Facing government resistance at every turn and increased costs of doing business, foreign banks are now ever more hesitant to operate in America.

Compliance costs for handling U.S. accounts are already so high that many banks are simply refusing to open new accounts for U.S. individuals. If HR 4213, which passed the House of Representatives in December 2009, is approved by the Senate in the coming weeks even more banks will terminate their U.S. clients. The bill, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Reporting Act (or FATCAT), will essentially close the door to many foreign banks. There’s more…

Coming to a tax haven near you: The IRS Criminal Investigation Division is opening offices in a dozen foreign countries. The disgruntled banker in Switzerland or Panama who wants to provide offshore banking information to the IRS can now just walk into their local IRS office. The informant commission incentives are there – but they are to be questioned.

UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld turned IRS informant and brought his Swiss bank to the brink with the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice. The case, which was recently featured on 60 Minutes, was egregious. UBS bankers were flying to America to recruit and assist U.S. citizens in evading their U.S. tax obligations. Did Birkenfeld get millions for his whistleblowing activities? No, the Department of Justice found fault in a related matter. So not only is Birkenfeld out his bounty but he is serving a 40-month prison sentence. No one else in the entire UBS scandal is serving one day of time. Just the informant. One wonders how many potential whistleblowers will actually show up at these new IRS offices.

Still, the IRS is expanding its reach. It has joined the Joint International Tax Shelter Information Centre. The U.S., Australia, Japan, Canada and Britain are coming together to conduct simultaneous tax audits of wealthy individuals. So not only will an audit mean your U.S. activities are questioned, but those activities in all the aforementioned countries may also be scrutinized. Now Americans will get to see how IRS audit agents stack up against their British and Japanese counterparts.

Is all of this a good thing?

We have been suspicious and even critical of offshore banking for years. But the one positive aspect of it all cannot be denied. These institutions place and manage a great deal of non-U.S. money into the U.S. stock market. They trade and hold U.S. dollars. But with compliance costs so high, and the challenge of greater regulations on the horizon, these banks are now and will be pulling their money out of the U.S. At a time when we need as much liquidity as possible, beating up on offshore banks may prove costly to America in the long run.



Contact: Jackie Shelton, 775-772-6543
jackie@realifemarketing.com

For Immediate Release: Local Attorney Featured Speaker at Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad Real Estate Summit” Also featured contributor in Kiyosaki’s “The Real Book of Real Estate” Reno, NV -- Local attorney and author, Garrett Sutton will be a featured speaker at Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad Real Estate Summit,” taking place in Scottsdale, September 12 and 13. He is also one of the featured contributors to Kiyosaki's newly released The Real Book of Real Estate, which is part of the Rich Dad series. "As one of the foremost experts in real estate investing, Garrett has helped thousands of people make money (and save money) in real estate,” said Kiyosaki. “And with five titles and more than 700,000 in book sales he is also one of the most successful authors in the law for the layman genre in publishing history. I’m very pleased that Garrett was able to contribute to The Real Book of Real Estate.”

"This book gives real estate investors - both novice and seasoned - the chance to learn from real, real estate investors and advisors - people who have been through the ups and the downs of the markets and who walk their talk,” Kiyosaki says. “These real estate experts share relevant stories and proven strategies.”

Robert Kiyosaki, while often viewed as a bit of a contrarian, has the reputation for delivering financial education principles that enable people to process the financial information we are bombarded with 24/7. That is one of the reason Rich Dad Poor Dad is the #1 Personal Finance book of all time and a long-running international bestseller.

In 1997 Robert wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad and said that your house is not an asset. Fast forward to 2005. In an interview on KTLA in Los Angeles he talked about the real estate market crash that was coming. Fast forward, again to 2008, when KTLA replayed that 2005 interview and marveled at Kiyosaki's vision and command of history and trends.

