12 thoughts on “Author seeks input on FBAR + employment experiences”

1. *No problem looking for a job, but you may have trouble surviving if you are unable, because of your US citizenship, to open a bank account for the deposit of your Swiss Franc paycheck and out of which to pay your living expenses. In addition you will have the burden of paying for expensive professional tax advice in the preparation and filing of FBAR, FATCA and other US tax forms with then IRS in accordance with US tax laws.  You will also need to be very careful, should you marry a Swiss citizen, to avoid jointly holding title to assets outside of then US lest your foreign spouse also become subject to US taxation.

2. Actually there are issues looking for jobs here, especially with banks, many of whom do not want to hire US persons except at very senior levels.  Also there is the issue of travel.  There are many international companies in Switzerland and given the current IRS “jihad” and sharing of data with Homeland Security, it is just too risky to travel to the US, unless one is über-compliant.  Most people don’t have the time or money to insure 100% compliance, whether it be to pay the specialized accountants, or even to pay the double taxes themselves. 

3. *@Jefferson D. Thomas; I am not sure I understand “or even to pay the double taxes themselves.”  If an employer or anybody else picks up the cost of your double taxation, that constitutes taxable income to the person whose taxes have been “picked up” by someone else. 

4. Sorry, that phrase can indeed be read more than one way. In this case, the “double taxes themselves” = “the double tax itself” (in addition to the reporting requirements and expenses associated with).

5. if they hire people at high levels, who have signature authority, those employees will be reporting all of the company’s financial accounts to the IRS.  US persons can’t have high level foreign jobs

6. *@Mark Twain, and if they respond to Switzerland’s efforts to recruit skilled foreign laborers to fill jobs that are going begging then they probably cannot survive in Switzerland not being able to open a bank account into which to deposit their SwFR income and out of which to pay their rent and buy groceries, and by being subject to US taxation on what is tax free income under Swiss tax laws, such as capital gains, obligatory employer contributions to their Swiss Social Security programs, etc. And they can’t claim a foreign tax credit for Swiss wealth taxes against the US capital gains tax when assets are sold.  And they can’t claim a US tax deduction for contributions to Swiss charities that are not organized in the US.

   It is a loose-loose situation for Americans with skills in seeking employment in other countries. 

7. But isn’t Brady Dougan (an American) the CEO of Credit Suisse?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brady_Dougan

8. this came from one of the big accounting firms: The exception that may apply to a position is as follows: “An officer or employee of a domestic corporation whose equity securities are listed on a national securities exchange or which has assets exceeding $10 Million (US Dollars) and 500 or more shareholders of record is not required to report having signature or other authority over a foreign account if the person has no personal financial interest in the account, and the officer or employee has been advised in writing by the chief financial officer of the corporation that the corporation has filed a current report that includes the foreign account. “

    If this does not cover you then you will have to include the accounts on your TD F 90-22 on Part IV..Information on Financial Accounts where Filer has Signature Authority but No Financial Interest in the Account. We will need the Maximum of US Dollar value during the calendar year for each account, Name of Financial Institution, Account Number, Mailing Address and type of account.

9. I suggest you report him and the King of Thailand to the IRS—-you’ll make a bundle and so will the IRS!!!  THink of all the penalties that can be had!!!!!

   http://www.irs.gov/uac/Whistleblower—Informant-Award

10. and we have already lost—retroactively, 6-8 years.

     

    It’s important to Point those out to your congressman, while they are looking for more crannies to get Money.

11. *In reporting these foreign potentate, presidents and kings to the IRS, you must clearly supply the supporting evidence that they are indeed failing to comply with US tax obligations. “Fishing expedition” reporting is not accepted by the IRA as part of its whistle blowing compensation system.

    All US person tax evaders are treated equally. It is just that some are treated more equally than others. (A pharaphrase from George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.)

12. darn.  I had thought fair was fair.   A drone for a drone: