International Tax Attorney San Francisco
International Tax Law — and IRS offshore disclosure in particular — is a very complicated area of tax law. Only very few tax attorneys have the international tax law experience you need. If you are seeking an International Tax Attorney for offshore disclosure (unreported foreign accounts, investments, and income), then the International Tax Lawyers at Golding & Golding (Board-Certified Tax Law Specialist) can safely get you into compliance. Offshore Disclosure of foreign or offshore accounts is the legal process for getting into IRS tax and reporting compliance — as long as the taxpayer submits before the IRS finds you first. It allows you to safely and voluntarily disclose your foreign accounts, assets, income, and investments.
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Unfortunately, the IRS does little to prepare new residents and investors with the specifics of what they are required to include on their tax returns, FBAR, Form 8938, etc. As a result, many foreign taxpayers are understandably completely overwhelmed by the U.S. tax system and the concept of worldwide income — and we are here to help them safely get into foreign account compliance.
First, Becoming a (Board-Certified) Tax Lawyer Specialist
Becoming a Board-Certified Tax Specialist is a tough feat — California, for example, has only certified ~350 attorneys as ‘Board-Certified in Tax,’ and most states have significantly fewer specialists (since fewer attorneys are practicing in their states).
The specialist exam for Tax specifically is known for being extremely difficult. For example, in California, there are more than 200,000 attorneys in California, and tens of thousands of them practice in some area of tax. Whether they are full-time tax attorneys or they practice tax law as part of a bigger practice such as estate planning, real estate, divorce, corporate and business law, or acting as outside counsel — tax law is everywhere.
*Beware of law firms falsely claiming to have Board-Certified tax law attorney specialists on staff.
Is a CPA ‘Board’ the Same as a Board-Certified Tax Lawyer Specialist?
While both CPAs and attorneys may handle tax matters, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or Enrolled Agent (EA) is not the same as a tax attorney. The roles of non-legal tax professionals (CPA and EA) are different than the role of an Attorney. Beyond these designations, some tax lawyers are also licensed as Board-Certified Tax Law Specialists, which means they are licensed by at least one State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization.
Recently, we have had taxpayers let us know that they had engaged in an initial consultation with a law firm that claims to have Board-Certified Tax Law Specialists on staff — only to learn that there are no attorneys at the firm who are licensed as Board-Certified Tax Attorney Specialists by any State Bar in the United States.
The firms claim they are “Board-Certified Tax Law Specialists” because they may have a CPA on staff. Preposterous. The only way to become a “Board-Certified Tax Law Specialist” is for an attorney to complete additional years of specialized tax education, pass a rigorous examination, and officially receive the designation from the State Bar. Many CPAs have no background at all in tax, and just because a lawyer obtains a CPA designation does not mean they can call themselves “Board-Certified.”
Beware of Attorneys with ~15 Years of Experience Claiming to be Specialists or Experts
Back in 2013, the American Bar Association published a great article, “Think Twice Before Calling Yourself an Expert,“ about how the current theme is that attorneys with about 10-15 years of experience, and a focus on one specific area of law, will suddenly start referring to themselves as experts – and how it is very dangerous territory for the client and attorney.
Here are some of the key highlights:
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“You have been in practice for 15 years. After starting out as a general practitioner, you found your caseload to be largely made up of employment law matters and after five years decided to limit your practice to that area. You have family who are union members, and word-of-mouth advertising has been positive.
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Results from your work have been satisfying to clients, and your familiarity with the various laws relevant to employment matters is now solid. You teach a course at a local law school on employment law and frequently give workshops and guest lectures at seminars on the same topic. Can you now say you are an “expert” in employment law on your website?
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“You should think twice before doing so.”
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“Put another way, use of the term expert is a subjective claim that leaves much to the reader’s imagination. In doing so, it can easily cross the line into false and misleading communication. State bar ethics opinions are unanimous on this point….”
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Risk of Discipline?
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“Lawyers have been disciplined for making misleading claims of expertise. See In re PRB Dockett No.2002.093, 177 Vt. 629, 868 A2d. 709 (2005) (affirming discipline imposed upon lawyer who advertised in the local Yellow Pages as The Injury Experts and used a list captioned by the words “We are experts in” and listed several areas of law; court noted statements carried an “ implicit statement of superiority with a serious potential to mislead the consumer”); In re Wells, 392 S.C. 371, 709 S.E.2d 644 (2011) (lawyer publicly reprimanded and fined for, among other things, making claims of expertise in advertisements without having been certified as an expert); and In re Richmond’s case 152 N.H. 155, 872 A.2d 1023 N.H. (2005) (lawyer suspended for misrepresenting that he had expertise in securities law).”
