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 to announce charges in pending cases that will allege schemes to hide offshore assets in countries other than Switzerland and Liechtenstein, which so far have been the primary focus.

The new cases, Weber said, will“show additional progress” in cracking down on offshore tax evasion.

“We’ve made it a significant priority to expand to other countries, and we have agents doing that now,” he told a money laundering conference sponsored by the Foundation for Accounting Education of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Pointing to the “great success” the IRS has had in uncovering criminal conduct involving Swiss bank accounts, Weber said that the Service has been breaking down bank secrecy barriers that have shielded U.S. taxpayers with assets in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, “and other tax haven countries.” But he added: “We are not done.”

International investigations have been given priority in the CI division, with headquarters staff working to support field offices in developing new types of prosecutions, he said.

Much of the work involves partnerships with foreign governments and law enforcement agencies, as well as private entities and professional organizations, he reported. The IRS now has 17 attaches at key embassies and consulates in 10 countries, he said, with plans to expand that international presence.

“We're seeing positive results from having attaches in these locations,” Weber said, pointing to the advantages of being able to work directly with foreign counterparts, at the same table and in the same time zone.

“When we work together, it's a force multiplier, and the criminals lose,” he said.

“So we need to be smarter, more creative, more effective,” Weber continued. “I'm sure my (4,000) agents are up to the challenge.” But he suggested that there is enough work ahead for another 1,000 CI agents, if he had them.

If you have Unreported Income From Swiss Banks or are a Swiss Bank Employee named in these documents, contact the Tax Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Tax Consultation at www.TaxAid.us orwww.TaxLaw.ms or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).

 

Sources

BNA

 

Transparancy in Switzerland

The Swiss government has accepted that the qualified intermediary (QI) agreements made between Swiss banks and the US government do not violate banking secrecy laws. The QI agreements came under scrutiny after the disclosure of large amounts of UBS client data to the US Justice Department in 2009.


On 30 May 2010, in their report on the disclosure of UBS client data, the Control Committees of the National Council and Council of States instructed the Federal Council to clarify questions on the application of Article 271 of the Criminal Code (SCC) and on the compatibility of the QIA with Swiss banking secrecy.

This request from the Control Committees of the National Council and Council of States was prompted by the general authorisation in accordance with Article 271 para. 1 of the Swiss Criminal Code issued in 2000 by the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) for those persons dealing with the enforcement of the QIA concluded between the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Swiss banks or securities dealers. The FDF authorisation allowed those persons dealing with the application of the QIA, i.e. employees of banks and securities dealers, to carry out withholding tax deductions, in particular, based on US law.

According to the current qualified intermediary system, non-US persons do not have to disclose their identity to the IRS, whereas since 1 January 2001, US persons have been allowed to hold US securities only if they were prepared to sign a so-called W-9 form.

The information on the form allows the qualified intermediary (QI) to disclose income earned on the securities to the IRS and thereby disclose the identity of the US person. The QI had to obtain the approval of clients to disclose their identity or obtain their consent that no US securities were being held for them. Due to the options that exist, the Federal Council concluded that the QIA does not violate banking secrecy. 
 
With regard to the authorisation granted in 2000 in accordance with Article 271 para. 1 of the Swiss Criminal Code, the Federal Council is of the opinion that, as things currently stand, authorisations of such political relevance as this case come under its authority and a generally abstract ruling on an individual authorisation with an undefined target group would have been preferable.

If you have Unreported Income From Swiss Banks or are a Swiss Bank Employee under investigation, contact the Tax Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Tax Consultation at www.TaxAid.us orwww.TaxLaw.ms or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).

 

Source:

Swiss Federal Council

Hotel Owner Faces 15 Years in Jail For Sales Tax Theft

On October 2, 2012, Lawrence Wright, former owner of TW Hospitality, LLC was arrested by the Walton County Sheriff's Department on second degree felony and misdemeanor charges concerning theft of over $37,000 of sales tax allegedly collected but not remitted to the state.

The business owned and operated the Comfort Inn & Suites located at 326 Coy Burgess Loop in Defuniak Springs, Florida. The 45 year old Niceville, Florida resident faces up to 15 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines in addition to repayment of stolen taxes, interest, and investigation expenses.

According to investigators, Mr. Wright collected sales tax from customers at the hotel but during periods from 2009 through 2012, he failed to remit to the state all the sales tax he collected as mandated by Florida law and he failed to remit the sales taxes to the state.

If you have Florida Sales Tax Problems, contact the Tax Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Tax Consultation at www.TaxAid.us or www.TaxLaw.ms or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).

Source

James Sutton, CPA, Esq

 

Section 6038C Regulations on International Entities Disclosures to be Issue Soon by IRS

NEW YORK—The Internal Revenue Service is working to issue regulations regarding reporting requirements with respect to foreign corporations, including related banking entities, IRS Office of Associate Chief Counsel (International) Senior Technical Reviewer Mark E. Erwin said Oct 3.

The project is currently not listed on the IRS priority guidance plan, but “[o]ur office in ACCI is interested in refocusing on a project with issuing regulations under 6038C,” Erwin said.

