Publications
Tax Controversy
“Third Circuit Affirms Dual Canadian-U.S. Citizen is Liable for FBAR Penalties in ‘United States v. Collins’ as Recklessness is Willful” 51 Bloomberg Tax Management International Journal No. 8 (August 5, 2022)
The taxpayer, Richard Collins, is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States who worked as a professor in the United States, France, and Canada since the 1960s. Mr. Collins not only opened bank accounts in the three countries in which he lived, but he also opened a Swiss bank account in the 1970s even though he never lived in Switzerland. Mr. Collins did not report any of his foreign bank accounts….
“United States v. Boyd: Ninth Circuit Sides With the Taxpayer for Single Late Penalty on FBAR Reporting Multiple Foreign Accounts” 50 Bloomberg BNA Tax Management International Journal No. 5 (May 7, 2021)
In United States v. Boyd, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a taxpayer who fails to file FinCEN Report 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (the “FBAR”), is subject to a single penalty for the failure to file, instead of multiple penalties based upon the number accounts reported on the FBAR.
“IRS Provides Reporting and Penalty Relief for Canadian RESP and RDSP Arrangements, As Well As Other Foreign Retirement and Non-Retirement Plan Trusts” 49 Bloomberg Tax Management International Journal No. 5 (May 8, 2020)
In 2014, the Internal Revenue Service exempted U.S. citizens and residents from certain reporting obligations to which their interests in Canadian Registered Retirement Savings Plans (“RRSPs”) and Registered Retirement Income Funds (“RRIFs”) were subject.
“IRS Brings the Hammer Down on those Who Waited” 48 Bloomberg BNA Tax Management International Journal 34 (January 4, 2019)
By Memorandum dated November 20, 2018 from Kirsten B. Wielobob, Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement (the “Memorandum”), the Internal Revenue Service updated rules which will govern foreign and domestic voluntary disclosures following closing of the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program on September 28, 2018.
“Wonderland Redux: The Meaning of Willful” 47 Bloomberg BNA Tax Management International Journal 582 (September 14, 2018)
In a recently published Program Manager Technical Advice dated May 23, 2018 (the “PTM”), a “Senior Technician Adviser” in the Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel provided guidance on the meaning of “willful” under 31 U.S.C. 5321(a)(5)(C) and the level of proof necessary to establish a civil violation of the FBAR requirements.