The Internal Revenue Service is offering to waive steep penalties for Americans living abroad who haven’t been paying their U.S. taxes.
But there is a catch: You have to be able to show that you didn’t evade U.S. taxes on purpose.
American citizens living abroad are required to file U.S. tax returns, even if they keep all their money overseas. Similarly, U.S. citizens living in the United States are required to tell the IRS about any accounts they have in foreign banks.
The penalties for not reporting these accounts are stiff. If there is more than $10,000 in an unreported account, the IRS can impose penalties of $100,000 — more if the accounts are really big.
(AP)
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2 Responses
The usual rule is that if you don’t owe the IRS any money, you don’t have to file unless they ask you to (which they usually don’t since if you don’t owe them money, there is a chance they owe you money, and if you don’t file within three years they get to keep your money). It is a waste of time to prosecute who don’t owe money, and to fine people for the offense of not telling the IRS that they don’t owe taxes.
KORACH!!!