For many decades, Switzerland has held the gold standard in banking secrecy. No one would know if you had accounts there and many investors with financial interests in the United States – U.S. citizens or otherwise – used this loophole to avoid taxation of large sums. The long-held tradition of […]
Category: Articles
A bill aimed at obtaining greater information from foreign banks about US citizens and corporations with overseas accounts was introduced recently in Congress. If passed, the new law would curb the use of offshore accounts by US citizens to shield assets from taxation and severely penalize those individuals and organizations […]
With $70 billion per year in uncollected taxes at stake, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is cracking down on offshore tax evasion. The concentrated effort began in earnest last year after an extensive investigation into the activities of the Swiss banking giant UBS AG uncovered the largest offshore tax evasion […]
Dual-citizen Americans who live, work or have bank accounts in a foreign country have unique tax concerns. Especially important are tax regulations pertaining to income earned abroad and to bank accounts housed in foreign countries. The rules can be confusing, and many taxpayers have unwittingly failed to comply. Others chose […]
The Internal Revenue Service is hunting for anyone attempting to cheat the tax system by using foreign accounts. Unfortunately, this new tactic to settle unpaid taxes on illicit activities has resulted in huge penalties for citizens living in other countries, likely an unintended consequence. Sorting Through the Aftermath Instead of […]
Despite decreasing resources, the IRS is determined to pursue collections on foreign accounts. This tax season the IRS received a lot of attention for its lack of funding. IRS agents and officials are under severe strain, which has led to an overall decrease in the number of audits the IRS […]
For people or business entities with foreign accounts, tax season extends well past April. Indeed, those with foreign accounts find themselves facing a second round of tax season in the middle of summer. Unfortunately, simply noting foreign accounts on an annual tax return is not enough; an additional form is […]
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner, Doug Shulman, said the IRS is further targeting offshore accounts. At an international tax symposium in December, Shulman also stated that the agency is “seriously considering” another amnesty period for people with undeclared offshore accounts to voluntarily come forward. Targeting Offshore Accounts Following the […]
The IRS has asserted multiple maximum civil FBAR penalties against Ashvin Desai, who failed to disclose the existence of offshore accounts or report interest income from the accounts on his tax returns. Desai, a sixty-four year old born in Mumbai, India, was sentenced last week to six months of imprisonment […]
Judge Sentences Barouh to 10 Months for Unreported Off-Shore Accounts Jack Barouh earned the dubious honor of becoming the seventh former UBS AG client to be sentenced by a US federal judge on criminal tax charges. Barouh, the former owner of luxury watch company Tempus International Corporation, admitted to skimming […]