Friday, January 27, 2012

 

         

       

 

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New US Tax Compliance Issues for 2011 Returns
Monday, January 16, 2012 (30 reads)


Changes written into the US tax code in recent legislation impact this year more so than any in recent memory and present many important and financially significant modifications to the compliance reporting.  Some of the rules had been deferred, but several new compliance reports are in effect with the tax filings for the year just ended, 2011. As a result, these new regulations will likely also lead to a spate of revised estate and family succession plans too.

Two areas that affect tax year 2011 are the new report of foreign financial assets, a broadly defined term, and increased requirements for paid preparers of US taxes. 

·         Principal among the new forms and rules is Form 8938 “Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets” which must be attached to US tax returns by US citizens and dual nationals who have financial assets outside the USA.



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IRS softens its stance on Dual Nationals - a little
Thursday, December 15, 2011 (99 reads)


If you were expecting a nice Christmas gift from Uncle Sam, you will be disappointed.  A rumored relief for dual nationals filing US income tax and financial accounts forms did not quite materialize.  Instead what the IRS issued on 8 December was another Fact Sheet (2011-13) in which they reiterate the obligations of ALL US citizens to file annual income tax returns and to file the financial information return commonly referred to as FBAR.

The only good news is that the IRS identified some examples where a US citizen can claim ‘reasonable cause’ for failure to file these returns and avoid penalties.   But it is clear that it is up to the IRS agent to decide what constitutes reasonable cause and is heavily influenced by whether there is any US income tax liability resulting from the late filing after considering the foreign earned income exclusion or the foreign tax credit.



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Have you seen the new cash registers in the grocery store yet?
Saturday, October 08, 2011 (282 reads)


Yesterday Luis Cucalón, Director of DGi, Panamá’s tax collecting authority, stated that the newly mandated fiscal printers will generate between $60 and $80 million in new collections of the national sales tax, ITBMS, in the 4th quarter of 2011 alone.  Newspaper headlines today are shouting that the government will get $300 million dollars in new taxes.

The Director has reason to be optimistic.


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Our primary goal is to cater for medium and small business accounting and business management needs in Panamá and the Caribbean Basin. Our experienced advisors give a unique perspective for those who are operating in the following areas.

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If you're like many business managers, you may think that accounting is an expensive process incurred only to file compliance reports with the various tax authorities.  For many companies, unfortunately, that's true.  But it should not be the case.

Properly collected, categorized and retrievable financial information is a valuable resource which can be used for making the right decisions to assure your company's growth and prosperity.  Those financial records also serve as the basis for the details needed to determine the fair market value of your business in the event of a sale or transfer.

Dr. Rowley has written articles and taught his graduate accounting students his belief that the market place determines the value of goods and services.  Given that, we should do accounting to determine if we can provide those goods and services with a favorable contribution to our profitability.

In order for management to make effective decisions, those analyses must be based on timely and accurate financial data.  His experience has convinced him that the systems in organizations that are necessary to get information to management must also recognize individual preferences for the form and presentation of the facts.

One long-held myth about financial reporting systems is that they have to conform to the requirements for filing compliance reports.  In today's computer-based financial reporting systems that is simply an unrealistic position.  Our firm designs financial reporting systems focused on management, not the regulatory agencies.  We design the system to do both, but the primary beneficiary is the management and owners of the closely held business.

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