Credentials Of Senior Management

Richard Merrill Kahn

FIRPTA Tax Pro,, IRS AFSP, IRS CAA

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PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND ​

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OVERVIEW (Beginning to Now)

     Richard began his career on Wall Street. He was Merrill Lynch's youngest national product Manger in the field of Real Estate and Tax Sheltering Income. His boss was CEO Donald Regan who became U.S. Treasury Secretary under Ronald Reagan.

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     With the mortgage crisis in 2007, Richard's background qualified him as a testifying expert and he worked to help people facing loss of their homes by parties who could not prove ownership but claimed to buy their mortgages from failed lenders. He testified in state and federal courts in more than 35 states and represented some1,000 cases in his investigative, reporting and expert witness capacity.

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     In 2017 he developed FIRPTA Refunds as a DBA for his firm FPG-US. Richard became aware that Foreign National sellers in FIRPTA transactions were not getting best in class representation because the transactions were often involving small fees and one time engagements. Due to the nature of it, he found himself representing personally, something necessary and he found enjoyable and helping those in need was personally fulfilling.

 

      In 2022 Richard purchased FPG-USA and it's FIRPTA operations. Richard brings his vast experience in all FIRPTA withholding, tax filing for maximum refunds, obtaining ITINs for clients as an IRS CAA where they retain their passports and helping navigate the highly specialized field within the parameters of relatively small fees and single transaction enterprise. Richard is a registered IRS AFSP TaxPro and IRS Certified Acceptance Agent. He retains deep resources in CPA, Forensic Accounting and online communication and security protocol.

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EMPLYMENT HISTORY (Now going back to the beginning)

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• (2021-Present) Established and acts as FIRPTA TaxPro and IRS CAA for FIRPTA Refunds LLC (FL) (FRllc). In 2022, Richard purchased and incorporated FPG-USA's DBA FIRPTA Refunds operations that he established in 2017 and ran as FIRPTA TaxPro for FPG-USA.  ​​

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• (2017-2022) Established and acted as FIRPTA TaxPro for FPG-USA's DBA FIRPTA Refunds division. 

 

• (2008-2021) Managing Partner, Forensic Professionals Group USA, Inc. (FL) ​("FPG-USA"). Richard served as FPG-USA's Testifying expert in Real Estate, Secularization (Multi-Investor Real Estate) Mortgage Finance, Accounting and FIRPTA services. Personally handled over 1,000 cases across the USA since 2007. 

 

• (2003-2010) Managing Partner of Whale Mortgage, Inc. (FL) Licensed residential lender. Principal in charges of all operations including acting as the firm's FIRPTA TaxPro.

 

• (1978-2010) Managing Partner and Principal of Nationwide Commercial Real Estate Lending.

• Principal in charges of all operations including acting as the firm's FIRPTA TaxPro.

 

• (1995-2006 )Managing Partner Mallpark, Inc. (FL)  Global internet provider of virtual online real estate services and associated software development to over 5,000 companies worldwide.

 

• (1980-1995) Special Adviser to the IRS on recapture of tax sheltered real estate investments, IRS Philadelphia Offices.   

 

• (1979-1991) Affiliated Real Estate Analysts, Inc.(NY) ("AREA"). Principal in charge of nationwide real estate acquisition, development, commercial lending, investor services on a diversified portfolio consisted of several hundreds of millions of dollars. Relative to transactions with Foreign Nationals:

  • (1980-1991) Richard oversaw FIRPTA (Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act) responsibilities from 1980 when U.S. Congress made them optional and then from 1984 when withholding and reporting became mandatory.

 

• (1973-1978) National Real Estate Product Manager at Merrill Lynch . Securities licensing by SEC, NYSE, AMEX, CBOE, NASD . Appointed by CEO Don Regan who became US Treasury Secretary in the Reagan Administration.

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​ON A PERSONAL LEVEL

• Richard's ownership of AREA with properties nationwide allowed him to learn to fly a private 6 passenger Piper Cherokee 6 300 and over more than a decade he accumulated some 2,000 hours of VFR and 1,000 hours of IFR.

• From the time he began to live and visit South Florida, Richard became an avid fisherman and later captained his own private boats of various kinds. He gravitated to off shore salt water fishing and boating. He sold his last boat around 2017.

• In 2019 due to the interest of his wife in RVing in a tiny driveable home Richard became and has since devoted much time with his beloved wife RVing. They do carry an expedition kayak to enjoy boating as well.

• Inspired by his uncle Danny Kapilow, president of 4 Teamster's locals in New York, who became a pro boxer as a white collar executive, with an established boxing bouts record, Richard began to pursue contact martial arts in his early 30s, even as a white collar Wall Street, Real Estate, Mortgage Finance executive. He has establish a recognizable career of fights, competition and contributing to learning and the sport of martial arts. Richard is an 8th degree fighting black belt and a proud inductee into the elite and prestigious Kenpo Hall of Fame, masters division along with a select group of recognized founders and Kenpo martial arts greats. Richard feels that being a measured fighter in combat sports helps himself and his clients in is professional career. You can learn more about Richard's Black Belt credentials here.