshore accounts.
My suspicion of Simon grows...
Long sandbars...
Short US citizens
U.S. citizens will put up with anything. The past 3 years have PROVEN that.
The average U.S. citizen must have a steel re-inforced asshole.
The past three years?????
it hardly seems possible!
Self-lubricating.
Its just an oily anal seepage due to too much olestra ingestion...
The past three years?????
lol!
+ :44 +
thanks, s pi-rat. the only way to survive these years:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuxS-9t3tnY
ty2, g_b.
Is this a joke?
The idea is that you should provide evidence against yourself on your tax evasion strategies. So yes, kind of a joke and another lawful right flushed down the sewage pipe.
Nope. FBAR's are real.
And if you accidentally forget to provide the US government with evidence against yourself?
"The gold ruling is new this year, and we first reported this back in March. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Division (FinCEN) made it quite clear that any gold held in the custody of another firm or individual constituted a foreign financial account and needs to be reported on the FBAR."
So, as written, that would include gold held in a private vault in the US?
Maybe...but fuck them.
It must mean foreign. But it's interesting that what the IRS consideres a "collectible" is now consider a financial asset. What about silver?
what about the gold & silver under the bed??
Not unless your Serta has a charter.
telling the usa gubbermint about assets abroad defeats the purpose of having them there in the first place imo. corporations hold shitloads of cash abroad, nobody fvkks with them about it why should i play by their fukktarted rules?
You bet your ass, this is exactly what is going on.
See, when Uncle Sam knows your privates, they sell that information, without your consent, and without you getting any part of that action. Total ripoff by USA Inc.
TBTF corporations don't have to follow any rules related to money or transparency/disclosure or even truth.
Next they will be trying to marry and vote.
They don't vote but choose/finance the candidates you vote for... as for the marriage process that goes as joint-venture, merger, buy-out, spin-off/out etc, same things with different names. Interesting huh?
Most EU banks report any transfers/deposits of US residents to US government. Most Asian banks do the same. They have people by balls in any case - both if you report or do not report.
bank? lulz
An average person in US can not set up a corporation - while transfer to some reasonable bank (Singapore, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway) can be done but the bank most likely will report this back to US. Holding Au or Ag at home presents some risks if shit hits the fan - risk of looting/stealing. I have not seen a reasonable way how someone who is not worth $xMM can hide his money, just slogans.
Not where you can access it by wire. There is always a risk no matter what you do.
How about opening a safe deposit box in Canada, and storing your PM's there.
Unlike Europe or Asia, Canada is accessible by car. And because there's no electronic record of the box contents, there's nothing to report.
You still need a passport and positive permission from DHS to leave the US via car. So if for some reason the Department of State decides that they don't want to renew your passport, you are going to have some trouble getting to your lewts.
Just did it. Passport yes (good for another half decade); DHS permission, nope.
Also, I know here in New England at least, there are many small road, "honor system" crossings, where no guards are stationed. Most of these are for locals who cross over, back and forth, regularly. I can get across, no problem, trust me.
Cheeses, the bankstas have the sheep well trained!!!
Ummm ... what's your definition of "when TSHTF"? ... errrr, bank holiday? gold confiscation? government looting of safety deposit boxes? ATMs offline? SLV/PSLV default? mint/commercial vaults frozen? airports closure?
What are the odds of all of the above in the event of TSHTF? 1:1
What are the odds of an individual being robbed of well-hidden gold at home? 20:1 ... 100:1 ... 1,000:1 ... 10,000:1?
If you don't want to be robbed then don't tell anyone there is anything worth robbing you of in your house.
You have GOT to be kidding me. They have been around forever. Pirates even had them. If it must be hidden then do just that, hide it in your home. If you rent, find a place you will stay for a while, and hide it there. Preferably you move to a state which still obeys they constitution regarding defending said property should anyones life be at risk. This is how America was meant to be. Sound money, sound communties via the lack of inflation ensuring poverty combined with the profligacy of armed homes.
If you gonna have a foreign account you should have at least $50k otherwise, I suggest a good mattress. If you have $50k, then you can afford $10k for a foreign passport.
Those who have travelled and worked in other countries, are comfortable doing this and know which countries will give you passports. If you have the need, the money and the desire to do this, you will find the way. Stay away from banks that have branches in the US.
Good point. How about setting up a corporation in Belize which then opens bank accounts in Europe or Asia?
a) Would a FBAR be required since the individual would not personally have a foreign bank account?
b) Would earnings of the Belize based company be taxable in the US if the funds remain in the bank accounts in Europe and/or Asia?
They've got you covered. There's probably a special exemption if your name is Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush, etc.
"US taxpayers are obliged to report all foreign financial accounts in which they have either a beneficial interest or signature authority, so long as the aggregate value of all the accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. . ."
Hell, if Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney and their friends at Haliburton and Blackwater shell companies fail to disclose some of their 1.9 Trillion dollars in deposits in Cayman Island accounts why should YOU?
Get with the times. It ain't 2008 anymore
Get with the times. It ain't 2008 anymore
What about mattress money? Isn't that better than overseas accts?
And yes...the US citizen has been taught to roll over as long as he can make his BMW payment...no worries
the mattress is a fine idea in zirp.
Could you please post the banks you are referring to?
You mean you want all overseas banks posted here?
Say, what?
I cannot imagine anyone with a brain leaving their physical gold, silver, at a bank that stole from the people and continue to steal from the people.
There are private banks in Switzerland. There are private vault companies in the US and outside the US.
There are private banks in Switzerland. There are private vault companies in the US and outside the US.
I think FUBAR is probably a better acronym.
ahh, you beat me to it. Great minds think alike.
Not so fast. Not so smart ones tend to run on the same rails as well.
Shovels and Mason jars.
1,000,000 Asian immagrant railworkers can't be wrong.
true dat...x marks the spot...or not
When do we get to the "Give us all Your Shit and Get on the Cattle Car Act?
Patience grasshopper! We're almost there.
Now that I've been living outside the US, I realize everyday more and more how much they still own my ass and I can't wait to become a citizen of another country and flush my US citizenship down the toilet where it belongs.
These laws are ambiguous, one accountant friend of mine who is a US citizens living in europe told me his US accountant told him he needed to report his foreign employers bank account details since he has signing authority over it (US accountant said better safe than sorry) he refused as his employer told him if he reported the details he would be fired because the employer has no relationship whatsoever with the US.
You know the US Feds expect you to keep paying taxes for 10 years after you give up your citizenship?
I also remember some talk of an exit tax for assets above a certain level, not sure if that's been made into law yet or not.
Yep, I know I'll have to pay 10% on my US based income for 10 years after I manage to get rid of my US citizenship and pay 30% of my unrealized gains in order to buy my freedom from USG.
What kind of idiot keeps their savings in a bank?
If I don't trust Uncle Sam, I'm sure as hell not going to trust his weaker competitors.
All of this "government as a service provider" talk reminds me of Doug Casey and his "which socialist, tin-horn dictator is most mining friendly."
I'll start listening when these types start talking about which mafia provides the best protection for the money. Until then, they are just doing mental exercises, pretending that these criminals are really public servants. I understand why Simon does it, as he is selling a form of enslavement (homeless, and on the run) labeled freedom. Doug Casey though, is one of my favorite political analysts, and it's always driven me nuts watching his pragmatism do battle with his ethics.
I never saw this article.
What article?
Can anyone recommend a good foreign bank that provides many of the services listed in this article as well the ability to open account without having to go there?
Can anyone recommend a good foreign bank that provides many of the services listed in this article as well the ability to open account without having to go there?
Can anyone recommend a good foreign bank that provides many of the services listed in this article as well the ability to open account without having to go there?
Can anyone recommend a good foreign bank that provides many of the services listed in this article as well the ability to open account without having to go there?
10K Federated Bank (you wont need a FBAR again)
Thanks, now WTF is 10K Federated Bank?
Can anyone recommend a good foreign bank that provides many of the services listed in this article as well the ability to open account without having to go there?
one more time...
