Trusts and Estates Foreign Asset Reporting: FATCA, FBAR, Forms 3520, 5471, and 8865

Trusts and estates can carry many foreign reporting obligations. This 75-minute webinar on trusts and estates foreign asset reporting explains those obligations, best practices for avoiding penalties and how to resolve past noncompliance.

You'll learn who the responsible parties are, the FATCA and FBAR reporting requirements, and when Form 3520 is needed for gifts, inheritances or distributions from a foreign trust. Owners of foreign trusts must also file Form 8938 and the FBAR, and the trust itself files Form 3520-A each year, which calls for a full set of books, an income statement and a balance sheet.

The panel also reviews recent cases and the government's efforts to assess penalties.

• Identify trusts and estates with foreign reporting obligations
• Explain FATCA and FBAR reporting requirements
• Distinguish willful from non-willful FBAR violations
• Prepare Forms 3520 and 3520-A for foreign gifts and distributions
• Resolve past noncompliance and apply best practices to avoid penalties

• Responsible parties
• FATCA and FBAR reporting requirements
• Identifying willful and non-willful FBAR violations
• Uncovering reportable foreign assets held by trusts and estates
• Preparing Forms 3520 and 3520-A for foreign gifts and distributions
• Form 8938 and other reporting obligations
• Review of recent cases
• Handling past noncompliance
• Best practices for avoiding penalties

The government collects FBAR penalties from beneficiaries and executors even after death and distribution; in United States v. Park (N.D. Ill. 2019) the penalty topped $3.5 million. Non-willful violations carry a $10,000 penalty that reasonable cause can waive, while willful ones can reach $100,000 or 50% of the balance, so advisers must tell them apart.

The session suits tax preparers, fiduciaries, accountants, attorneys and advisers working with trusts, estates and nonresidents.

• Accountants, attorneys, financial advisors, and individuals who work with/are nonresidents.
• International Tax, Nonresident Alien, Nondomiciliary, United States trade or business, FDAP, branch profits tax, FIRPTA, income tax treaty, corporate-corporate, accumulation distribution, foreign trust

Patrick J McCormick is a partner with Culhane Meadows, a United States law firm with prominent experience and specialty in the international realm. Patrick practices exclusively in the area of international taxation; he has extensive experience in handling complex tax planning, structuring, and compliance issues for foreign businesses with United States operations, United States businesses with foreign operations, and individual taxpayers with international ties. He regularly works conjunctively with advisors both in the United States and abroad to assist with international tax issues faced by their clients.

Patrick is a prolific contributor to a multitude of tax journals and legal publications, including Tax Notes, Law360, the Journal of Taxation, and Tax Notes International. He is an active speaker and panelist for national seminars and webinars, covering both macro-level international tax considerations and more specialized topics within the area. He holds a Juris Doctorate from Vanderbilt University Law School and an LL.M. from New York University School of Law. 

Each year from 2016-2020, Patrick has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star (an annual recognition given to a maximum of 2.5% of qualifying United States attorneys). Finance Monthly, a United Kingdom-based publication, has previously named Patrick their Estate Planning Lawyer of the Year for work completed with non-resident clients.