Monthly Archives: July 2013

When Are Tax Penalties Excessive?

"In a civil lawsuit that has attracted notice among tax experts, the government wants to collect nearly $3.5 million in penalties from a taxpayer who had a secret Swiss account, although the account balance was never higher than $1.7 million. The lawsuit, U.S. v. Carl R. Zwerner , was filed in federal court in Miami last month. Spokesmen for the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service declined to comment on the case. Mr. Zwerner, 86 years old, is a retired specialty-glass importer living in Coral Gables, Fla. The U.S. government alleges he had an undeclared account at an ABN Amro bank in Switzerland from 2004 through 2007." Continue reading →

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US Is World’s Largest Tax Haven

"What is the world's largest tax haven? If you guessed any country in the Caribbean, South Pacific, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Central or South America or Europe, then you would be wrong. Only the United States can lay claim to that title. Ever since the French loaned money to the struggling revolutionaries who defeated the British to create the United States, to today where the Chinese are buying U.S. Treasury debt, the United States would not be able to maintain its economy without large inflows of foreign capital. Foreign investors can invest in the United States virtually tax free — in structures that are legally protected from risks and, currently, with secrecy." Continue reading →

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Gov’t Bureau ‘Creating a Google Earth on Every Financial Transaction,’ Senator Warns

"'This bill (creating the CFPB) was supposed to be about regulating Wall Street. Instead, it's creating a Google Earth on every financial transaction. That's right: the government will be able to see every detail of your finances. Your permission - not needed,' Sen. Enzi said. 'They can look right down to the tiny details of the time and place where you pulled cash out of an ATM,' Enzi warned. And, there's nothing you can do about, since Americans don't have the ability to 'opt out' or prohibit the government from collecting their personal financial data, Enzi said." Continue reading →

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Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics… at FreedomFest

"Don’t believe everything you’re told by promoters about second citizenship and passports. They may be entertaining and persuasive, but they can get you into some serious trouble. Same goes with anyone who promises that you can somehow hide your offshore holdings from the IRS. You’re asking for a world of trouble (not to mention setting yourself up to be blackmailed). Look, I’ve been in asset and privacy protection business for more than a quarter century. I’ve seen these things come and go. And, from experience with thousands of clients, I can tell you that the only proper way to do this is the legal way." Continue reading →

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Foreign Banks And Brokers Are Refusing Overseas Accounts for American Customers

"Registration with the SEC and compliance with SEC regulations is a greater burden than foreign banks or brokerages want to bear. As a result, even long-time, law-abiding Americans have seen their foreign accounts closed. Americans now seeking to set up overseas accounts with foreign-based institutions are almost always turned away. It has been a standard development throughout history that any country’s government that made it difficult for its citizens to move assets beyond the borders of the nation descended into totalitarianism. If it didn’t eventually allow free capital flows, then that government ultimately failed." Continue reading →

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Wegelin chief takes blame for oldest Swiss bank’s collapse over U.S. taxes

"The last president of a 270-year-old Swiss bank that collapsed after helping rich Americans dodge taxes blames himself for the firm's demise but hints the Holocaust contributed to Switzerland's banking secrecy. Konrad Hummler, in an interview published on Thursday, took full responsibility for the closure of Wegelin & Co., founded in 1741, after it paid US penalties of $57.8 million for helping clients avoid some $20 million in taxes. While stressing the bank had always respected Swiss law, he admitted exploiting 'differences between the (legal systems) in Switzerland and the United States.'" Continue reading →

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Americans Are on a Tight Leash

"Dealing with the burdens associated with citizenship-based taxation is an unfortunate fact of life for Americans. It is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. In fact, I would bet that the burdens will actually increase as the US government becomes more financially desperate. Which is a significant incentive to act sooner than later… or before it is too late altogether. However unpleasant this reality is, it does not negate the need to internationalize. Quite the contrary. As spending on welfare/warfare related programs continues to rise, it is clear that the US government will sink deeper into fiscal and moral bankruptcy, with political risk increasing in tandem." Continue reading →

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It Isn’t All About the Benjamin (Bernanke)…

"While true that markets do at times move in tandem, that doesn’t tell the whole story. In fact, it leaves out the most important part — that not every stock in the world is tied to America’s every sniff and sniffle. And true diversification means owning exposure to the companies singing from a variety of hymnals. Conventional wisdom holds that the West is the be all and end all of the global economy. Economic fright in the West, this warped theory holds, means an economic nightmare everywhere else. While there is a modicum of truth in that … it’s overblown and an excessively Western view of what’s really happening in the rest of the world." Continue reading →

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SF Bay Area House Sales Plunge in June (Month-over-Month AND Year-over-Year)

"What’s most alarming about this is that 'June' existing sales are actually from 'contracts and price decisions' made in April and May when rates were at HISTORIC LOWS. This tells me the market — underpinned for 18 months by investors and 'distressed supply' — was already exhausted before the historic rate 'surge'. Historic, artificially low rates for so long filled so much pent-up demand, pulled so much demand forward, and caused institutional investors to buy so much blindly that years of housing market activity was shoved through the eye of a needle." Continue reading →

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Which of Bernanke’s Statements Should We Believe?

"On one hand, he's giving precise numbers like 6.5% and 7% unemployment, and on the other hand, his message seems to be, 'Don't pay attention to those numbers too much. We're just going to play it by ear.' Kind of confusing, in my opinion. Does the Fed want the market to pay attention to those metrics or not? The answer is probably somewhere in between. Not a whole lot from his statements this time around, but we do have two things to closely keep our eye on now—near 7% unemployment and faltering real estate prices—as two key trigger points." Continue reading →

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