Bandit Gang Writ Large

IMF Recommends Increased Taxes For No-Income-Tax Vanuatu

"Vanuatu has previously been attractive as a retirement and investment destination for Australian citizens, largely due to its lack of an income tax, but there has been enhanced oversight in recent times by the Australian Tax Office of Australian citizens' financial assets in Vanuatu. In that scenario, the IMF now proposes that an income tax could now be imposed, as it has been in other Pacific islands. Vanuatu's domestic revenue, at 18.5 percent of GDP, is low relative to its Pacific island peers, suggesting scope to increase revenue. It is forecast that an income tax, levied on both employees and employers, could yield between 3 and 4 percent of GDP at modest tax rates." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIMF Recommends Increased Taxes For No-Income-Tax Vanuatu

IRS FBAR forms no longer accepted by postal mail

"The IRS and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Nework (FinCen) announced on Friday that paper FBARs will no longer be acceptedas of today, July 1, 2013. If you have not filed your 2012 FBAR yet and you intend to file it yourself, you will need to create an account at FinCen’s Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) e-filing website http://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/main.html to file your FBAR. Professional tax software programs are not yet capable of e-filing FBARs so professional tax preparers must manually enter your FBAR data into the FinCen website. Tax software companies are frantically working on a solution to allow professional tax preparers to e-file the FBARs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIRS FBAR forms no longer accepted by postal mail

Privacy debate looms as Canada prepares to share bank data with U.S.

"A debate over fighting tax evasion versus protecting personal privacy looms large for Canada as it prepares to announce a deal with the United States to share banking information. FATCA was signed into law in March 2010, and many of its provisions start on Jan. 1, 2014. It requires financial institutions in other countries to tell the U.S. Internal Revenue Service about Americans’ offshore accounts worth more than $50,000. Canada and the U.S. are negotiating whether Ottawa or the financial institutions will send the information, but the clock is ticking. If no deal is reached, banks operating in Canada will have to give the data directly to the IRS." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPrivacy debate looms as Canada prepares to share bank data with U.S.

Out-Of-Control Officers Find Comfort & $100,000′s In Back Pay In Arbitration

"Boston Police Officer David Williams is carving out an interesting career path for himself: He gets fired for using excessive force or lying to investigators, takes a breather from police work, and then gets reinstated with back pay by a labor arbitrator. Nice work if you can get it. Especially in Boston, where an officer gets credit for all of those lucrative hours of overtime and details he might have worked had he had stayed out of trouble in the first place." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOut-Of-Control Officers Find Comfort & $100,000′s In Back Pay In Arbitration

Robbers posing as police steal $261,000 from Saudi government official

"Robbers posing as policemen made off with 200,000 euros ($261,000) belonging to a senior official from the Saudi youth and sports ministry just after he landed in Paris, police said Monday. The audacious robbery was staged on the busy A1 highway near Le Bourget airport. The robbers were armed and used two cars equipped with flashing lights and the word 'Police' on them. They stopped the car the Saudi official was travelling in and demanded an inspection of the boot. They then made off with a suitcase containing 162,000 euros, $30,000 and 10,000 pounds. It was not immediately clear why the official was travelling with so much cash." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRobbers posing as police steal $261,000 from Saudi government official

Robbers posing as police steal $261,000 from Saudi government official

"Robbers posing as policemen made off with 200,000 euros ($261,000) belonging to a senior official from the Saudi youth and sports ministry just after he landed in Paris, police said Monday. The audacious robbery was staged on the busy A1 highway near Le Bourget airport. The robbers were armed and used two cars equipped with flashing lights and the word 'Police' on them. They stopped the car the Saudi official was travelling in and demanded an inspection of the boot. They then made off with a suitcase containing 162,000 euros, $30,000 and 10,000 pounds. It was not immediately clear why the official was travelling with so much cash." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRobbers posing as police steal $261,000 from Saudi government official

Confiscation by the Installment Plan

"One plan might be to find locations in less-risky countries that will accept you as a client. Another possibility may be to resort (at least for moderate amounts) to what a very large portion of the population routinely did less than a century ago – keep some money at home. To modern culture, this latter idea seems downright primitive, yet well into the 20th century, this was the norm. In years to come, 2013 may be looked back upon as 'the arrival of modern bank confiscations,' and the majority of those who actually still have wealth in five to ten years may be the ones who foresaw the inevitable, got their money out, and put it in comparatively safer places." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingConfiscation by the Installment Plan

The 14 Most Ridiculous Things Police Bought With Asset Forfeiture

"Hey, remember the police chief from #7? He’s back! The (former) police chief of Romulus, Mich. and five detectives were part of the town’s vice squad, investigating 'liquor license violations, prostitution and narcotics trafficking.' Thanks to those investigations, they allegedly spent more than $40,000 in asset forfeiture funds on marijuana, booze, and prostitutes. Now these cops face 22 felony counts…and just gave Nic Cage a new movie idea." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe 14 Most Ridiculous Things Police Bought With Asset Forfeiture