Man Caught Hiding Swiss Bank Accounts Becomes Latest Casualty Of Government’s Campaign to Root Out Tax Evasion
In a recent press release, the Department of Justice announced that a New York man pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to a tax crime on February 18, 2015. The crime? None other than corruptly endeavoring to obstruct and impede the Internal Revenue Service. I know. It’s a mouthful. Below are snippets […]
How Do You Spell ‘Relief?’
This commercial always perplexed me as a child, because I was pretty sure that “relief” was not spelled as “r-o-l-a-i-d-s,” despite what the actors and TV announcers said. I finally took my concerns to my mother, because she always had all the answers. She assured me that I was right, and that the intentional misspelling […]
FATCA Brings End To Switzerland’s Time-honored Tradition of Bank Secrecy
Having trouble viewing this email?Click here WEBSITE FIRM OVERVIEW ATTORNEYS TAX SEMINARS TAX CHAT CONTACT February 26, 2015 The White Knight Chronicles Making Sense of the Model 2 FATCA Agreement Between Switzerland and the United States and What’s on the Horizon As you may have heard by now, Switzerland is in the process […]
The Greatness Of Mickey Mantle And Louis Kovel
Staff Reductions & Insufficient Funding Will Dramatically Impact IRS in 2015 And Beyond
Last Tuesday, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen addressed the New York State bar Association Tax Section in New York. His comments provide keen insight into the going-on’s at the IRS. Mr. Koskinen’s most important announcement centered on the agency’s anticipated reduction in the number of rulemaking projects as a result of budgetary constraints. Although releasing guidance […]
Bulgaria Becomes Latest Country To Sign On To FATCA
Bulgaria is the most recent country to ink a deal with the United States to implement FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. Passed by Congress in 2010, the law is designed to stomp out offshore tax evasion, by targeting U.S. taxpayers with unreported offshore accounts. Under the law, foreign banks and financial institutions must […]
Switzerland’s Bank Secrecy To Come Tumbling Down Like Berlin Wall When Automatic Exchange of Information Treaty Goes Into Effect
Author Samuel Jaberg sat down to interview Jacques de Watteville, Switzerland’s State Secretary for International Financial Matters. Mr. de Watteville is the man in charge of implementing Switzerland’s new treaty on automatic exchange of information between tax authorities. Before we dive into the interview, some background information about how the automatic exchange of information works is useful. According to […]
Is The U.S. Government On The Brink Of Launching A Tax Investigation Into HSBC?
The threat of U.S. prosecution looms over HSBC Holdings PLC like the sword of Damocles after a groundbreaking report revealed that it helped clients hide cash from various tax authorities. These reports cast HSBC, HSBC’s Holding’s parent bank, in an unsavory light and is the latest round of negative publicity to besmirch the British bank’s […]
HSBC Back In The Dog House Again
Last weekend, media reports cast an unflattering light on HSBC’s continued defiance to “straighten up and fly right” when it comes to assisting its foreign clients hide their accounts from taxing authorities in their home countries. The list of clients includes some you would least expect: global politicians, rock stars, arms dealers, and potential terrorists. […]
The Truth About ‘Luck’
This appeared in a blog post authored by Jason Zook. It is very profound. I couldn’t wait to share it with you. Why I don’t believe in luck For as long as I can remember, the saying, “you just got lucky” or “that person is so lucky” has always made me cringe. I’ve never believed […]