As I have mentioned in many other posts, there is nothing wrong with using Swiss bank accounts or offshore entities. A recent front page article in the New York Times noted that Mitt Romney and his wife hold millions of dollars in a Swiss bank account and millions more in partnerships in the Cayman Islands.
IRS Form 8938 — Another Reporting Requirement for Offshore Assets
The IRS is continuing its efforts to identify sources of offshore taxable income of U.S. taxpayers. This has lead to a new reporting requirement. Many U.S. taxpayers with foreign assets must now file IRS Form 8938 – Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets. This new requirement is applicable to the 2011 tax year, and must be
Offshore Bank Accounts Are Still Advisable for Many Americans
Offshore bank accounts have been getting more and more scrutiny in recent years. An article in last week’s Bloomberg News by David Voreacos outlines yet another U.S. investigation relating to foreign banks. Eight offshore banks are now under a federal grand jury investigation — for facilitating tax evasion by U.S. citizens.
But none of this
Reporting Rules for Offshore Trusts
Offshore trusts have very stringent reporting requirements. Some of the major filing requirements are the following:
- IRS Form 1040 NR — while a domestic trust files an IRS Form 1041, a foreign trust must file a Form 1040 NR.
- IRS Forms 3520 and 3520-A.
- TD F 90-22.1 (FBAR) if their are foreign accounts. This is required for any foreign
Revocable versus Irrevocable Trusts
Following up on my posts of January 26, 2011 and July 21, 2010 — I want to emphasize again that not all trusts provide asset protection.
A so-called revocable "living trust" (often designed for probate avoidance) can protect beneficiaries of that trust from claims of creditors. For example, you can protect assets that you place
Nevis Is A Good Choice For An Offshore LLC
In the United States, forming an LLC in a particular state (such as Delaware) can provide significantly better asset protection advantages than forming that LLC in certain other states. The same holds true for offshore LLCs. Nevis is currently one of the best offshore jurisdictions for a limited liability company.
Forming a limited liability company
Texas Billionaire Fights S.E.C. Allegations Regarding Offshore Trusts
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission recently filed suit against two Texas brothers (Sam and Charles Wyly) alleging an elaborate securities sham to fraudulently sell offshore assets. Sam Wyly is on the Forbes list of billionaires. According to a front page article by David Segal in the August 23, 2010 New York Times
Domestic Asset Protection Trust Versus Offshore Asset Protection Trust
Alaska was the first state in the United States to pass a domestic asset protection trust statute. Prior to 1997, this type of protection could only be obtained in offshore jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man. A number of other states — including Delaware — have subsequently enacted similar statutes. There is now an ongoing
Surrendering Some Control of Your Assets Required for Asset Protection Trust
Any trust that can help protect your assets from creditors requires that you surrender at least some control over those assets. This goes for an offshore trust; a so-called "domestic asset protection trust"; an irrevocable life insurance trust; and any other trust that gives you creditor protection. If you think about it, this is just common sense. If
Best jurisdiction for an offshore trust?
More than 30 foreign jurisdictions now have asset protection trust statutes. The Cook Islands was the first to adopt an International Trust Act for asset protection purposes in 1989, and many other jurisdictions have based their statutes in whole or in part on Cook Islands’ law. A number of other jurisdictions have traditionally relied on