I was wondering if that was a while loop, a do while, or a for loop.
Yes. I do know one. My uncle's bank is in Nigeria. Just email your personal information, your social security number, and your present account numbers and I'll take care of that for you.
What about EverBank? Online. But you'd have to check...
MUCH easier just to go to HK or Panama or someplace in person. Have a holiday!
http://liechtensteinbanks.com/
The US dollar will lose its status as the global reserve currency over the next 25 years, according to a survey of central bank reserve managers who collectively control more than $8,000bn.
More than half the managers, who were polled by UBS, predicted that the dollar would be replaced by a portfolio of currencies within the next 25 years.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/23183a78-a0c6-11e0-b14e-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1QW8vxBfg
Anything in the law that says it has to be reported in $US? How the hell am I supposed to know the peak value of my gold and silver in $US?
I thought they got rid of mark to market. :)
I thought they got rid of mark to market. :)
this site used to talk daily aboult silver going to 1500 for months and suddenly no talk about silver when it going down to low 30s, why ?
Cause we're at the store buying it at firesale!
fucking kids!
+125
Wish AGQ would hurry up.
Agreed.
I'm still buying, and thankful for the discount.
Only the dumbass trolls bring up comments like "this site used to talk daily aboult silver going to 1500 for months" because no one ever posted silver would go up to 1500. 150 yes, but 1500? That's just trollspeak from Methman and the like
i stopped paying attention to the price when i realized that what i thought was a sweet deal - buying all my PMs with no paper trail - are subject to 28% capital gains taxes on the full current spot price if i ever need to unload them to buy anything, since i don't have a receipt to nail down the spot price at the time of purchasing those said metals.
Bring it. All my foreign assets are either on a basement, or need a shovel to recover.
I have no accounts at all.
You forgot this guy. Meet Johnny Invisible: he has opened brokerage accounts with ecurrency [such as Web Money or Liberty Reserve] in Panama, Belize, Hong Kong, and/or Mauritius. By funding this way, there isn't anybody that can successfully follow the audit tracks. Each account has a debit card attached to it so getting cash out is easy and relatively anonymous. Unless the brokerage house is willing to flip on Johnny, and in the process lose their entire account base, Johnny says FU to turbo-tax Timmy G. and the rest of the US Treasury retards.
Supposedly in 2012 we have to start reporting all of our financial assets on our 1040s. How's that?
Sure, because they are planning on applying a "needs test" to SS and all that other crap. That's where it was always headed -- the Congress stole the money, now they will say: 'Well, the "rich" never deserved any of it anyway'--the "rich" being anyone with positive net worth.
I used to defend the rich.
However they all seem to support this crony capitalist nanny state.
I am unlikely to defend them again.
Who are the "rich?"
here, it seems rich = people who don't 'need' their soc sec checks?
Define "need." What I need is for those theiving pricks to give back the money they took from me.
need = whatever the theiving pricks decide = need.
(hint: they wouldn't do this if they didn't need to)
It's all so clear now.
I support a 99% tax rate on anyone who makes more than minimum wage and still voted for Obama.
I'm sure Diebold has a record of all that, so it oughta be easy.
"Who are the "rich?"
if you have to ask...probably you
Foreign assets over $50K.
What's even more amusing is that the IRS publicly stated that if they did't get a dollar in new witholding from this, but people perceived the new regulation as making the tax system fair (i.e. implying there is no tax cheating) that the regulation will have accomplished its job.
So in other words, this has nothing to do with preventing tax fraud by the uber-rich, just making it look like they're being "fair."
Meanwhile I'm sure someone who has $250K in foreign accounts is going to get raped by the IRS using the new asset reporting. $250M, not so much.
Seems ZH is having server hangup.
Means testing is proposed to be calculated on yearly income level. I haven't heard of asset disclosure. I'm sure the government has a pretty good idea of who has how much (excluding the uber rich).
I have no idea why someone would be worried about FBAR. If you are worried about FBAR you are probably not even paying your taxes anyway. And anyone storing their gold and silver with an financial entity whether overseas or not is in for one rude ass awakening when everything collapses.
