It’s official–UBS, the Swiss Banking Giant has reached a deal with the US Government and the Swiss Government to release around 4,450 names of American account holders suspected of tax evasion.
The US Government estimates there to be $18 billion hidden in these offshore accounts–giving the IRS plenty reason to scrutinize and audit both the innocent and guilty in the upcoming months.
If you have a UBS account and have not paid
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Hope everyone had a great weekend! CNBC.com reporter Mark Koba quoted me in a recent article about last week’s agreement by Swiss bank UBS to name US account holders. This is being seen as a watershed, leaving many wealthy Americans with foreign accounts scrambling to figure out what to do
Anyone who has not checked the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) box on Schedule B of form
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Architect Thomas Allan Bouffard, 48, of Vacaville, Calif., was audited by the IRS and pleaded guilty to attempted tax evasion. Bouffard admitted that for tax year 2002 he understated his income by $121,693, resulting in an underpayment $38,388. In 2005, during an IRS tax audit, discrepancies were found in Bouffard’s return for tax year 2002. The IRS then expanded the audit to include his 2003 tax return, and Bouffard admitted
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As Swiss bank UBS and the Swiss government consider reneging on a deal to turn over 52,000 names of U.S. clients, Justice Department warns criminal prosecution may be next step
By Michael Rozbruch
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For those who follow tax compliance news, February was a big month.
That’s when the U.S. Department of Justice announced a deal with Swiss bank UBS.
The U.S. government agreed to waive criminal prosecution — federal prosecutors suspected the Swiss bank
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Javid David Azari, 60, of Portland, Ore., pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. As part of the plea agreement, Azari agreed to cooperate with the United States regarding the whereabouts of all assets related to income tax evasion.
According to the plea, Azari knew he had unpaid federal income taxes for the years 1997 to 1999, and he attempted to evade payment of those taxes by transferring money out
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As the economy grows gloomier, identity thieves are getting more desperate and creative to trick people into paying up. The latest IRS warning urges  people to be cautious of identity theft scams that involve using the IRS name, logo, and web address to fool people into believing the IRS is contacting them to request personal information.
Protect your finances and personal information from identity thieves by staying alert and cautious around
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With the recent surge in IRS enforcement, small businesses have become a major target for the government. The staggering annual $345 billion tax gap can be largely attributed to small business tax evasion; much of this has been because small businesses are difficult to enforce and many can manage to slip through the tax cracks by underreporting actual income.
Therefore, the IRS has shifted into high gears to catch and penalize
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UBS and the U.S. and Swiss governments are nearing a settlement over the Swiss bank’s forced disclosure of 52,000 names of  U.S. clients suspected of tax evasion.
While the final form of agreement is not yet in place, there are many implications for U.S. taxpayers, including innocent offshore account holders who did not use their Swiss accounts to evade taxes. They may be heavily investigated, so it will be
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An Ohio businessman has been charged with attempting to evade his 2004 income taxes after he followed the erroneous advice of a person claiming to be a tax professional.
According to court records, Stephan Karchut, of Cortland, Ohio, the sole operator of a business known as PC Surveillance, failed to file income tax returns for the years 2002 to 2004, on false advice that under Section 861 of the IRS code
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The owner of a Texas-based trucking company has been convicted of three counts of making false statements on tax returns filed for the company for tax years 2000 to 2002.
Gladys Nell Bishop is the president of Quality Trucking Inc. in Houston. Trial evidence proved Bishop set up an accounting system at the company and maintained checking accounts at two different banks but only reported checks deposited into one of the
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The owner of several bars in Scottsdale, Ariz., was sentenced to 24 months in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of tax evasion for the year 2003. The total amount evaded was more than $500,000.
Brian C. Roehrich, 40, of Phoenix, attempted to evade the income tax due while he was the president and sole owner of several bars and nightclubs.
At the time of his guilty plea, Roehrich admitted that
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Although there never was a “good” time to cheat on taxes, now is worse than ever for taxpayers and tax preparers to file fraudulent tax returns. With the IRS getting more funding and 800 more agents to collect taxes, taxpayers and CPAs who deliberately report fraudulent information on tax returns will be hit with severe IRS penalties.
If the IRS detects and proves beyond a reasonable doubt that fraudulence was deliberate,
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The current gloomy economy has put many ordinary law-abiding taxpayers in IRS trouble for unpaid taxes.
In response to this dire situation, Congress has been working steadfast to create a number of tax breaks for Americans who are struggling to make ends meet. In Feburary of 2009, Congress passed the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The nearly $800 billion economic stimulus package offers significant tax incentives.
However, due to the
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UBS has just struck a deal with the US Government to give up 52,000 names of Americans who have Swiss bank accounts. In the upcoming weeks, we can expect to see many guilty tax evaders being charged with heavy IRS penalties as well as innocent account holders who will need to defend themselves. (Read more about the latest UBS settlement.)
It is not uncommon for American businesspeople to hold foreign bank
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As a part of recent IRS efforts to find wealthy Americans who have been deliberately evading taxes by using offshore bank accounts, a deal has been reached today with UBS. The US Government and Switzerland have come to an agreement today that will force the Swiss bank, UBS, to turn over 52,000 names of suspected tax evaders.
According to the New York Times (www.nytimes.com), “UBS and the Swiss government have been
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