The U.S. Treasury Department announced this week a proposal for new regulations intended to make it easier for overseas banks to comply with Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA requirements.
An article in Reuters U.S. enlists 5 EU nations in offshore tax crackdown explains these proposals as the U.S. Government not only addressing concerns of foreign financial institutions regarding the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, but also the
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An article from TMZ titled Lil’ Kim Breaks the Million Dollar Tax Lien Mark reported on rapper Lil Kim and her current $1,026,862.42 IRS tax lien. Lil’ Kim appears to be no stranger to tax troubles as hers are well documented and stretch out over a ten year period. A spokesperson for Lil’ Kim said that she “hired professional attorneys to handle this matter” and that “she, along with her
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Two articles recently published in the Wall Street Journal demonstrate that current Swiss offshore collection tactics are working to bring Swiss banks and American account holders into U.S. tax compliance. The latest bank to feel the heat of enforcement efforts is the Julius Baer Group, the largest private bank in Switzerland.  Julius Baer, hoping to avoid U.S. indictment, is already preparing to incur stiff fines from U.S. authorities for hiding
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A recent article in Forbes, With Indictments, The IRS Will Get More Data From the Swiss stated that banks prosecuted by U.S. authorities moved money to smaller, discreet establishments such as Wegelin & Co..  Because of this, the U.S. authorities have stepped up their determination to go after IRS tax cheats and the banks that are hiding them, relentlessly.  With large AND small banks like Wegelin & Co. facing indictments,
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Michael Reiss, New Jersey doctor, professor and medical researcher, was sentenced on January 11, 2012 for failing to report his offshore (UBS) bank accounts. According to the IRS, Reiss was sentenced to eight months in a community confinement center for failing to file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) with the IRS. Reiss pleaded guilty in August 2011 and agreed to pay back taxes of at least $400,000
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Self-employment can be a liberating experience. You get to make your own rules, work your own hours and say goodbye to the horrors of a demanding boss. With this freedom comes responsibility and handling all your business affairs now solely rests on your shoulders, including paying your own taxes. A recent Ledyard-Patch article entitled Self-Employed? IRS Says You Should Read This reminds us that the self-employed are urged to get
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An article in Bloomberg entitled IRS Called Easy on Criminal Tax Evaders in Watchdog’s Critique outlines Nina Olson of the National Taxpayer Advocate’s concerns that intentional tax evaders get more IRS help than those who weren’t intending to hide money from the U.S. government. Olson warns that future IRS collection efforts could be jeopardized due to confusion over the treatment of accidental tax evaders.

The IRS sees
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Major news agencies are reporting the recent IRS announcement that it was “reopening” the offshore voluntary disclosure program to encourage taxpayers to disclose their offshore accounts and becoming current with their IRS tax debt. An article written in Forbes, IRS Offers Taxpayers One More Chance, shined some light on the most likely motives for this latest IRS amnesty: money.
In a statement from the January 9th press release, IRS Chief Doug
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With holiday festivities in the past and a new tax season on the horizon, it is important to take a moment before all the preparation to give your appreciation to the IRS. Yes, that’s right; give them thanks for the service they provide. This praise probably sounds strange to the 1-6 Americans with IRS tax problems who don’t feel very thankful facing the most powerful collection agency on the planet.�
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This Tuesday, a deadline passed in which 11 Swiss banks were given an IRS ultimatum to hand over account information and pay billions in fines to avoid US tax evasion prosecution. However, what the banks have not divulged are the claims that they would also have to provide all correspondence of their offshore clients over the last 11 years. An online article from “US tax “ultimatum” has Swiss banks sweating”
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In a story straight out of a Hollywood movie, the estate of the late heiress, Huguette Clark has been shrouded in controversy since her death this May at age 104. Not only has her estate been slapped with $50 million in IRS penalties, her trusted financial advisors are facing allegations of tax fraud by the office of the public administrator of New York County. Born in 1906, the youngest child
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Many Americans like preparing their taxes every year; it helps them feel in control of their finances and they don’t want to pay someone else to do it. With a tough economy still lurking and the availability of low-cost often free tax preparation software, many are inclined to cut their basic costs, and doing their own taxes is one place they believe they can save. If a taxpayer has a
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Every year, millions of taxpayers fail to file their federal taxes by the April 18 deadline. This inaction inevitably leads to paying more in the form of unnecessary fines and penalties on top of the taxes owed. Even those folks, who filed an extension, are still responsible for filing the taxes owed plus penalties for the delay. Depending on the tax amount due, continuing to neglect to file yearly tax
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The IRS has created its own storm of controversy by going after US Citizens worldwide to collect their taxes. But from the nearly one million American citizens who live and work in Canada, the IRS received a stern message: clarify the regulations for tax compliance. Initially, many law-abiding citizens living abroad who failed to file US tax returns or declare financial holdings were simply unaware that they needed to do
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As a certified tax resolution specialist, I have said it many times before; it never pays to hide from the IRS. Nowhere is that more apparent than with the government crackdown on off-shore tax evaders. The creation in 2010 of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) set into motion serious U.S. efforts to combat tax evasion by U.S. taxpayers with investments in offshore accounts. Not only do FATCA regulations have
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