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I'm interested in engaging your firm to prepare Form 14654, Certification by U.S. Person Residing in the United States for Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures. Do I need to hire someone else to prepare delinquent FBARs and amended returns, if required?

If you become a client, no. Previously, when engaged for such procedures, the firm has specifically included these preparation functions in the engagement. Although the certification, explanation, and penalty calculation, as applicable, are addressed on a separate form,⁽¹⁾ the firm views all required filings as inextricably linked. To rephrase, the firm would generally handle all key elements of the submissions. However, it would not assume responsibility for retrieving information and documents relating to foreign assets. For these engagements, that is necessarily the client's responsibility.

More generally, outside of the above procedures, there are limited circumstances in which the firm may include tax or information return preparation in an engagement.

1. The firm may prepare returns that, based on significant items or positions, appear to call for an attached Form 8275, Disclosure Statement. The firm has accepted these engagements and prepared these returns because it views them as unique in their research and disclosure needs. On occasion, the firm has addressed income and expense items in the context of a non-tax engagement (e.g., a fraud-investigative matter) and, based on its work, felt well positioned to prepare a client's tax return, as a supplemental and separately agreed-upon service. Alternatively, a “tax opinion” engagement may effectively be converted into a preparation engagement in certain instances. Yet for other taxpayers, the firm has undertaken exclusively “tax opinion” work (e.g., on fact-sensitive nonrecognition matters), conferring with the taxpayer-engaged preparer as needed. There's no one-size-fits-all engagement.

2. Previously, the firm has also been engaged on tax and information return preparation relating to foreign trusts. Again, such preparation may be a logical supplement to another engagement. We can talk about whether preparation, subject to its own agreement, makes sense for a given situation.

Outside of the above, full-time preparers are probably better suited than this firm for individuals seeking routine preparation.

(1) Form 14654 is the Certification by U.S. Person Residing in the United States for Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures.

Form 14653 is the Certification by U.S. Person Residing Outside of the United States for Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures.

Content posted July 29, 2023.