Of course the Sec. of Treasury(IRS) is still going to have to follow the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) and produce an order from which judicial review can take place. I mean FBAR doesn't even have an informal review (tax court) process. DOJ bring an action to recover this penalty is going to be premature.
I see nothing on the fincen.gov website about any new ruling that a custodial (allocated) gold account is considered a financial account and reportable on an fbar. Please share your source.
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=dfa1ec9d87fbcc820538f305c24244ca&rgn=div8&view=text&node=31:3.1.6.1.2.1.3.1&idno=31
This regulation (31 CFR sec. 1010.100(v)) defines a foreign financial agency to include a bailee of gold.
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr;sid=dfa1ec9d87fbcc820538f305c24244ca;rgn=div5;view=text;node=31%3A3.1.6.1.2;idno=31;cc=ecfr#31:3.1.6.1.2.3.3.14
This one, sec. 1010.350, says you have to report accounts with "a person that is in the business of accepting deposits as a financial agency."
Had 40 trillion in Zimbabwe. Had them send the note. I was already FUBARed with the postage.
type "IBC Nassau" in your search - 400 banks on that tiny island for some reason or another. I've heard.
These government men are always here to help, what a considerate bunch of fellows...
"The form is known as the FBAR.
You must accurately disclose the highest value of each account during the previous calendar year on your FBAR… so make sure you go back through your bank and brokerage statements to check."
Are you sure that this form is not more accurately known as FUBAR?
The government doesn't have any money, yet they want me to tell them where mine is?
http://www.hark.com/clips/kfvmfgqsgh-nuts
All entities will pull out the stops to survive.
Why are some of you surprised the government will turn downright evil to maintain its survival as it panics?
SM, the Bank Secrecy Act has been around since 1970, and you're warning people about it now? If you're going to suggest they file the FBAR for the first time, may as well make it clear that they need to retain all of their related financial records, too. For if some poor soul comes under scrutiny due to your advice, they'd better be able to prove they never exceeded peak reporting thresholds for the life of the account(s), or at least did not do so willfully. Not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.
Should be able to take through customs also, using the nominal value. Wonder if it's been tried yet?
Get an economic passport from Dominica ($50,000), go the BVI or Caymans, set up an IBC and then open a bank account in your name using this passport. And that's that. You are invisible to the IRS because they can't/don't investigate accounts for foreign nationals.
http://www.oecd.org/document/7/0,3746,en_2649_33767_38312839_1_1_1_1,00....
20+ GS-14 level vacancies, use keyword 'overseas'
http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/a9trirs.asp
It has gone up a bit. $75k if you're single, $100k if you're married with 2 or less children (extras run $10k each).
One problem with robbing people, is that they won't trust you anymore with anything - even things that may theoretically be fair. Forget the whole "Taxes need to be low, else people will just go overseas".... who needs greed as a motivator, when you have Heli Ben, Turbo Timmy and Megabanks, who will just piss on any supposed laws and conventions, and just take whatever they want from others, to save themselves?
I understand why taxes exist, and i at least in theory agree with them. Heck, i actually advocate a tax that tops at 99% for super-ultra-rich, thus basically having a maximum cap on wealth per person..... and yet, with the way how govs and banks behave, i sure as hell won't let any of both know of my savings, nor let them control them.
When a man grants government the right to rob people richer than him, he is granting people poorer than him the right to rob him by the same mechanism.
I don't think, that i consider the above argument valid, when it comes to infinite hording. There is no reason compatible with logic and the premises of free markets, that allows infinite personal wealth. No one needs to be a billionaire for anything compatible with fairness, logics and free markets.
Rules...rules...rules....!!!!!
Where do you plan on 'drawing the line'? Will you be the Grand Mufti Poohbah who decides what is "infinite hoarding"? Can we appeal your decision on what is "fairness"? Will you publish a quartely list of the only things I will "need"? Will we get an annual COLA? Will you publish your CPI formula for the COLA?
Fucking statists are always trying to add more rules ... and departments to dream them up ... and chambers of deputies to debate them ... and departments to enforce them ... and departments to distribute the booty after they've enforced them ... and...and...and.......
