Information reaching the GNN from sources closed to the United States Internal Revenue Services (IRS) has revealed that several Liberian government officials and those in the private sector who are holders of U.S. citizenship and U.S. permanent residency could fall short of U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s tax code violation for failure to either file taxes.
Accordingly, several Liberians in subsequent Liberian Government administration did not file their taxes and for those who filed, many did so with incomplete income information. The current Liberian administration is said to have several Liberians with U.S. Citizenship and or residency and they are across various branches of the Liberian government as well as in the private sector.
These Liberians who are defaulting in the payment of taxes on their foreign income may shortly find it difficult to retain their America citizenship and residency status. According to IRS law, U.S. citizens must pay taxes on foreign income if they meet the thresholds, which are generally equivalent to the standard deduction in their filing status.
U.S. citizens pay taxes on income earned abroad. These taxes are based on citizenship, and not a country of residence, according to a source at the IRS. According to information gathered, if a U.S. citizen abroad, as in the case of some Liberian government officials earning a high income, fails to report international income, and if such individual is not doing so willfully, that person may face a civil penalty of up to $10,000.00 per violation. If the individual is willfully avoiding the payment of taxes, the penalties can rise to $100,000.00 or 50% of the foreign account balance at the time that each violation occurs, our source noted.
There are several officials who are holders of U.S. citizenship who served in previous governments and are currently in the Weah-led government with high earnings and have reportedly failed to report their income and their nature of their employment to the IRS. Accordingly, these Liberians are earning huge wages from their employment in Liberia both in government and the private sector.
According to information obtained, one of the main catalysts used by the IRS in obtaining and learning about the foreign income of U.S. citizens working abroad and refusing to report or pay taxes is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). In accordance with FATCA, more than 300,000 Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIS) in over 110 countries actively report account holder information to the IRS.
According to information obtained, from FATCA, the IRS receives account numbers, balances, names, addresses, and identification numbers of account holders. Americans with foreign accounts must also submit from 8938 to the IRS in addition to the largely redundant FBAR form. According to our source the IRS will come after anyone regarding where he or she lives. The IRS can file a lien against their assets regardless of the assets’ location.
If one is a citizen or resident alien of the United States, he or she has a U.S. tax obligation, even if they are a dual citizen of the U.S. Canada. In another development, one might lose his or her citizenship in specific cases, including he or she runs for public office in a foreign country, or enter military service in a foreign country, our source concluding noted.
Source: GNN Liberia Washington D.C. Contact
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