http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304563104576363650392836000.html?mod=WSJ_article_RecentColumns_WeekendInvestor - IRS Issues New Guidelines For Overseas Accounts

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=148849,00.html - Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)

It´s reasonable to assume that if details of money held on deposit in a Brazilian bank account is declared to the IRS, it follows that they would be interested to learn about how this money came into being and about any interest earned as income. In addition they would want to know the time scale of the account, interest paid to date and if such interest earnings had been previously declared on earlier tax returns; catch 22!

 I would suggest that the likelihood of all Brazilian banks providing a comprehensive list of ex-pat bank details to a foreign nation is a bit of a stretch of the imagination given the nature of Brazil´s banking system which is not at all like the Swiss laundry. In any event I suspect that the IRS are more interested in the multiple zero big fish money that is worth the effort of chasing.    

BIG thanks to GP. I heard about this, however, once I buy a Flat then I'll have to deal with it. My question is how can the US Gov find out if a US citizen owns and lives outside the US? At any rate, a great Topic and Thread.

From what I saw on CNN, Sky, etc, the problem in Paki was "terminated".  But you're probably right, in that it will "persist".

For what it's worth, I'm hearing "temperatures" might rise significantly in Spain this summer.  Yet Europe is a big space, so some areas functioning better (calmer) than others (on the surface).

I read a comment you posted in another thread about "greener grass".  We all have to call it as we see it, not as someone else might, and I do understand your frustration with (the lack of) "ordem e progresso".  I feel the same, at least three times per day.  Nonetheless, you might want to resist the temptation to head to seemingly more verdant pastures, for just a bit longer....  With all her problems, I still believe Brasil is a very safe place to be.

Originally posted by Steven Originally posted by Esprit Originally posted by Steven Originally posted by ganeshrkara Originally posted by Esprit Originally posted by ganeshrkara ...Obama is trying to get money from whatever source available to help ease struggling US economy... I read he raised this issue on his recent visit to brasil...     and when he focuss on something he has a way of getting it done.         All those empty cells at Guantanamo...      I was saying the same....news is that Guantanamo lead him to Abottabad....   Yes, but with 59% of Americans disapproving of his handling of the economy he might very well find himself in one of those empty cells in Guantanamo.   I found it quite amusing when, during a TV interview by a sympathising chat show host, Obama was asked to comment about his achievements, and in particular his Presidential election campaign slogans: ‘Hope & change and Yes we can!’ Obama blathered on about his hope for the future and what change he has made [unaffordable health reform]. When pressed about ‘yes we can’ he replied, “Yes we can but...” During the short pause in his reply the audience erupted in laughter and I suspect that the use of little word, but, cost him dearly. He went on to suggest that not everything can be done during one period in office. Guess what – you can only have two terms followed by an autobiography entitled, “I tried to change it but...”  This is what happens when a President is elected by lobbyist funding and brilliant oratory.       Through the years I have evolved from my left-wing anti-Viet Nam War student activist days to my current baby boomer worked-hard-all-my-life-ready-to-retire Republican mentality.  I suspect that I'm not alone in this transition.  So, of course, I am most assuredly biased in my politics and find remarkable comparisons between President Obama and President Clinton in their single-minded attention to public opinion polls.    Say what you want about George Bush but he did what he thought was right.    I'm sorry but I need a leader who leads.  Not a guy who gallops after Gallup.  I think that the applause Mr. Obama receives on his global sojurns is reflective of the benefits that his audience perceives they will receive based on his pursuit of the carrot of public opinion.  I'm ready for some "Hope and Change and Yes We Can!"  Time for a new guy.

I wouldn’t hold out any hope for change in the absence of something extraordinary and traumatic happening on the global stage: the second coming or perhaps captain Kirk revisiting earth via a time warp. The political machinery in entrenched in a club comprising the oligarchy represented by the lobbyists aided by the rabid media and the collective idiot, the electorate. This is evidenced by the people offered up for election; squeaky clean money-wise and bedroom-wise, good looking, never inhaled, well spoken, believes in God, has never masturbated and politically correct in all things. Is it possible that there is such a person with the necessary leadership skills?            

Professional politicians need no introduction as their universal ways are well known. If a two party system is dangerously close to a one party system, certainly a multi party system has shown itself to be a recipe for the chaos of coalition compromise governance. Such management in a restaurant kitchen would result in a single plate comprising, stew and ice-cream tossed in a salad. Another current example of such chaos is the appalling turmoil in Portugal and Greece and, of course, the corruption in Brazil. In the final analysis we, as individuals, have to learn to manipulate the world as it presents itself; if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. The alternative is to fill in those tax forms diligently, convince yourself that the husbandry of your tax money is for the greater good and that Jesus loves you.     

Well that’s great news – pity though that He’s so selective.