Yes, I 'junked' you. It makes me fucking mad to see "free market" in the same sentence as "more rules"!
As I'm sure you know options transactions are NOT reported on a 1099 to the IRS, when I was a broker some clients did not report the gains for that reason, the key was being consistant, you can't write off losses 1 year than show zero trades the following 2 years (because they were gains) than write off losses again, red flag, same with overseas $$$ either report it every year or NEVER report it, but be consistant, if not you will get audited, so if you have $$ overseas for the 1st time and don't want to report than don't, but be wise and never start than your defense will be "I didn't know" you will probably be fined but not charged with fraud.
It IS possible, though difficult, to discreetly establish an account overseas.
Perhaps it would work like this: take a trip to your jurisdiction of choice, carrying the maximum permissable amount of actual cash (currently a peanutty $10,000). If you have a second passport, open the account in that name. Fund the account with your cash: next trip you can wash, rinse and repeat. Another possibility is to carry out gold in coin form, sell it in Hong Kong (easy there!) and deposit the cash received. Or carry out an Audemars Piguet, Cartier or Breitling, etc., wristwatch and sell it there, even at a slight loss.
Or, better yet, make a trip to, say, Hong Kong (or Taiwan), open TWO accounts at two different banks, fund one with @$9,000 cash brought with you and arrange to have a wire transfer or credit card transfer made to the second account while you are physically there. Then cash out the second account, deposit the resulting cash in the other account and go home.
Be sure to choose a suitable low-profile, paperless local credit union-type institution that might accept a friend's (mail-drop) local address (or, better yet, a Liechtenstein [etc.] bank that offers mail holding so that statements are not sent to your home address overseas). Hong Kong is great for this!
Even better, choose a tax haven-type bank that offers custodial accounts or fully-managed accounts so that your money is working for you - somewhat. You DON'T want your bank communicating with your G-7 home by mail or phone or home internet: FinCen monitors all of these. Ditto for credit cards or debit cards from overseas.
But my best suggestion: hold physical gold overseas in a (preferably privately-run) safety deposit box! NOT reportable, not traceable as long as it is regularly paid up so that no mail arrives at your home address. Have friends there pay your safety deposit rental fee, or pay it by sending cash in the mail.
Most westerners aren't paid cash. Their salaries are paid via direct deposit, with tax already stolen, and are only accessible through ATMs, etc. Without SOME assets safely out of reach overseas, westerners are really an easily-corralled TAX HERD.
What about foreign bank safety deposit boxes? Do they have to be reported? Is anyone sure? Is there a link to read up on this?
I really appreciate this post, because I need to file this form. But it really fucking pisses me off because I know they'll want to confiscate my gold those motherfuckers.
I just tell myself that the only way under current law that they can confiscate it is if you fail to file the form. Follow the current regs and it takes an act of congress to change the law and confiscate it. Not filing the form is just an invitation to have them take it.
Move the Gold and don't file anything. Obviously it is not held in the correct location.
Bitcoin, bitchez.
http://www.bitcoin.org/
As of January 1, 2013 the Foreign Asset Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) will require every foreign financial institution ("FFI") to disclose to the IRS the identity of any "US person" maintaining an account, directly or indirectly. Should the FFI not reveal such information (ie., because the US person does not consent to such disclosure) then it will be deemed "FATCA non-compliant", hit with a penalty of 30% of the value of the account and be placed (without benefit of due process) on a US blacklist that, because of the way AML laws are structured, will effectively prohibit any other financial institutions from dealing with it. So the "choices" under FATCA are: (a) rat out your US customers to the IRS; (b) drop your US customers or (c) suffer a financial death sentence. Compliance with FATCA is a mammoth and costly exercise and, at the end of the day, impossible to prove (thereby furnishing the US with the resulting regulatory cudgel). Banks worldwide are currently in the process of allocating hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of person-hours to determining the identity of their US account holders (including "indirect" owners, ie., ultimate beneficial owners of as little as 10% of the corporate account holder) with a view towards total compliance (there is virtually no pushback on this draconian law). The openly stated object of FATCA(t) is to coerce foreign financial institutions to inform on their US customers. Incidentally, FATCA(t) is in the vanguard of an attempt to impose global obligations without even a domestic territorial jurisdictional basis. In other words, where in the past there would have to be some kind of geographical contact of the foreign financial institution to support the jurisdiction of the law (eg., operations in New York) FATCA's jurisdictional basis is the contact of the US person anywhere in the world with the foreign financial institution. The Constitution is dead. Welcome to global fascism.
