There has been quite a bit of buzz about a recent bankruptcy case involving an Alaska asset protection trust. However, the case merely confirms a weakness in the use of domestic asset protection trusts that was obvious even before this case. Domestic asset protection trusts (DAPTs) promise the holy grail of creditor protection - a…
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Swiss Parliament Approves Amended U.S.-Switzerland Tax Treaty
A Swiss parliamentary committee Nov. 10 gave its go-ahead to proposed amendments to a new U.S.-Swiss double taxation treaty that would make it easier for U.S. authorities to seek information on secret bank accounts held by U.S. taxpayers with Swiss banks. The amendment allows for the handover of files on suspected tax offenders to the…
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Former UBS Client Sentenced for Stashing $7.1 Million in Swiss Accounts
Bloomberg reports that Richard Werdiger, 64, is one of 36 Americans charged since 2007 in a U.S. crackdown on offshore tax evasion, and his was the longest prison term by a day. Werdiger, who pleaded guilty in March in federal court in New York, paid a civil penalty of $3.84 million and was fined $50,000 yesterday…
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Public Anger and Shareholder Unease Threaten Tax Havens' Tranquility
The Economist recently reported that - Under intense international pressure to lift banking secrecy, the first and biggest of the world’s “tax havens”—places that charge low or no taxes to foreigners—is ceding some ground. In a deal signed on October 6th, Switzerland agreed to tax money held in its banks by British residents (it had already…
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