News and Events

For U.S. taxpayers who live in Maryland and have funds stored in offshore accounts, federal tax law compliance involves more than simply filing your annual income tax returns. Among various other requirements, ownership of offshore accounts triggers a requirement to comply with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Failure to comply with FATCA can have serious consequences; and, in order to avoid substantial tax penalties, U.S. taxpayers who have offshore accounts need to ensure FATCA compliance with the help of an experienced Maryland offshore tax attorney.

Many U.S. taxpayers are unaware that they have an obligation to disclose their offshore accounts to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Even if you do not owe any tax as a result of your foreign holdings, you must still report them, and failing to do so can lead to substantial liability.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforces taxpayers’ obligations whether they live in the United States or abroad, and whether they incur their federal income tax obligations in the U.S. or overseas. As a result, regardless of where you live, and regardless of where you hold your assets or earn your income, if you underreport or underpay your U.S. income tax there is a good chance that you will eventually be audited by the IRS.

While the IRS conducts hundreds of thousands of audits every year, if you are being audited, this is far from a routine situation. If you are not careful, your IRS audit could lead to substantial liability; and, depending on what the auditors find, it could potentially even lead to allegations of criminal tax fraud. Here US International Tax Advisors discusses five critical mistakes to avoid if you are being audited by the IRS.

The IRS’ Voluntary Disclosure Practice is a “compliance option” for U.S. taxpayers who are at risk for federal prosecution due to the commission of tax crimes and certain tax-related offenses. If you believe that you may be guilty of a federal crime, taking advantage of the Voluntary Disclosure Practice could be a good option. However, there are major risks involved in voluntarily disclosing criminal activity to the IRS; and, in order to protect yourself, you will need to rely on the advice of an experienced Maryland voluntary disclosure attorney.