President Biden’s Tax Plans for Individuals

With Democrats’ control of both the House and Senate, many of President Biden’s tax policy change proposed during his campaign is likely to sweep through Congress.  Some of the revenue raising proposals affecting high-income individuals are summarized below:

Tax Rate Increase

An increase of top individual tax rate from 37% to 39.6% for taxpayers with adjusted gross income above $400,000.

Increase of Capital Gains Tax Rate

President Biden plans to increase the long-term capital gains and qualified dividend tax rate from 20% to ordinary tax rate of 39.6% for individuals with adjusted gross income exceeding $1 million.

Ultra-Millionaire Wealth Tax

Ultra-Millionaire Wealth Tax Act was introduced by Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren in March which would impose a 2% annual wealth tax on taxpayers with at least $50 million in wealth and a 3% tax on those with at least $1 billion in wealth.  The Wealth will be determined based on the fair value of properties includable in one’s estate.

Estate Tax Increase

Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse introduced the 99.5% Act in March which would significantly increase the estate and gift tax.  If enacted, it will change the current estate and gift tax laws by (1) reducing the estate tax exemption to $3.5 million from $11.7 million per person, pulling vast majority of individuals to subject to the estate tax; (2) reducing the lifetime gift tax exemption to $1 million and annul gift exclusion amount to $10,000 per donee; and (3) increasing estate tax rate from 40% to 65% for estate in excess of $1 billion.

Tax on Unrealized Gain

Under current law, capital gains tax on appreciation of property gifted or bequeathed is postponed in the case of gift or eliminated by the step-up basis.  However, Democrats introduced a bill that would tax appreciated property at the time of transfer by gift or death.

High net worth and income individuals are likely to face significant changes to their income tax and estate tax plans if some of these proposals are enacted.  Therefore, high net worth and income individuals should monitor legislative progress, understand the impact, and consider planning in advance to minimize the impact.

OC거주 한인 남성 8년간 해외 계좌 미신고를 통한 탈세 혐의 유죄 인정

오렌지 카운티에 거주하는 한 한인남성이 해외금융계좌에서 벌어들인 이자소득을 세금보고에 누락함에 따라 탈세 혐의로 기소 되었다. 본인의 유죄를 인정함에 따라 $573,196의 미납세금과 이에 대한 범칙금을 납부하게 되었다. 해외 금융계좌를 보고 하지 않았기 때문에 천팔백만불($18M) 상당이 들어 있는 계좌의 50%가 범칙금이 되며 경우에 따라 최대 5년의 실형이 선고 될 수 있다. 이 남성은 4월 26일 첫 법정 출두를 하게 된다. 관련된 내용은 다음의 기사에서 확인 할 수 있다: https://www.radiokorea.com/news/article.php?uid=363238

FBAR와 FATCA의 목적은 해외에 있는 금융계좌등을 사용한 조세회피를 방지하는데에 있다. 이를 위하여 국제 금융정보를 투명하게 공개하도록 되어 있으며, 중국과 러시아를 포함하여 전세계의 80개 이상의 나라가 미국에게 협조하고 있다.

해외 금융계좌를 갖고 계시고 관련 규정에 대해서 불분명한 부분이 있다면 세법 변호사 혹은 세무 담당자와 상담하시기 바랍니다.

Tax Evasion by a South Korean National

A South Korean national who lives in Orange County has been charged with tax evasion for failing to report interest income he earned from deposits in foreign bank accounts. In his plea agreement, he agreed to pay $573,916 in back taxes for the eight years plus penalties. Because he also failed to report the existence of the accounts, the plea agreement calls for him to pay a 50 percent penalty on one of his foreign accounts that held up to approximately $18 million. The statutory maximum sentence for the tax evasion offense is five years in federal prison. He is scheduled to make his initial court appearance in this case in United States District Court on April 26. For more details, please see an article here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/orange-county-man-agrees-plead-guilty-tax-evasion-failing-report-interest-millions

The primary purpose of FATCA and FBAR is to prevent the use of offshore bank accounts and similar shelters as a means of hiding taxable income from the IRS. Its intent is to make these international banking practices more transparent. More than 80 nations around the world have agreed to comply with FATCA, including Russia and China.

If you have foreign financial assets and are not sure whether you are in compliance, we urge you to consult with tax attorneys or your tax service provider.