# gift from parents and other issues



## ran266 (Feb 1, 2014)

hello I'm new here and wanted to see if there are people who had similer issues or can give me some advice.
I was born in Israel, and lived here my entire life. my father is from the Us and came to Israel in his 20's and live here since.
I have a US passport but never had a SSN issued .
now, I'm seriously considering moving to the US, but the tax issue is one of my main dilemma. I got a gift from my parents aprox 150,000 Us last year, and together with some money I had it totaled more than 200000 US, so that will require me to send the special form 8938 (I'm single) . I think I'm eligible to the streamlined procedure , but what I'm afraid is that the IRS will notice that I got a large sum of money (both from the fbar but especially from form 8938) . the problem is that my father never filed tax forms (and there is no way to convince him to do it, even thought he probably own very little if any) and I'm afraid that the IRS either demand the money from me , or request from me information about my father. 
did anyone had experience about something similer or know what the law and practice in this matter?
did anyone had experience with the form 8938 and know if it goes well with the streamlined processes?
do you think that I will be able to avoid sending the 2013 tax return if I will be able to file before april 15 (it is a bit of a stretch but I might be able to do it) . I think that sending the special form without the streamlined procedure will be better.
and final question - if I decide not to move to the us, I currently thinking not to go with filing taxes. I don't see why my bank will indetify me as an American citizen . I don't have an American name or ever used any thing that will link me to the us with my bank, unless there is something here I'm not considering. what do you think?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Well, first of all, I don't believe you can file anything until you get a US SSN. But, in any event, your filing deadline from overseas is automatically extended to June 15th - so that gives you a bit of breathing space.

Secondly, your father's tax situation is not your concern. You file what you have to file. I don't believe they worry too much about the source of bank balances you have to report (though I confess I have yet to look over the 8938 form in much detail). Just report the balances as requested, and of course any interest or other income from the funds. Be sure to claim any taxes you have paid on the interest, etc. in Israel.

But, as far as the IRS is concerned, you could easily have gotten the money as a gift from a non-US citizen family member - and if that were the case, they'd have no claim on it. In the case of the gift from your father, it would only be a matter of his filing a gift tax form - chances are, no taxes due. I also really doubt that they can connect your father to you and your tax records without having a whole bunch more information and lots of suspicions. And in IRS investigation terms, $150,000 isn't really worth much of their time.

Unless you have somewhat complicated financial dealings, I would be inclined to do a simple "quiet disclosure" (i.e. just file the current year and a few years back and see what the IRS says) - however there are others here on the forum who seem to have more experience with this area, and I'll let them advise you on this. The streamlined procedure is really directed at those with millions tucked away in secret accounts or tied up in complicated "investments" designed to keep their finances away from the prying eyes of the IRS.
Cheers,
Bev


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Bevdeforges said:


> The streamlined procedure is really directed at those with millions tucked away in secret accounts or tied up in complicated "investments" designed to keep their finances away from the prying eyes of the IRS.


No, that's the OVDP. The Streamlined Program is for the simpler and simplest cases.


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## ran266 (Feb 1, 2014)

bevdeforges, thank you for your reply.
as bbcwatcher said, the streamlined procedure is ment for the more simple cases. it's actually like a quiet disclosure, only more "official" if I understand it correctly . I would rather walk the paved road if I just can. 
I know about the june automatic extension, but I don't know how is that applied to streamline. the impression I got was that once we entered the new year, it is better to file last year return as well , so 2010-2013 ( or maybe 2011-2013?), but I'm not sure if that is the IRS stance. in my case I would rather not file 2013 with the streamlined.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Back before the "streamlined" process got a name and procedures, the IRS office here used to recommend that you file the current return (i.e. 2013) on time, and then send in the prior year returns. Not sure if that's still their stance, but probably best to get the current return in on schedule.
Cheers,
Bev


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