Man Caught Hiding Swiss Bank Accounts Becomes Latest Casualty Of Government’s Campaign to Root Out Tax Evasion
In a recent press release, the Department of Justice announced that a New York man pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to a tax crime on February 18, 2015. The crime? None other than corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede the Internal Revenue Service. I know. It’s a mouthful. Below are snippets […]
How Do You Spell ‘Relief?’
This commercial always perplexed me as a child, because I was pretty sure that “relief” was not spelled as “r-o-l-a-i-d-s,” despite what the actors and TV announcers said. I finally took my concerns to my mother, because she always had all the answers. She assured me that I was right, and that the intentional misspelling […]
Bulgaria Becomes Latest Country To Sign On To FATCA
Bulgaria is the most recent country to ink a deal with the United States to implement FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. Passed by Congress in 2010, the law is designed to stomp out offshore tax evasion, by targeting U.S. taxpayers with unreported offshore accounts. Under the law, foreign banks and financial institutions must […]
Switzerland’s Bank Secrecy To Come Tumbling Down Like Berlin Wall When Automatic Exchange of Information Treaty Goes Into Effect
Author Samuel Jaberg sat down to interview Jacques de Watteville, Switzerland’s State Secretary for International Financial Matters. Mr. de Watteville is the man in charge of implementing Switzerland’s new treaty on automatic exchange of information between tax authorities. Before we dive into the interview, some background information about how the automatic exchange of information works is useful. According to […]
HSBC Back In The Dog House Again
Last weekend, media reports cast an unflattering light on HSBC’s continued defiance to “straighten up and fly right” when it comes to assisting its foreign clients hide their accounts from taxing authorities in their home countries. The list of clients includes some you would least expect: global politicians, rock stars, arms dealers, and potential terrorists. […]
New FBAR Guidance Issued by IRS
Back on January 13, 2015, the IRS issued a bulletin entitled, “Options Available to Help Taxpayers With Offshore Interests,” designed to assist those who have failed to file timely FBARs. The bulletin is set up as a chart where a “Situation” is listed in the left-hand column and a “Compliance Option” is listed in the […]
How Do You Know When You’re In Trouble With the Government? When The Name Of Your Trust is “Cappuccino” Spelled Backwards
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York issued a press release on January 20, 2015 announcing the guilty plea of a CEO for hiding over $ 8.4 million in offshore Swiss bank accounts. George Landegger, the Chairman and CEO of an international pulp mill company, pled guilty to willfully failing to […]
Thinking of Hiding Money Abroad? Don’t be a “Dirty Dog!”
In a recent IR published on January 28, 2015, the IRS said that avoiding taxes by hiding money or assets in unreported offshore accounts remains on its “annual list of scams known as the ‘Dirty Dozen’ for the 2015 filing season.” The complete article can be accessed here, and is quoted below: WASHINGTON — The […]
The Man (Or Woman) Without A Country
Over the last two years, the number of U.S. expatriations has skyrocketed. For 2013 alone, the number of Americans renouncing their citizenship has increased to 221%. As shocking as this statistic might sound, according to those in the “know,” it is grossly understated. This has inspired many to call the trend, “Ellis Island in reverse.” What has caused […]
International Data Exchange Service for FATCA Launched
On January 12, 2015, the IRS announced that it had opened a data exchange service for enrollment by financial institutions and countries to use for complying with a U.S. tax law. The purpose of the data exchange service is to facilitate the exchange of information between foreign financial institutions and host country tax authorities, on the one hand […]