On April 1, the U.S. Government Accountability Office published a report detailing what it said was the long-overdue need for the government to take action on foreign asset reporting. The report, entitled "Foreign Asset Reporting: Actions Needed to Enhance Compliance Efforts, Eliminate Overlapping Requirements, and Mitigate Burdens on U.S. Persons Abroad” (GAO-19-180), was addressed to members of Congress.
For various reasons, people, including those with U.S. tax obligations, have long taken advantage of the option to use so-called "nominees" to hold legal title to some of their non-U.S. assets. But while there can be arguably good reasons for doing so, especially in countries where Shariah Law can dictate how assets are distributed when someone dies, it can also result in huge and unexpected problems.
Here, in an excerpt from her most recent blog, Dubai-based tax expert Virginia La Torre Jeker considers some of the issues that can arise.
Like folks everywhere, Americans are often surprised to discover how different things can be when they live abroad. Sometimes the differences are small; sometimes they're hilarious.
Since 2011, Australia-based Atlas Wealth has been a major, and increasingly visible, adviser to Australian expats around the world – including those living in the United States.
First, U.S. investors living in Europe had to face FATCA. Now it’s the EU’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II).
A reader asks: ‘How do I navigate the shoals of being between U.S. and French citizenship, without having to put all my assets into cash and sticking them under my mattress for a few years?’