There is pushback, believe that (go read Gillian Tett's piece over at FT. 13, July).. Timmah G knows his role, its just the peons in the congress who don't want the paper to stack right. http://www.henleyglobal.com/fileadmin/pdfs/media-events/articles/2009_di...
Thanks, it's good to hear about some pushback. But I don't give it a snowball's chance. Inside banks, there is no such resistance on offer, just a full-tilt push towards full compliance. (Picture legions of compliance officers goose-stepping along to the beat of their institutions' timid boards). The wealthy can afford to renounce their citizenship and achieve liberty. But most US persons, in fact, the vast majority, will be the victims of this global capital and privacy grab. Offending non-team players like St. Nevis and Kitts and Switzerland (FATCA was built on the nucleus of the UBS case, cf. Bradley Birkenfeld) will be ostracised under the long-established structures of the AML laws, cf. the "Patriot" Act, and more importantly, under the auspices of AML non-laws, such as UN pronouncements and FATF directives. There is scant due process in the global AML world and tax evasion, as a money laundering predicate is coming into its own. The insolvent US government not only needs the money, it needs fatcats to scapegoat for its own fiscal profligacy. Enter FATCA.
here's a pushback that does work: Stop Paying Tax
bring (de-fund) this criminal syndicate called 'democratic Govt' to its knees in a matter of weeks
you have been notified so sit on your arses at your own peril because these cunts are clear as day coming for you (stop paying their wages muppets)
The rules are changing by the week on this FBAR bull, see this:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=148849,00.html
A bureaucracy generally cannot find it's ass with both hands, a mirror and a map, yeah, go ahead and cooperate fully. Since when has Congress been necessary to enact anything? Remember, we have a "Unitary Executive" and "signing statements" - he just has to say the word "terrorism" and bingo...
This is all very tricky for the feds -- they need to make sure they don't irritate the wrong rich people.
That's why they employ selective enforcement.
Most commenters here seem too busy hating anyone with wealth to do anythng constructively for themselves. In fact, most would probably turn anyone wealthy in to the governments on susupicion they were a "bankster"...
I guess till one day they can all live together in poverty in their totally "fair" and "equal" socialist paradise...
Let me see if I understand this correctly. Let’s say I work hard and save my income over a period of thirty years and have a nice nest egg saved. Then I put this savings in a foreign account (one for example that earns no interest, capital gains, or dividends, so that taxable income is not an issue). So the FBAR rules are such that if I do not tell the US Treasury where I store my wealth for several years, then 100% or more of my entire life savings is due as a penalty for no other reason than that I did not tell the US Treasury where I store my wealth?
Welcome to panopticon world and its persuasive set of obscure yet draconian adminstrative penalties.
Yes, don't you think that's fair. Your owner the USG has title over you didn't you know.
Yes, you understand this correctly.
At the moment life insurance in other countries (annuities are a life insurance product) are not covered under FBAR.
I think it's time to tell the tax man... FUCK YOU
YA KEEP FEEDING THE DRAGON AND HE'S GONNA EAT YOU. NEXT...!!!
IRS....
Meet Joe Stack......
A good friend of mine....
Walk into any bank in Switzerland, Leichenstien etc and try to open an account as a US passport holder. I've been laughed out of banks after flashing the US passport...literally.
Opening a small account for personal use if you are just in town for a year or so as a means to facilitate local transactions isnt too difficult. But try opening an investment account of any kind beyond just holding cash.
Funny that they want to tax gold as a collectible but have it tracked like a financial account.