The former head of UBS AG (UBSN)’s global wealth-management business, Raoul Weil, referred to accounts hidden by U.S. clients from the Internal Revenue Service as “toxic waste,” at his tax-conspiracy trial. Martin Liechti, a former UBS banker cooperating with prosecutors, told federal jurors in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that Weil became […]
While Pfizer Inc.’s CEO acknowledged Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury Department’s recent crackdown on inversions has diminished the deal’s appeal, the drug maker has yet to rule out an acquisition that would lower its tax bill. New York-based Pfizer explored deals with AstraZeneca PLC and Actavis PLC this year that […]
In the first part of this post, we began discussing the issue of the confidentiality of sensitive and personal information submitted by taxpayers to the IRS. We noted that a report recently issued by a key government watchdog agency found serious concerns with the performance of the IRS in safeguarding […]
Fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are breathing sighs of relief after being cleared by Italy’s highest court of tax evasion charges Friday, bringing an end to one of the country’s highest profile tax cases in recent years. The designers have been in a constant battle since June 2013 […]
The Internal Revenue Service is expecting a plethora of complications with the coming tax-filing season, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said in an interview with the nonprofit publisher Tax Analysts that was published this week. Mr. Koskinen suggests, “The difference this year compared to the past is we are having to […]
Switzerland, a country long known for its bank secrecy laws, is attempting to fight that reputation by playing a leading role in the effort to return stolen state assets. Valentin Zellweger, a legal adviser at the Swiss foreign ministry, said the country has been working on returning stolen assets for […]
To be sure, the IRS has various sticks at its disposal to deploy to enforce tax compliance. These tools do not only include tax audits; in more severe cases, the threat of criminal prosecution is also present. Overall, however, the IRS is able to bring in much of the nation’s […]
Deutsche Bank AG’s Swiss unit has entered a U.S. Justice Department self-reporting program for banks that believe they may have aided Americans in the evasion of taxes. Under the program, Deutsche Bank’s Swiss operation has the ability to escape prosecution by disclosing previously undeclared U.S. accounts. While the bank may […]
The U.S. has seen uninterrupted success in its pursuit of undisclosed offshore accounts held by U.S. taxpayers. It began in 2008 with a key court victory against UBS, which then went on to pay the IRS $780 million. Swiss banking was turned upside down after UBS released thousands of Americans’ […]
The Internal Revenue Service announced changes to one of its limited-amnesty programs for U.S. taxpayers with undeclared offshore accounts. The revisions are an attempt to “streamline procedure,” which was announced in June and could offer relief to taxpayers who weren’t intentionally hiding money abroad. Participants in the streamlined program who […]