Taxes and Crypto: Five Things You Need to Know

For many, 2021 marked their first year—and now first tax season—in cryptocurrency. WSJ tax columnist Laura Saunders breaks down how to navigate reporting digital assets to the IRS.

IRS: Hack Much Wider Than First Thought

From Bank Info Security –

“The Internal Revenue Service says cyber thieves may have accessed as many as 334,000 taxpayer accounts in a breach of its Get Transcript system, far more than the 114,000 accounts it originally estimated in May.

The Get Transcript online service, suspended in May, is aimed at simplifying the process taxpayers use to retrieve their tax records. It enables taxpayers to review their tax account transactions, line-by-line tax return information or wage and income reported to the IRS for a specific tax year. By circumventing Get Transcript's authentication protections, hackers are believed to have gained access to this taxpayer information, including Social Security numbers.”

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Think FATCA Requirements Only Apply to Foreign Entities? Think Again

From Think Advisor –

“The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is generally associated with reporting requirements for foreign banks and foreign entities to disclose the names of U.S. individuals using such foreign vehicles to hide U.S. financial accounts. (See all three blog posts in this series on FATCA compliance.)

However, there is an important FATCA reporting requirement, the Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets, Form 8938, that affects U.S. individuals and certain U.S. entities that own foreign financial assets.

Failure to timely submit this form may lead to significant penalties and could open up the possibility of an IRS audit.”

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FATCA Compliance

1 July 2015 – London

Compliance Workshop for Foreign Financial Institutions

Even though FATCA is now operative, many foreign financial institutions (FFIs) and associated organisations are still not clear on what they should be doing.

Under FATCA all foreign financial institutions must disclose U.S. account holders and their account activities. Failure to comply with FATCA will be costly and may subject foreign financial institutions to a 30% withholding tax on U.S.-sourced payments.

If you are still not certain as how to exactly comply with the FATCA requirements and set up all the necessary structures and controls, this very practical one day course is just for you.

You will understand

• The technical requirements of FATCA
• How FATCA compliance can be effectively achieved and
• A detailed look at all the necessary internal controls and certification considerations
• How to provide support for your clients

This intermediate level course explores FATCA requirements and guidance as set out by HMRC but is also very relevant for participants from abroad.

What You Will Learn

By the end of the programme you will have a solid understanding of:

• FATCA obligations and how to comply with them
• Intergovernmental Agreements Model I & II and their structure
• Learn what due diligence is in the FATCA sense and how it should be performed
• Who are the responsible officers and what are their obligations
• What is acceptable documentary evidence and dealing with ‘self-certification’
• Learn which financial products are to be reported on and which are exempted from FATCA reporting
• How to set up internal controls and address operational challenges
• Providing support for your clients
• Have an understanding of the progressive reporting requirements over the next several years
• Know where to obtain ongoing guidance and clarification…and much more

REGISTER NOW