It’s an annual ritual in recent years, one that reflects the dysfunctional, deficit-driven dance of an overly contentious Congress. One again, Congress is letting numerous tax breaks expire. But because Congress also has a pattern of reinstating those breaks months later in a piecemeal manner, the result is to make […]
Brazil was a model for financial discipline during the global financial crises. While much of the world economy was slowing down or contracting, Brazil will was chugging along quite serenely. Unfortunately, as with all things-good or bad-, it came to an end. Now Brazil is preparing to face some tax […]
Here in the United States, the federal government is concerned about private individuals evading taxes by putting their funds in offshore accounts. Occasionally, the tax evasion tactics of a politician come to light. But apparently in Pakistan, at least half of all lawmakers don’t even bother to register with tax […]
Earlier this year, the IRS began an effort to regulate unlicensed tax preparers with testing and continuing education requirements. Interest groups opposed to such regulation, however, halted that effort. Since then, groups vying for such regulation have pushed states to take up the mantle and regulate these unlicensed tax preparers […]
Given the complexity of the U.S. tax code, it is scarcely surprising that many Americans use professional tax preparers. Often people use the same trusted preparer year after year. This can provide an important element of continuity amid the tax law changes that seem to come every year. It is […]
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has indicated that 30 of its developed-country members have seen their tax revenues continue to recover in 2013 after the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. While pre-crisis revenues accounted for roughly 35% of GDP, in 2013 it is at 34.6%, which indicates that […]
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that almost 1200 IRS vendors, about 7% of all IRS vendors, had almost $600 million in combined federal tax debt! Over half a billion dollars in unpaid taxes by those who are working for the agency in charge of tax collection is […]
The IRS has delayed the date it will start accepting tax filings by about ten days due to the 16-day government shutdown in October. The delay is necessary, the IRS states, because it needs more time to run tests on its systems. The agency is also in the middle of […]
Since UBS agreed to a $780 million penalty by U.S. authorities, the United States has been attempting to convince other Swiss banks to voluntarily aid the American government in finding its tax evaders. By using UBS as an example, the help of an agreement with the Swiss government, and a […]
In a motion of compliance, Valiant Bank has become the first Swiss lender to confirm its enrollment in a US program intended to put a stop to the country’s banking secrecy. The US has relentlessly pursued Swiss lenders since forcing UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, to pay a $780m fine for […]