Weighing the Pros and Cons Of Holding Foreign Real Estate – It’s Not For Everybody

If you have ever thought of owning foreign real estate, but have doubts of its merits, this post is going to outline some of the primary benefits that ownership of offshore real estate entails. It will also shed some light on the common pitfalls that Americans may encounter when acquiring offshore real estate. Whether foreign real estate is purchased for recreational purposes, like owning a second vacation home, or it is used to help diversify one’s portfolio, a legal offshore real estate investment can be a viable option for some US citizens, but it certainly isn’t for everybody. The primary…

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IT’S A SCAM!

We get a lot of questions from clients about inquiries from IRS.  Seems that when someone gets a letter or notice from our favorite federal agency most people instinctively hit the panic button. Thieves have discovered America’s paranoia over the IRS and have learned a new trick to capitalize on it, apparently with some success. The scam goes like this:   You will get a series of phone calls from someone claiming to be with the IRS. He tells you that you owe some amount, that it is long past due, and that he is here to help you resolve...
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Ahhh… springtime!

Well, it’s finally June, and now that Spring is in the air, our hearts and minds turn to thoughts of….Filing FBARS! In case you forgot, an FBAR is the form you must file by June 30 if you have signature authority over a foreign bank account. It is part of the government’s effort to crack down on offshore bank accounts hiding income otherwise subject to tax. Failure to do so can subject you to HUGE penalties, as a Mr Zwerner recently discovered. It seems Zwerner had failed to report an offshore account for many years, using it to hide income,...
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Taxing System

After just finishing my Nth (too many to count) tax season, its time to sit back and hear the predictable chorus of how unfair our taxing regime is and how it punishes successful people and the middle class while rewarding the wealthy. In fact, a recent study of International tax systems by German economists rated the U.S. 94th out of 100. At least we beat Venezuela! While most reasonable people will agree that some form of tax system is essential to modern society, that’s about where the commonality ends. There are those who feel that a flat tax system, or…

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Taxing system

After just finishing my Nth (too many to count) tax season, its time to sit back and hear the predictable chorus of how unfair our taxing regime is and how it punishes successful people and the middle class while rewarding the wealthy. In fact, a recent study of International tax systems by German economists rated the U.S. 94th out of 100. At least we beat Venezuela! While most reasonable people will agree that some form of tax system is essential to modern society, that’s about where the commonality ends. There are those who feel that a flat tax system, or...
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Don’t be scammed.

Every tax filing season tax scams and frauds increase exponentially. I suspect that scammers pick up on overall IRS anxiety and use that to get victims to send them money more easily. This year the Treasury Inspector General has said that so far 2014 has seen the highest level of scammer activity ever, with some 20,000 contacts reported already. Some advice: If you are contacted by telephone by someone claiming to be from IRS, it’s most likely a fraud. IRS usually initiates audits and collection efforts by mail. IRS will NEVER contact you by way of social media, texting or...
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