Internal Revenue Code Section 6038C requires corporations with foreign ownership that are engaged in a trade or business within the United States to provide to the Treasury Department certain information and financial data, including transactions among related parties and a description of the relationship among the related parties.

While the data may currently be requested from taxpayers during an audit, Erwin said issuing regulations requiring the disclosures will give “teeth” to such requests. “We recognize that documentation is critical in the context of these audits, ”he said.


Source

BNA



 

The Internal Revenue Service is taking corrective measures to improve firearms training for its special agents

The Internal Revenue Service is taking corrective measures to improve firearms training for its special agents after a report released Oct. 2 by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that some Criminal Investigation special agents did not meet all the agency's firearms training and qualifications requirements.

TIGTA also found that due to vague, or even missing, guidelines in the Internal Revenue Manual, some managers in CI field offices were unsure what action to take when their agents did not meet the requirements.

The report said the Criminal Investigation Division runs the risk of losing track of firearms because of inconsistent or absent procedures for recording when a special agent who did not meet the annual firearms requirements had the firearm taken away.
 

New CAF Fax Numbers for Form 2848 and 8821

CAF Unit Addresses, Fax Numbers, and State Mapping

CAF Units / Fax Numbers and Mailing Addresses

Ogden (OAMC)
1973 N. Rulon White Blvd.
M/S 6737, Ogden, UT 84404
New Fax: (855) 214-7522
Old Fax: (801) 620-4249 (still operational through 12/31/2012)
Memphis (MAMC)
PO Box 268, Stop 8423
Memphis, TN 38118
New Fax: (855) 214-7519
Old Fax: (901) 546-4115 (still operational through 12/31/2012)
Philadelphia (PAMC)
International CAF MS 3-E08.123
2970 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Fax: (267) 941-1017
Hint: States west of the Mississippi should submit authorizations to OAMC; states east of the Mississippi should submit authorizations to MAMC. The exceptions are: authorizations related to taxpayers residing abroad, which should be submitted to PAMC, and Arkansas and Louisiana submit authorizations to MAMC.

















 

Former Swiss Banker Helping IRS Tax Probe of Swiss Banks

A former Swiss banker accused of helping rich Americans dodge taxes, may be cooperating with a broad U.S. government investigation of Swiss banks for providing tax evasion services, lawyers said on Wednesday.

Speculation that Christos Bagios is working with the United States arose after the ex-employee of Swiss banks Credit Suisse AG and UBS AG arranged a change-of-plea hearing following his pleading not-guilty in a U.S. federal court to new charges of aiding tax evasion.

Bagios is a central figure in the probe by the U.S. Department of Justice into offshore tax evasion services sold by Swiss and Swiss-style banks.

Some lawyers said he is likely preparing to plead guilty as part of a cooperation deal with the DOJ, a move that could pile pressure on Swiss banks targeted by the investigation.

"The fact that he has waived his right to indictment means it is very likely he will change his plea" to guilty next week, said Lawrence Brown, a tax lawyer in Fort Worth, Texas, with offshore clients. Brown added that the move would help the government's investigation.

If this is true it will push Credit Suisse further toward having to deal with the U.S. government.

Bagios, a Greek citizen and Swiss resident, was a senior private banker at Credit Suisse at the time of his arrest by U.S. authorities in January 2011. Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-largest bank, disclosed in July 2011 that it was being investigated by the Justice Department. The investigation swelled after UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, paid $780 million and entered into a deferred-prosecution agreement, now ended, with U.S. authorities in 2009.

Eleven banks are under investigation, and dozens of Swiss bankers and American clients have been indicted in recent years.

 

The new charges against Bagios assert that he told one U.S. client to sign UBS documents falsely declaring that the client was a Malaysian national, not a U.S. citizen.

Bagios and his co-conspirators, court papers alleged, also told some UBS clients wishing to sneak hidden money back into the United States that they needed to "wash" their undisclosed assets back into the banking system, by transferring small, undetectable amounts into their declared UBS accounts.

 

The fresh charges asserted that Bagios worked with a group of co-conspirators. They include Hansruedi Schumacher, a former top UBS private banker who later worked at Neue Zurcher Bank and was indicted in the United States in 2009; Renzo Gadola, a former top UBS private banker who pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and conspiracy in December 2010; and Martin Lack, a former top UBS private banker who was indicted in August 2011.

At the time of his arrest in New York and subsequent transfer to Florida, Bagios was head of Credit Suisse's Relationship Management West Coast group, a private banking unit, according to the bank's website.

According to BNA —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 to announce charges in pending cases that will allege schemes to hide offshore assets in countries other than Switzerland and Liechtenstein, which so far have been the primary focus.

The new cases, Weber said, will “show additional progress” in cracking down on offshore tax evasion.

“We’ve made it a significant priority to expand to other countries, and we have agents doing that now,” he told a money laundering conference sponsored by the Foundation for Accounting Education of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

If you have Unreported Income From Swiss Banks or are a Swiss Bank Employee under investigation, contact the Tax Lawyers at Marini & Associates, P.A. for a FREE Tax Consultation at www.TaxAid.us orwww.TaxLaw.ms or Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888 882-9243).



Sources

Reuters