williswine wrote: ↑Sun Apr 05, 2020 2:41 pm
williswine wrote: ↑Thu Apr 02, 2020 4:15 pm
This year, I have enough in the account that I need to report it on form 8938. This account is in my name only. I think it is considered a "Foreign Deposit Account" so has to be reported in Part I rather than II and also in Part V rather than VI of form 8938. What is not super clear to me is whether such account for unallocated gold count as a "Deposit Acccount" (my current interpretation) or as a "Custodial Account". Do some of you have had to report such account, and if so, did you report as deposit or custodial?
Sophie, ahrunforthehills: seeing your previous posts on the forum, would you perhaps be able to chime in here?
Sure, I just whipped out my tax return. Perth always seem to be in that gray area of reporting... but i don't mess around with my Uncle Sam.
We report on both our FBAR and Form 8938.
Form 8938: My Part II and III are blank. Part V, Box 1 - Custodial (Not Deposit)
FBAR: Part III, Box 16 Type of account = Other (Commodities)
I declare the highest monthly balance that I had for the year in US Dollars.
A side note, you can ask the Perth to email you monthly statements for your records.
Not sure how relevant this is, but several years I had a REALLY EXPENSIVE tax adviser (and when I say "adviser", I mean he gave advice but rarely filled out any forms).
This guy followed what happened in tax court like a hawk, would speak before congress, specialized in international taxation, had lots of connections, etc. He had stories that were crazy. Anyways, he would tell me that it is always best to bury the IRS in information.
The more you give them, the less ammo they will have to hold penalties over you in tax court. In some ways, the burden shifts to them since you went above and beyond providing them with the information. They can't really claim that you were purposely withholding information when what really happened is their tax forms make no frickin sense and even CPA put crap in the wrong box. Penalties are the lifeblood of the IRS. Take that away from them and you are a lot less of a juicy target. At least... that was the general gist of what I interpreted from him.
Another side note, the IRS recently made it so you can download your tax transcripts off of their website at any time. This is pretty quick and easy transparency to make sure you and Uncle Sam are on the same page.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I am not a tax professional and am not providing any advice. The above is just what I did and what I heard, not necessarily what you should do or make decisions on. Consult a tax professional.