I remember, when a boy, the wonderful feeling of relief when leaving the Catholic confessional; my soul was free of sin and guilt. Now that I am a man I have put these childish things behind me. Indoctrination has been replaced by rational thought.

It is said that the perfect man falls seven times daily; the perfect man being Jesus. The saying refers to sins of thought, word and deed. In addition, and in these enlightened times, apparently there is now another and additional sin; the sin of omission. Omission to tell the IRS about taxed income earned beyond US shores by people living permanently offshore who, whilst enjoying the theoretical privileges and protection afforded every US citizen, must pay tax because of their birthright.

Such privileges were no doubt handy during the final evacuation from Saigon and other debacles throughout US history of intervention and escapades on foreign shores. It could be argued that somebody must pay for the helicopter gasoline. Yet not to be frivolous, it should be recognised that US citizenship is a privilege and as such this may be regarded as a form of representation that justifies taxation; however unfair that may seem.

In common with what was once a naive young boy, the motive to confess sins where spurred by the fear of the wrath of God and a eternity of fire and brimstone and I can’t help making the comparison between God’s threat of punishment with that of the IRS; heavy fines and imprisonment – the same fear factor that drives the Church’s phenomenal financial success and the IRS collection agency that attempts to feed the irresponsible excesses of government spending.

Maybe I’ll spend eternity in the agonies of fire and maybe the taxman will eventually grab my coattails. I know the relief of confession and I know the benefits of spending my own hard earned money as I think fit: I’ve made that choice. The only downside to nonconformity is the occasional cold sweat when my head hits the pillow and I think, what if... Dirty Harry’s words echo, “Do you feel lucky? Well do ya...punk?”                             

I can assure you, given the fact that when the indigenous North Americans were hunting buffalo and painting their asses blue, the English had a taxation system in being. Today’s Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise would be the envy of the Gestapo in other times; draconian. Run by hoards of the otherwise unemployable, they feed off everything, including dandruff flakes and anything else they can get their hands on. Left wing and underpaid to a man, they regard themselves as the down trodden poor entitled to the ‘rights.’ They are the ‘us’ in the ‘them & us’ scenario. Trust me, I know the breed.

The unpaid taxes you mention are not part of this discussion. Unpaid taxes are something that the authorities have already levied based upon their information submitted by either the tax payer or by an assessment they have made based on assumption formed by other information. It’s game over when they know everything about you. The more they know, the more they will follow the scent of blood. They are an insatiable blood sucking sub-human species best avoided.                               

http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/26/offshore-bank-accounts-irs-ubs-fbars-personal-finance-robert-wood.html - Ten Things To Know About Offshore Bank Accounts

The smug looking Mr. Wood has a vested interest in all of this and is probably a cocktail crony plea bargainer with the suits at the IRS in this game of hide & seek the errant tax dodging millionaire. While I’m certain that he’s factually correct, I’m equally certain that he would be an excellent bedtime ghost story teller with the ability frighten the living daylights out of his little grandchildren. “Oh please Mr. Wood...please take on my case in one of your nationwide practices...I’ll be glad to pay you 30%...for God’s sake just keep me out of prison!”

GF you’ve managed to trawl up a magnificent list of propaganda links that suggests the IRS have limited resources and access to banking information thereby resorting to quite frightening bullyboy threats. We should know what is right from wrong through our innate senses which include fairness and justice. Laws come and go, yet fairness and justice remain steadfast in all things. The accidental location of one’s birth should not bring about a lifelong obligation to file full disclosure and tax returns to a country wherein one doesn’t reside; this is neither fair nor just least reasonable. A jury trial would clear this nonsense up in an instant; all of which is neither here nor there because the law is the law and its eager proponents are as blind as Justice herself.

Truthfulness. President Clinton springs to mind. “I did not have sexual relations with that woman...” The pedantic Mr. Clinton feigned disagreement that it is fallacious to consider fellatio a sexual activity. Okay, so he lied. Hell, his wife was listening!

Sometimes the truth can hurt when its consequences have an unjust result. Admittedly he didn’t break any laws. And even if there was a law against this rather pleasurable activity it would be an unjust law as is the law under discussion. Rules are made for the strict adherence by fools and the guidance of wise men. What should a person of a certain faith answer when asked by the Gestapo, “Are you Jewish?” Truth can be flexible.                   

Dunga is of course right. A large influx of offshore account holders filing is the best thing for those who have the stomach to continue to fly under the radar. The IRS may take the law of diminishing returns into consideration and not bother to scour the planet in an abortive attempt to rectify America’s disastrous deficit. Such petty cash gleaned from hardworking honest folk just might placate IRS frustration and turn opinion, through awareness, to focus on the real villains in this farce; the spendthrift Congress and their cronies.