Donna (not her real name, of course) has been breaking the law for years. The funny thing is she doesn’t look like your stereotypical criminal: she’s well dressed, well spoken and well travelled. She hasn’t physically harmed anyone. She hasn’t stolen anything. I’m not sure she has so much as a traffic violation. Her crime?…
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced an extension of the deadline for its Offshore Voluntary Compliance Program. The deadline, which was initially September 23, 2009, has been pushed out until October 15, 2009. While more than 3,000 have come forward so far, the program is expected to garner considerably more taxpayers before the deadline….
Taxpayer asks: I have what may be a stupid question. I read your answer about FBAR and I was wondering whether you have to report bank accounts in Canada or does this just apply overseas? Taxgirl says: Oh, Canada. Land of moose, maple syrup, and an occasionally decent hockey team… Actually, Canada has a pretty…
Taxpayer asks: I was just reading about the rules for FBAR, and noticed that the IRS says that people who have Power of Attorney (POA) for elderly relatives with foreign bank accounts must submit FBAR reports if those accounts total over $10,000 at any point during the year. As it happens, I have a POA…
The IRS crackdown on foreign accounts has been generating a lot of discussion in the blogosphere. Some folks argue that it’s a waste of resources, others argue that it’s been a long time coming. Today’s Fix the Tax Code Friday question is: Is the targeting of offshore accounts a fair use of IRS resources? Or…