Typhoonpilot

They have gone after quite a few and have been partially successful. Huge waste of government resources to gain very little extra revenue. The problem is that they place the burden of proof on the taxpayer. One EK pilot spent $5000 on legal fees and fought them for 5 years. In the end they paid him $300 instead of the $30,000 they were asking him for. Harassment plain and simple. If you get this audit contact Nick Romer, he's helped quite a few EK pilots and is very familiar with how to proceed.



TP

Lucky8888

Not anymore. On June 28 China formally agreed to accept the provisions of FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliant Act) which requires the reporting of all bank accounts owned by U.S. Citizens and green-card holders to the IRS. This is becoming more and more prevalent throughout the world.

f10a

Real shame this happens when the law shifts the burden of proof back to the IRS when evidence is presented by the "taxpayer" per 26 U.S. Code § 7491. What is even more incredible is how the IRS requires one to pay their ridiculous fines and "adjusted" account balances before one is allowed to bring a claim against them. Is that not what extortion is? No wonder Americans are renouncing their citizenship in record numbers and even then the IRS will come after you for 10 more years!

DjHubberts

SON OF A *****! However, what China says and what it does are usually two different things. Not like it matters, I claim what I have overseas.

What is really amusing though, is the fact that the US won't return the favor to other countries and their citizens. The US hides behind privacy laws and tells other countries to pound sand when they get the same style requests. Turns out, the safest off shore bank accounts for everyone BUT Americans are US banks.

Lucky8888

I don't think so in this case. Chinese (and other domiciles) registered banks don't want the financial exposure of non-compliance that resulted in a $1.3B Justice Department fine of Credit Suisse.

DjHubberts

Not so sure about that. I think most everyone in our financial system knows what will happen if the Chinese don't show up for a treasury auction.


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polly

Well sad to say the UAE signed a treaty with the US and as a US citizen you must file a W9 it is just getting harder for pilots from the US. The IRS is like an octopus and getting more desperate. So EK and EY you are gonna have to fill out a W9. Now the IRS knows everything about you. To open a bank account in the UAE you MUST fill out a W9 first and now all deposits are recorded including housing and education. On top with this international waters BS good luck.

yellowfever

The US government is big and desperate and they are gonna come after more than you can imagine!

U.S. National Debt Clock

Probe

The IRS has a branch office in PEK. I have heard of expats (non-pilots) getting busted because of their Chinese bank accounts.

The IRS came after me for the overwater thing after going after several other americans at the same airline. A couple of them had a much harder time than I did, but we all won. When I was explaining my very very small amount of overwater time to the IRS Nazi on the phone, he had a high altitude map out and was questioning my route and measuring the distance and calculating the time. I was a bit shocked.

They originally sent me a bill for about 90k in back taxes, penalties and 40% interest per year (it was almost 3 years hence). In the end, they sent me an additional refund of 700 dollars.

A friend of mine used HR Block and they have a division that specializes in expat tax law. They represented him as well with the IRS over the same issue.

bedrock

Buy some gold, put it in a safe in Hong Kong or similar place.