For FBAR purposes, a U.S. person includes U.S. citizens, residents and entities, including corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies. The reporting requirement applies even if the foreign accounts do not produce taxable income and even if no withdrawals are made during the year. The reporting requirements were established to make it tougher for taxpayers to try and hide assets and income offshore.

The form isn't filed with a taxpayer's regular tax return. It's a separate form with a separate due date. The form must be filed electronically with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, not the IRS. Failure to timely report could result in significant penalties. The IRS recently issued guidance indicating the non-willful failure to timely report could result in a penalty of up to $10,000 for each omission. If the failure is considered willful, a penalty of up to the greater of $100,000 or 50 percent of account balances could apply for each year of omission. Criminal penalties may also apply.

If you believe you have not complied in prior years, the IRS is currently offering an Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program to help move taxpayers into compliance with a reduced penalty structure and avoidance of criminal prosecution.

On Thursday, June 4, UHY LLP's Michigan practice invited a group of students from Thirkell Elementary in Detroit to their Farmington Hills office to help them develop stories for the Beyond Basics Publishing Center. UHY teamed up with Beyond Basics, a local 501c(3) nonprofit organization working to improve literacy and raise reading proficiency in inner city schools, to host students to help improve reading comprehension and expand the students' vocabularies.

Nearly 20 college recruits and other UHY employees gathered at UHY's training facility to help students from Mrs. Jackson's third grade class write their own personal stories. Each volunteer was assigned a student to mentor for the day. The recruits started by getting to know the students. With this information, the students created a short story that was designed to enhance vocabulary and sharpen writing skills. After the stories were written, each student was able to pick a book of their choice and read to their "buddy" or mentor.

As a result, 16 new stories were created for the Beyond Basics Publishing Center. This community event was part of UHY's Connect program. The program allows college recruits to get to know more about the organization, work with UHY employees, and experience some of the corporate social responsibility initiatives UHY takes part in. Both the students and UHY recruits benefited greatly from the experience.

"We have been working with Beyond Basics for the past four years, pairing our interns and college recruits with students from Detroit Public Schools. The objective of this program is to not only help strengthen the reading and writing skills of elementary school students but to also give our interns and recruits an understanding of UHY's commitment to giving back to the community and experiencing a volunteer outing first hand," said Rina Henning, UHY LLP recruiting manager.

UHY LLP places great emphasis on being active within the community from each recruits' first connection with the firm because corporate social responsibility is a high priority at all levels within the company. The firm also has its own independent 501c(3) organization, UHY Cares. Cares, which was incorporated over five years ago, was an idea inspired by employees and is volunteer based. Through UHY Cares, employees are able to give back to the community, including helping individuals going through personal emergencies or hardships. UHY Cares Michigan has provided assistance to over 150 local charities and families and continues to grow this list every year.

Beyond basics has been active in the Detroit community since 1999.Their mission is to guide and support children in economic need to develop fundamental educational skills. They aim to move these children beyond the basics and prepare them for productive and meaningful lives. The work the organization does, shaping the minds of grade school children, is especially important because nearly 50% of adults in Detroit are considered functionally illiterate.
 

As reported in Crain's Detroit Business in late March, UHY Advisors' Corporate Finance team presented private equity firm O2 Investment Partners LLC with the potential acquisition of a technology client, PC Treasures, Inc. At first Jay Hansen, managing partner of O2, had a hard time grasping PC's business. PC Treasures is a multi-channel distributor of licensed multimedia bundles and cutting-edge computer, tablet and smartphone accessories, and other specialty products. It took a while for Hansen and his staff to understand PC's niche, causing the deal to take longer, but the light finally went on.

Due diligence taught Hansen and Todd Fink, another O2 managing partner, that there was a profit to be made in bundling. They also learned that they were compatible with the co-founders of PC Treasures. The deal was especially complex because PC has a unique business model. They were launching a new major product and it was the middle of their busiest season. It was also imperative that the "family" culture remained intact to maintain great customer relationships built on mutual trust and quickly capitalize on new market opportunities.

The unique nature of the transaction forced the advisors on the deal to come up with creative solutions that would meet the needs of all parties. Despite the complications, the deal went smoothly and PC's co-founders Brian Austin and Les Thomas agreed to invest some of the proceeds from the sale back into the company.

The deal closed in November 2014, PC Treasures busiest season, and was awarded "Deal of the Year: Best Deal under $100 Million" by Crain's Detroit Business. UHY's team played a crucial role in facilitating the transaction. Operating under Steve McCarty; Aaron Witalec, Bob Kendall and Alex Conti acted as sell side advisors on the deal.
 

Are you ready to take charge of your career path? Be sure to visit our careers page for the most up to date career listings or contact Yolanda Rountree at yrountree@uhy-us.com or 586 843 2642. Check out some of the current opportunities in our Michigan offices:
 

• Audit Manager, 7+ years of experience, manufacturing experience is highly preferred
• Audit Manager, 7+ years of experience, SEC experience is highly preferred
• Audit Accountant, 2-10 years of experience working with municipalities
• Audit Senior Staff Accountant, 2-4 years of experience
• Internal Audit Risk & Compliance Manager, 7+ years of experience
• R&D Tax Specialist, 7+ years of experience
• Tax Manager, 7-10 years of experience, marketing experience is required
• Tax Senior Consultant, 4-5 years of experience, Big 4 experience is required
• Tax Senior Accountant, 5-7 years of experience, CPA required
• Director of Litigation, testifying experience required municipalities
• Senior Associate (Corporate Finance), 2-4 years of Big 4 experience highly preferred 

 

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