In The Real Book of Real Estate, Robert Kiyosaki and the 22 experts who have collaborated in the writing of the book (including Donald Trump, Garrett Sutton and Ken McElroy) deliver real strategies that every investor can use, regardless of market conditions or economic turbulence.

Sutton is the author of Own Your Own Corporation, How to Buy and Sell a Business, The ABC's of Getting Out Of Debt, The ABC's of Writing Winning Business Plans, and the co-author of Real Estate Advantages, all in the Rich Dad series. In The Real Book of Real Estate Sutton focuses on real estate asset protection. Sutton has more than 25 years experience assisting and advising entrepreneurs, families and businesses in selecting the appropriate corporate structures to limit their liability, protect their assets and advance their personal and financial goals through real estate investments and other means of wealth creation. The Real Book of Real Estate is available in bookstores everywhere and online at www.sutlaw.com and www.amazon.com. For more information on the seminar, click here!

What Happens When You Sell an Exchange Property at a Loss In today’s real estate market? This is a great question that commonly arises: "What does happen if you sell a property bought in a 1031 exchange at a loss?" Let’s say, for example, you have a buyer with cash in hand offering you $175,000 for a rental property you paid $200,000 for as part of a 1031 exchange you did three years ago.

Read this article:http://expert1031.com/1031facts/articles/crej021809.html

Using 1031 Exchanges to Shift Gain Recognition Between Years.
As we start to wind down towards the end of the year, now is a good time to point out that 1031 exchanges are a great vehicle to use in shifting gain between two tax years. For example, if Fred and Sue sell their purple duplex on December 1, 2008, their 45-day identification deadline for their exchange is January 14, 2009. Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code requires that they send a list of potential acquisition properties to their intermediary no later than, in this example, this date. Failure to do so will terminate their exchange, causing the gain from the sale of their purple duplex to be taxable.

Read this article: http://expert1031.com/1031facts/articles/crej101508.html

Purchase Gary Gorman's book: Exchanging Up at Successdna.com! Half price at $12.95

Review Your Structures When Your Child Gets A Drivers License.

Your risk exposure goes through the roof when your child under 18 years old obtains a drivers license.

Are you surprised? Didn’t you read the fine print?

In most states, the application for an instruction permit or drivers license must be signed by a parent or custodian of the child. And by signing that simple form you agree to be responsible for the negligence or misconduct of the minor while they are driving.

So if your 16 year old son, god forbid, gets in a horrific car accident not only is he responsible for the resultant damages but equally so are you. Are you thinking about protecting your assets yet?

These laws can ensnare all sorts of innocent parties. For example, in Nevada, if neither parent has custody and there is no custodian, an employer may sign the drivers license application form. (N.R.S. 483.300) Of course, having a young employee who can drive may be a benefit to an employer. But what the employer may not realize is that he or she has just become personally responsible for any accident, and the resulting direct and consequential damages, the young driver may cause.

In addition to driving there are other areas where an unruly child can get a parent into trouble. In Arizona, for example, parents and custodians are responsible for their minor’s bad behavior:

“Any act of malicious or willful misconduct of a minor which results in any injury to the person or property of another, to include theft or shoplifting, shall be imputed to the parents or legal guardian having custody or control of the minor whether or not such parents or guardian could have anticipated the misconduct for all purposes of civil damages, and such parents or guardian having custody or control shall be jointly and severally liable with such minor for any actual damages resulting from such malicious or willful misconduct.” (A.R.S. §12-661 A)

While the law limits the parent’s responsibility to $10,000, that amount is for each wrong, which can quickly add up. As well, the law allows insurance companies “to exclude coverage for the acts of a minor imputed to his parent or legal guardian.” (A.R.S. §12-661 C) This means the parent will have to personally pay the $10,000 per infraction. In California the parent’s amount is $25,000 for each tort of the minor, which an insurance company does not have to pay. (Cal. Civ. Code §1714.1) In a sign of the times, the California law specifically holds parents responsible for a minor’s graffiti defacings.

