Tax

Expat Compliance With US Tax Filing Obligations

Taxpayers who relinquish citizenship without complying with their U.S. tax obligations are subject to the significant tax consequences of the U.S. expatriation tax regime. If you’re an expat who has relinquished — or intends to relinquish — your US citizenship but still has US tax filing obligations (including owing back taxes) you’ll be relieved to know there are new IRS procedures in place that allow you to come into compliance and receive relief for any back taxes owed.

Here’s what you need to know:

Background

Intended for anyone who has relinquished, or intends to relinquish their United States (U.S.) citizenship, the Relief Procedures for Certain Former Citizens apply to taxpayers who want to come into compliance with their US income tax and reporting obligations and avoid being taxed as a “covered expatriate” under section 877A of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (IRC).

Intended Use

The Relief Procedures for Certain Former Citizens apply only to individuals (not estates, trusts, corporations, partnerships, and other entities) who:

• Have not filed U.S. tax returns as U.S. citizens or residents;
• owe a limited amount of back taxes to the United States; and
• have net assets of less than $2 million.

Furthermore, only those US taxpayers whose past compliance failures were non-willful can take advantage of these new procedures. Typically, this situation involves someone born in the United States to foreign parents or someone born outside the United States to U.S. citizen parents, who may be unaware of their status as U.S. citizens or the consequences of such status.

The Details

Eligible individuals wishing to use these relief procedures are required to file outstanding U.S. tax returns, including all required schedules and information returns, for the five years preceding and their year of expatriation. Provided that the taxpayer’s tax liability does not exceed a total of $25,000 for the six years in question, the taxpayer is relieved from paying U.S. taxes. The purpose of these procedures is to provide relief for certain former citizens. Individuals who qualify for these procedures will not be assessed penalties and interest.

There is no specific termination date associated with the new IRS procedures; however, a closing date will be announced prior to ending the procedures. Also, individuals who relinquished their U.S. citizenship any time after March 18, 2010, are eligible as long as they satisfy the other criteria of the procedures.

Relinquishing U.S. citizenship and the tax consequences that follow are serious matters that involve irrevocable decisions. Please contact the office if you have any questions about this topic.

• By Leon Clinton
• October 26, 2019

Employer Credit for Family and Medical Leave

Thanks to the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act last year, there’s a new tax benefit for employers: the employer credit for paid family and medical leave. As the name implies, employers may claim the credit based on wages paid to qualifying employees while they are on family and medical leave.

Here are seven facts about this credit and how it benefits employers:

1. To claim the credit, employers must have a written policy that meets certain requirements such as:

• Providing at least two weeks of paid family and medical leave annually to all qualifying employees who work full time. This can be prorated for employees who work part-time.
• Providing paid leave that is not less than 50 percent of the wages normally paid to the employee.

2. A qualifying employee is any employee who has been employed for one year or more, and for the preceding year, had compensation that did not exceed a certain amount. To be a qualifying employee in 2019, an employee must have earned no more than $72,000 in compensation in the preceding year. Looking ahead, to be a qualifying employee in 2020, an employee must have earned no more than $75,000 in compensation in the preceding year.

3. “Family and medical leave” as defined for this particular credit, is leave that is taken for one or more of the following reasons:

• Birth of an employee’s child and to care for the child.
• Placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care.
• To care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition.
• A serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of his or her position.
• Any qualifying event due to an employee’s spouse, child, or parent being on covered active duty – or being called to duty – in the Armed Forces.
• To care for a service member who is the employee’s spouse, child, parent, or next of kin.

4. The credit is a percentage of the amount of wages paid to a qualifying employee while on family and medical leave for up to 12 weeks per taxable year.

5. To be eligible for the credit, an employer must reduce its deduction for wages or salaries paid or incurred by the amount determined as a credit. Any wages taken into account in determining any other general business credit may not be used toward this credit.

6. The credit is generally effective for wages paid in taxable years of the employer beginning after December 31, 2017. It is not available for wages paid in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2019, i.e., starting January 1, 2020.

7. To claim the credit, employers file two forms with their tax return: Form 8994, Credit for Paid Family and Medical Leave and Form 3800, General Business Credit.

For more information about the employer credit for family and medical leave, please contact the office.

• By Leon Clinton
• October 23, 2019