by Brian Mahany
Last summer I discussed the how the German government bribed a Liechtenstein bank employee to obtain confidential tax information - the names and addresses of German account holders with accounts at LGT Bank. What many did not know, however, was that Germany then apparently shared that illegally obtained information with other tax authorities, …
Tag Archives: non-filer
Will the Tax Man Resort to Illegal Bribes to Get Information? YES!
IRS Criminal Division Announces 2010 Investigation Targets
The IRS has announced its Criminal Investigation Annual Business Plan for FY2010. This year’s plan is part of the IRS’ larger 5 year strategic plan for 2009 - 2013. Those of us who are baby boomers remember the then Soviet Union’s “5 year plans.” Like the IRS strategic plan, those plans were big on …
There is a New Sheriff in Town. Make that 50 New Sheriffs.
by Brian Mahany
The U.S. Census Bureau does more than count people every 10 years, they also track state tax collections. And the most recent figures for the second quarter of 2009 shows that on average, state and local tax collections were down 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. More ominously, this is the …
UBS Redux - Intentional Leak or Accident?
by Brian Mahany
As part of the litigation settlement between Swiss bank UBS and the U.S. Treasury, UBS promised to turn over 4,450 names to the IRS. The process involved turning over the names to Swiss authorities who would then forward them to the IRS. But in a strange move, UBS sent thousands of letters to …
Another One Bites the Dust - Monaco is No Longer a “Tax Haven”
Monaco as a Tax Haven? No More!
The dwindling list of tax havens in the world, that is countries without tax exchange agreements with the United States, just got smaller. Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin announced that the United States has signed a tax exchange agreement with the Principality of Monaco.
Under the terms of the …
The Noose Tightens
The IRS announced it is reassigning many of its auditors from the corporate tax audits to a new office created within the Service’s Large and Mid-size Business Division. The mission of the new office? To seek out wealthy tax evaders and those with unreported offshore accounts.
It’s not just a reassignment of existing staff either. IRS …