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Areas of International Tax and Reporting our Attorneys Practice
Within the world of offshore disclosure and tax compliance, our international tax attorney team specializes exclusively in offshore tax and compliance matters. Here is a summary of some of the key international tax Compliance matters that we offer representation for:
Offshore Voluntary Disclosure & Tax Amnesty
When a U.S. person has unreported foreign accounts, assets, investments, and/or income, there may be a risk of IRS fines and penalties. The penalties can be rough, but they can oftentimes be avoided or minimized by using one of the approved offshore tax amnesty and voluntary disclosure programs that can safely get you into compliance. *Be careful with some of the fear-mongering you will undoubtedly come across during your Google research expedition.
FATCA & FBAR
FBAR & FATCA are two mainstays for aggressive IRS enforcement. FBAR refers to Foreign Bank and Financial Account Reporting. The technical name of the form is FinCEN Form 114. FATCA, on the other hand, refers to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. When a Taxpayer has a FATCA reporting requirement, they are typically required to file Form 8938 to report their FATCA Specified Foreign Financial Assets. The US government and IRS specifically have made enforcement a key priority.
FATCA/CRS/KYC Letters
If you receive a FATCA Letter or CRS (Common Reporting Standard) Letter — sometimes referred to as a Know Your Customer letter — the clock has started ticking for the foreign bank to report you to the IRS — and you should consult with experienced counsel.
Reporting Gifts from Foreign Persons
When a US person receives a gift from a foreign person that meets the threshold for reporting on Form 3520, but they do not timely file the form — the IRS may issue penalties. Since it generally takes the taxpayers some time to realize they should have filed the form, they oftentimes get hit with the maximum penalty — which is 25% of the value of the gift.
Reporting Foreign Pension
The rules surrounding the US reporting and taxation of foreign pensions are very complicated. Whether or not the foreign country has entered into a tax treaty with the United States (such as the UK) will help determine the US taxation rules for the pension. The problem is that not all tax treaties go into great depth regarding specific foreign pensions — such as Australia and the superannuation tax and reporting rules. Likewise, with some foreign countries, the US has not entered into any tax treaty with them, and therefore the income generated from these types of retirement plans — such as provident funds — from countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong may be taxable in the US (even though they are tax-deferred overseas).
Avoiding or Minimizing Offshore Penalties
Sometimes a taxpayer will receive a notice such as a CP15 notice, 504 Notice, or examination/audit request regarding international-related penalties. Our International Tax Attorneys work with clients to try to get these penalties minimized, avoided, or abated.
Expatriation for Legal Permanent Residents and Citizens
When it is time for a legal permanent resident to abandon their status or a US citizen to renounce their citizenship, they will enter the world of the IRS expatriation rules, US exit tax, and the dreaded covered expatriate analysis. This is a very complicated area of tax law. Our International Tax Attorneys have worked with many clients facing expatriation and offshore compliance and have developed strategies to help safely get them out of the U.S. tax system.
In conclusion, the international tax attorney team at Golding and Golding specializes exclusively in offshore tax compliance and reporting. We have represented thousands of clients nationwide and in over 80 countries by safely getting them into offshore tax and reporting compliance.
Late Filing Penalties May Be Reduced or Avoided
For Taxpayers who did not timely file their FBAR and/or other international information-related reporting forms, the IRS has developed many different offshore amnesty programs to assist Taxpayers with safely getting into compliance. These programs may reduce or even eliminate international reporting penalties.
Current Year vs. Prior Year Non-Compliance
Once a Taxpayer missed the tax and reporting (such as FBAR and FATCA) requirements for prior years, they will want to be careful before submitting their information to the IRS in the current year. That is because they may risk making a quiet disclosure if they just begin filing forward in the current year and/or mass filing previous year forms without doing so under one of the approved IRS offshore submission procedures. Before filing prior untimely foreign reporting forms, Taxpayers should consider speaking with a Board-Certified Tax Law Specialist who specializes exclusively in these types of offshore disclosure matters.
Avoid False Offshore Disclosure Submissions (Willful vs Non-Willful)
In recent years, the IRS has increased the level of scrutiny for certain streamlined procedure submissions. When a person is non-willful, they have an excellent chance of making a successful submission to Streamlined Procedures. If they are willful, they would submit to the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program instead. But, if a willful Taxpayer submits an intentionally false narrative under the Streamlined Procedures (and gets caught), they may become subject to significant fines and penalties.
Need Help Finding an Experienced Offshore Tax Attorney?
Hiring an experienced international tax attorney to represent you for unreported foreign and offshore account reporting can be overwhelming for Taxpayers trying to sift through the false information and nonsense they find in online research. Only a handful of attorneys worldwide are Board-Certified Tax Specialists who specialize exclusively in offshore disclosure and international tax amnesty reporting.
*This resource may help Taxpayers seeking to hire offshore tax counsel: How to Hire an Offshore Disclosure Lawyer.
Golding & Golding: About Our International Tax Law Firm
Golding & Golding specializes exclusively in international tax, specifically IRS offshore disclosure.
Contact our firm today for assistance.