September 23rd will be an important date in the calendar of many of the USA’s most productive entrepreneurs and businessmen – people who sought to protect their assets against America’s out of control government and court system, through offshore (mainly Swiss) private bank accounts.

For those agonizing about whether to come forward in the amnesty, those merely contemplating doing so, or those in other countries like the UK and Australia wondering if and when their governments will be doing the same thing … I have discovered an excellent new contact who could help you sleep sounder at night (and no, he’s not a doctor!)

Although the IRS extended again in some limited circumstances the deadline for US taxpayers to file their 2008 FBAR forms  (Foreign Bank Account Reporting) forms otherwise known as Form TD F 90-22.1, the deadline for the amnesty looms.

The IRS has stated that US taxpayers who didn’t file FBARs for any of the prior six years (2003 to 2008), but nonetheless reported and paid tax on all taxable income, should file FBARs for such years by September 23, 2009. In such cases, the IRS has advised that no late filing penalties will be imposed. Note that the mailing address for submitting the amnesty is different from the mailing address for filing the regular FBAR return. A copy must be mailed to the IRS’s ominous sounding ‘Philadelphia Offshore Identification Unit.’

Fortunately, yours truly, Q Wealth’s offshore banking commentator Peter Macfarlane, has been busy in this regard on behalf of his many American friends and readers. I have identified and done due diligence on a US licensed attorney who spends about half his time working offshore, and half his time working from his law offices in the USA. The advantage of this, over contracting a US attorney directly in the US, should be obvious – besides his experience in offshore matters, you can actually talk to him securely while he is offshore, or even fly to meet him offshore. If you wish, you can even hold an initial meeting anonymously.

Of course, as you know from many of my recent articles, I believe most of the IRS’s crackdown consists of bluff. But still, it’s important to be compliant and to sleep soundly at night. Most of us I am sure would rather pay up some extorsion money rather than risk having armed thugs breaking in to our home in the early hours of the morning!

As you can imagine this lawyer is extremely busy at the moment. He is one of the best and is well ahead of the crowd of other lawyers who have recently jumped on the bandwagon in order to profit from representing clients in this amnesty. In fact, I believe he’s the only one who has an established base offshore.

So, in order to allow him to maximize his time, we are currently only referring clients to him after they have had an in-depth consultation with one of the Q Wealth Experts. We remind you that in-depth consultations are free with membership of the Q Wealth Report – simply contact the front desk and ask to be referred to an expert for an e-mail consultation. If your case is particularly urgent, there are other options for expedited or personal consultations.

If you are not yet a member of Q Wealth, the very first thing to do is sign up and study our material. It is not specifically US related and we don’t give tax advice – but our offshore banking and asset protection material is surely essential reading for anyone with offshore assets.

If on the other hand your answer is “Not now thanks, but I’d like to keep in touch” then simply sign up for our free Q Bytes, and receive our free five-part e-mail course Secrets of the Super Rich. e-mail newsletter