The Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department issued guidance Oct. 24, which provides certain timelines for withholding agents and foreign financial institutions to complete due diligence required under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Announcement 2012-42 comes in response to a flurry of comments about FATCA proposed rules (REG-121647-10) issued in February and designed…
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So Much For Moving Your Swiss Account to Singapore.
Singapore plans to classify tax evasion and abetting tax evasion as money-laundering predicate offences so that the powers used to investigate and prosecute money laundering will be available to seize the proceeds of tax crimes. Foreign jurisdictions may also make requests for legal assistance to pursue tax evaders and their proceeds. The proposals are out…
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Law Firm That Issued Opinion on “Abusive Tax Shelter,” may be Subject to RICO.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Sept. 19 reinstated racketeering and misrepresentation claims against a law firm that allegedly provided incomplete and misleading opinion letters about the tax consequences of a welfare benefit plan ultimately found to be an abusive tax shelter (Ouwinga v. Benistar 419 Plan Services Inc., 6th Cir., No.…
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IRS Expands its Offshore Tax Investigation & Expects Charges Against Non-Swiss Banks in the Near Furture!
Officials at the Internal Revenue Service have made it a priority to expand its continuing investigations into offshore tax evasion to countries beyond Switzerland, the chief of the IRS Criminal Investigation division said Oct. 18. Richard Weber, a career prosecutor who assumed his IRS post in May, said that in the near future officials hope…
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