Smart Funds have become very popular as an investment tool for the mega wealthy but the Bahamas Smart Fund offerings have been met with mixed reaction from wealth planners. In recent times, there’s been more emphasis on marketing these products to the mega wealthy on the basis that economies of scale concerning the administration costs of a smart fund only makes sense when groups of wealthy families are able to pool resources.
This Blog is a general discussion on what clients are doing to prepare themselves for FATCA which stands for “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act”. U.S. individual taxpayers must report information about certain foreign financial accounts and offshore assets on Form 8938 and attach it to their income tax return.
Forcing foreign financial institutions and foreign governments to collect data on U.S. citizens at their own expense and transmit it to the IRS has been called divisive. Canada’s Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has expressed concern with the “far reaching and extraterritorial implications” which would require Canadian banks to become extensions of the IRS and would jeopardize clients privacy rights.
There are also reports of many foreign banks refusing to open accounts for Americans, making it harder for Americans to live and work abroad.
What have you or your clients done to ensure FATCA compliance?
