Foreign Gift Tax
Contents
Foreign Gift Tax
Foreign Gift Tax: A common question we receive about Form 3520 is how to report foreign gift tax on IRS form 3520. Many Taxpayers are surprised to learn that form 3520 is not intended to report taxes, but rather to report the existence of the receipt of a gift by a U.S. person, from a foreign person. While the form 3520 is also used to report certain foreign trust ownership and transactions, the primary purpose of the form is to report a gift from a foreign person (individual, trust or entity).
Generally, when a U.S. Person receives a gift from a foreign person, there is no tax associated with that gift.
*If there is a gift of U.S. situs is from an nonresident alien that exceeds the exclusion amount, then there may be a gift tax due by the nonresident, and a form 709 may be required.
Foreign Gift Reporting vs. Tax
When it comes to gifts from foreign persons (individuals and entities), there is a distinction between the gift tax and the reporting requirement.
Excluding situations like the example above involving U.S. Situs, form 3520 is used to report the receipt of a gift from a foreign person that exceeded the threshold requirement for filing – and/or certain foreign trust transactions.
This is a reporting requirement.
Since the gift is not income, the recipient is not required to book the gift as income and/or pay income tax or gift tax on the receipt of the gift.
For all those horrible penalties you may read about involving foreign gifts, the penalties stem from not reporting form 3520 to disclose the existence of the gift.
Form 3520 Penalties
As provided by the IRS:
A penalty applies if Form 3520 is not timely filed or if the information is incomplete or incorrect (see below for an exception if there is reasonable cause).
Generally, the initial penalty is equal to the greater of $10,000 or the following (as applicable).
• 35% of the gross value of any property transferred to a foreign trust for failure by a U.S. transferor to report the creation of or transfer to a foreign trust in Part I.
• 35% of the gross value of the distributions received from a foreign trust for failure by a U.S. person to report receipt of the distribution in Part III.
• 5% of the gross value of the portion of the foreign trust’s assets treated as owned by a U.S. person under the grantor trust rules (sections 671 through 679) for failure by the U.S. person to report the U.S. owner information in Part II. Such U.S. person is subject to an additional separate 5% penalty (or $10,000 if greater), if such person
(a) fails to ensure that the foreign trust files a timely Form 3520-A and furnishes the required annual statements to its U.S. owners and U.S. beneficiaries, or
(b) does not furnish all of the information required by section 6048(b) or includes incorrect information.
If a foreign trust fails to file Form 3520-A, the U.S. owner must complete and attach a substitute Form 3520-A to the U.S. owner’s Form 3520 by the due date of the U.S. owner’s Form 3520 (and not the due date for the Form 3520-A, which is otherwise due by the 15th day of the 3rd month after the end of the trust’s tax year in order to avoid being subject to the additional separate penalty for the foreign trust’s failure to file Form 3520-A.
For example, a substitute Form 3520-A that, to the best of the U.S. owner’s ability, is completed and attached to the U.S. owner’s Form 3520 by the due date for the Form 3520 (such as, April 15 for U.S. owners who are individuals), is considered to be timely filed. See section 6677(a) through (c) and the instructions for Part II of this form and Form 3520-A.
Additional penalties will be imposed if the noncompliance continues for more than 90 days after the IRS mails a notice of failure to comply with the required reporting. If the IRS can determine the gross value (defined later) of the portion of the trust’s assets treated as owned by the U.S. person at the close of the tax year, then the additional penalties will be reduced as necessary to assure that the aggregate amount of such penalties do not exceed the gross value of the trust. For more information, see section 6677.
Reasonable Cause Form 3520
“No penalties will be imposed if the taxpayer can demonstrate that the failure to comply was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect. Note. The fact that a foreign country would impose penalties for disclosing the required information is not reasonable cause. Similarly, reluctance on the part of a foreign fiduciary or provisions in the trust instrument that prevent the disclosure of required information is not reasonable cause. See section 6677(d) for additional information. Section 6039F.
In the case of a failure to timely report foreign gifts described in section 6039F, the IRS will determine the income tax consequences of the receipt of such gift, and a penalty equal to 5% of the amount of such foreign gifts applies for each month for which the failure to report continues (not to exceed a total of 25%).
No penalty will be imposed if the taxpayer can demonstrate that the failure to comply was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect. See section 6039F for additional information.
Section 6662(j).”
If a U.S. owner of a foreign trust is subject to a penalty imposed under section 6662 for an underpayment of tax required to be shown on a return, then such penalty may be increased under section 6662(j) for any portion of an underpayment which is attributable to any transaction involving any asset with respect to which information was required to be provided on Form 3520-A.
For more information about undisclosed foreign financial asset understatements, see section 6662(j).
No penalty will be imposed with respect to any portion of an underpayment if the taxpayer can demonstrate that the failure to comply was due to reasonable cause with respect to such portion of the underpayment and the taxpayer acted in good faith with respect to such portion of the underpayment. See section 6662 and section 6664(c) for additional information.”
Missed Filing Form 3520?
If you missed the filing of form 3520, it is important to consider compliance.
While a reasonable cause submission package cannot always to prevent the penalty, oftentimes the penalty may be minimized or eliminated.
Foreign Gift, Trust, and Inheritance Tax Specialist Team
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