UBS (the giant Swiss financial institution) has received a lot of bad press recently in connection with offshore tax evasion schemes. More UBS clients were indicted earlier this month, but federal authorities are focusing on other financial institutions as well. Lynnley Browning reported last week in the New York Times that arrests have now been
Congress Continues to Close Tax Loopholes in Offshore Accounts
A new law signed by President Obama last month makes it much harder for U.S. citizens to evade taxes by hiding money in offshore accounts. Foreign financial institutions will now face a 30% tax on their U.S. investments if they refuse to provide information about accounts held by U.S. citizens.
None of this is a
New York Times Article Puts Spotlight on Cook Island Trusts
Offshore trusts are receiving far more media attention than they did in the past. And much of the media attention is negative. Floyd Norris, writing in the January 22, 2010 New York Times, shines the spotlight very brightly on the Cook Islands. The Cook Islands (in the South Pacific) have a population of about
IRS Recieved a Flood of Foreign Account Disclosures as Amnesty Deadline Approached
I reported in a post earlier this month that as an IRS amnesty deadline approached, more than 7,500 U.S. taxpayers had voluntarily disclosed their secret offshore accounts. Lynnley Browning reports in a November 18, 2009 New York Times article that the IRS received a flood of additional disclosures just before the deadline expired. The final number of U.S. taxpayers
IRS Likely to Continue its Assault on Offshore Accounts
It seems that U.S. lawmakers are likely to give the IRS increasing support in its recent assault on offshore accounts.
More than 7,500 U.S. taxpayers have voluntarily disclosed secret offshore accounts to the Internal Revenue Service in connection with a recent amnesty program. The program did not provide any forgiveness for tax evasion. It simply provided possible
Luxembourg Says Delaware and Wyoming are Tax Havens
Brazil has been claiming that Delaware and Wyoming are tax havens — because they have low costs and minimal disclosure requirements for business entities. The New York Times reports that Luxembourg’s prime minister has now joined in this claim. He has called for both Delaware and Wyoming to be put on the tax black list of the Organization
Trouble In Paradise: A Leading Offshore Tax Haven Might Have to Increase Taxes
One of the best known international tax havens — the Cayman Islands — is being forced to consider something that would have been unthinkable only a couple years ago: raising taxes. This may be yet another blow to Americans who hold assets in offshore accounts. As reported in a recent New York Times article by
IRS Extends Amnesty Program For Those Who Have Been Unlawfully Hiding Assets
In March of 2009 the IRS began a six month amnesty program with reduced penalties for those who come forward and acknowledge they been have unlawfully hiding assets– and failing to pay applicable taxes on those assets. The amnesty program is part of a broader effort by the IRS to crack down on U.S. citizens who are
Disclosure of Secret Offshore Accounts May Have Caused Suicide of Prominent Philanthropist
Finn M. W. Caspersen, heir to the Beneficial Corporation fortune, was a patron of Harvard and Princeton and gave away tens of millions of dollars to charity. He was active in New Jersey politics. Mr. Caspersen served on the Dean’s Advisory Council at Harvard Law School. As Lynnley Browning wrote in the New York Times
Justice Department Widens its Attack on Swiss Banking Secrecy
Last week, the Swiss banking giant UBS agreed to turn over information on American clients suspected by the IRS of using Swiss accounts for tax evasion. On Wednesday, August 19, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman said that the agency is looking at other banks and intermediaries in Switzerland in addition to UBS.
The IRS Commissioner was not kidding. Last Thursday the Justice