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U.S. Government Watchdog Agency Urges IRS to Intensify Offshore Efforts

“A much larger number of what the IRS calls ‘recalcitrant’ account-holders chose another route. Instead of entering a voluntary disclosure program, they simply started reporting their foreign accounts, without paying penalties or interest. Such taxpayers avoid paying any delinquent taxes, interest, or penalties, unless audited. Evidence of an explosion in quiet disclosures comes from the fact the number of people filing FBAR forms nearly doubled from 281,000 in 2007 to 516,000 in 2010. The agency has urged the IRS to examine closely these first-time filers for disclosure violations in earlier years. And, the IRS has promised to do just that.” Continue reading →

Britain hits offshore gambling industry with 300 million pounds in taxes

“Under rules published on Friday, Britain will tax gambling according to where customers are based rather than where the online operator is registered, meaning that offshore operators pay the same 15% tax rate as domestic companies. The tax will be levied on companies’ gross profit in the 2 billion pound remote-gambling market. ‘It is unacceptable that gambling companies can avoid UK taxes by moving offshore, and the government is taking decisive action to ensure this can no longer happen,’ Economic Secretary to the Treasury Sajid Javid said. ‘These reforms will ensure that remote-gambling operators who have UK customers make a fair contribution to the public finances.'” Continue reading →

Voluntary Tax Disclosure Programs Correlated With U.S. Citizenship Renunciations

“‘It’s quite clear from the data that the number of people renouncing their citizenship shoots up at the same time that the IRS began the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Programs. Then, the number of people renouncing citizenship decreases at the same time that the Streamlined program is announced – which gives US citizens living abroad a less cumbersome way to catch up on back taxes, but then it shoots up again when the FATCA rules start to kick in and people find that the bank they have worked with for 20 years is closing their account because they are a US citizen’ said David McKeegan of Greenback Expat Tax Services, a tax preparation company.” Continue reading →

“When Will They Learn?”

“In a conservative administration, a government will institute greater social controls. In the following liberal administration, the government will institute greater economic controls. And the police state will be increased under both administrations. The net effect is overall increased dominance by government. Under the two-party system, this dominance is not only tolerated by the populace, but encouraged. The day never comes when a people convince their government to ‘lighten up.’ Relief only comes when an overly-powerful governmental system collapses under its own weight.” Continue reading →

The Worst Law Most Americans Have Never Heard Of

“While there is still an opportunity for you to avoid getting boxed in by a desperate and out-of-control government, nobody knows exactly how much time is left. And once official capital controls are implemented (#3), your wealth is trapped and things tend to unravel pretty quickly. Developing your internationalization game plan does not mean you have to leave your home country. It is possible to achieve a certain level of international diversification without needing to leave your living room, for example, by opening a foreign bank or brokerage account remotely. The idea is to create your own personal insurance policy to immunize yourself from the common destructive measures of a desperate government.” Continue reading →

Fast food workers strike in 50 cities to demand wages of $15/hour, right to unionize

“The protest movement first began in New York last November with a strike by 200 workers but quickly spread across the country with strikes in July taking place in Chicago, Detroit, Flint, Kansas City, Milwaukee and St Louis. On Thursday organizers said the strike will hit some 1,000 major fast-food restaurants, including Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC. ‘Hold the burgers, hold the fries, make worker wages supersize!’ read a tweet from Fight for 15, a workers organizing committee. ‘Many of these workers have children and are trying to support a family,’ said Mary Kay Henry of the Service Employees International Union, which is supporting the strike.” Continue reading →

Students and parents boycott Chicago schools to protest new city budget

“WBBM-TV reported that the march was also held to call attention to the city’s planned school budget of $5.58 billion, which includes a cut of about $68 million from classroom services that opponents argue targets schools in communities of color. According to WGN-TV, the protest, part of a group of demonstrations in 25 cities around the country against school budget cuts, was quickly criticized by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. ‘I do not think it’s appropriate to advocate that children stay out of school,’ he said at a press conference on Tuesday. ‘You wanna make a statement? Go to the courtroom. Don’t take it to the classroom.'” Continue reading →

Fraternity investigated over Facebook pics of drugs and underage girls

“One of the largest university fraternities in the US was under a new police investigation on Tuesday after the suspension of a Florida chapter whose students set up a Facebook page allegedly advertising drugs and featuring photographs of topless or semi-nude underage girls. The Facebook page has since been taken down, but screen grabs leaked to the Miami Herald and Miami New Times last week show posts from students seeking cocaine or selling Adderall, a popular stimulant ‘study drug’ that enables users to stay awake. In addition, a caption below one photograph of a topless girl claims she was 17 when the picture was taken.” Continue reading →