What does all this risk mean for parents?

That asset protection is crucial for those whose children are coming of age. Be sure to work with your asset protection advisor to make sure all assets are protected. (If you need such an advisor feel free to call us at 1-800-700-1430.) Consider holding your brokerage account in a Wyoming or Nevada LLC. Otherwise, if that valuable account is in your name as an individual it will be the first place a judgment creditor will look to satisfy their claim.

So before you sign that form making you personally responsible for your minor child’s driving activities, double check and make sure your assets are protected. Your personal residence, your brokerage account and all of you other valuable assets must be protected before your children start driving, and increasing your risk profile.

Garrett Sutton, Esq. is a corporate attorney and is the author of "Own Your Own Corporation" and other titles in the Rich Dad Advisor series. His firm forms and maintains corporations, LLCs and other entities and may be reached at http://www.corporatedirect.com
To get a FREE copy of Garrett's book, "What to Know Before you Incorporate" log onto http://www.corporatedirect.com

Good standing sounds important. It conveys the sense of ethical and upright activities. It is a place from which you want (or should want) to operate.

When it comes to corporations, LLCs and LPs good standing is a legal requirement. And the consequences of not being in good standing, while unfortunately unappreciated by most, can be devastating.

Almost every state requires each corporation, LLC and LP formed there or qualified to do business there to file an annual report.

The purpose of these periodic filings is two-fold. First, it allows the state to collect their annual fee from the entity for the upcoming year. And make no mistake, these filing fees add up and are a very important and stable source of state revenue. Second, the reports confirm whether the entity is still active in the state.

The entity that fails to file its annual report (and also does not pay its fees to the state) can lose its good standing status.

What does this mean? A case helps explain the consequences.

Matt and Scott owned an auto repair shop. They were both busy and although they had formed a corporation for limited liability purposes they had failed to attend to the follow up paperwork. While the corporation had been formed in 2008, they had not filed any later reports or paid the fees for 2009 and on. As such, they were not in good standing.

Two events drove home the importance of maintaining a good standing.

Matt had signed a very favorable contract with a supplier on behalf of the corporation in the winter of 2009. The supplier soon realized they could not make any money on the contract and asked their attorney to look into how to get out of the deal. Their attorney first went to the Secretary of State’s website to see if the corporation was in good standing and thus had the capacity to enter into the contract.

It was very easy for the supplier to void the contract. The corporation, by not being in good standing, was legally unable to sign the contract. State law was very clear on the matter. If you were not current you couldn’t act as a corporation. As well, in many states you cannot bring or defend a lawsuit if you’re not current. Matt had no leverage against the supplier and lost the contract.

An even more serious consequence arose over a job Matt had performed. A brake job went horribly wrong resulting in significant injuries and damages. The attorney retained to bring an action for recovery against the corporation was quite pleased to learn the entity was not in good standing when the brakes were repaired.

When Scott learned of this he immediately attempted to bring the company current to avoid the personal liability. But it was too late. He had done the work when the corporation was not in good standing. The die was cast. This meant that Scott could be sued personally for the damages. By acting for a corporation not in good standing Scott was not protected by the entity and thus personally liable.

Scott and Matt learned the hard way the importance of keeping your corporation, LLC or LP current and in good standing.

It is very easy to see if someone’s entity is in good standing or not. Competitors, attorneys and even the curious can check the state’s online database for this information.

Don’t be the next victim of an innocent or unintentional failure to follow this important corporate formality. Make sure you are in good standing at all times so that the limited liability entity you set up continues to protect you in all your activities.

Garrett Sutton, Esq. is a corporate attorney and is the author of "Own Your Own Corporation" and other titles in the Rich Dad Advisor series. His firm forms and maintains corporations, LLCs and other entities and may be reached at http://www.corporatedirect.com
To get a FREE copy of Garrett's book, "What to Know Before you Incorporate" log onto http://www.corporatedirect.com