Fugitive Tax-Slaves

Rules Aimed at Tax Evasion Abroad Trip Up Average Americans

"Many middle- and upper-middle-class Americans have found it more and more difficult to comply with requirements on reporting the existence and value of bank accounts overseas and to reconcile the taxes of different countries. At the same time, Americans from immigrant families who have bank accounts in their home countries that they may have overlooked are being swept up by the same laws used to ferret out millionaires and billionaires stashing money in secret Swiss accounts. The Internal Revenue Service has increased its examination of such accounts, lawyers said, with serious penalties for those who have not reported them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRules Aimed at Tax Evasion Abroad Trip Up Average Americans

Austria, Luxembourg to give up banking secrecy for foreigners

"Austria has initiated the abolition of banking secrecy for foreigners and will begin talks with the European Union (EU) over automatic information exchange, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said Tuesday. Up to now Luxembourg and Austria have been the only two EU nations to refuse to disclose the identity of bank account holders from other EU countries. Luxembourg announced during the weekend its own intention to give up the practice for foreigners. Faymann added that the practice of tax avoiding through falsifying tax liabilities had to be stopped." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAustria, Luxembourg to give up banking secrecy for foreigners

Spain opposes extradition of Swiss bank data thief

"Swiss authorities want Hervé Falciani, a French-Italian citizen arrested in Barcelona in July 2012 and then granted conditional release, sent back to Switzerland to face charges of breaching banking secrecy. The files, which were subsequently relayed by French investigators to their counterparts in the United States, Spain, Italy and several other European Union countries, led to a raft of prosecutions. He told the court he obtained the files from colleagues and said the information was so abundant that 'if printed, it would fill an entire freight train.' Falciani said he informed Swiss authorities in 2008 but they refused to let him make an anonymous complaint." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSpain opposes extradition of Swiss bank data thief

FBI reports U.S. citizenship renunciations for Q1 2013 nearly doubled year over year

"The FBI has released its latest report on Active Records in the NICS Index, updated to 31 March 2013. NICS now contains the records of 21,504 persons who are prohibited from purchasing firearms in the United States because they swore an Oath of Renunciation of United States Citizenship at a U.S. consulate abroad. This is an increase of 196 records as compared to 28 February, and 850 records in the first quarter of 2013 (since 31 December 2012)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI reports U.S. citizenship renunciations for Q1 2013 nearly doubled year over year

Canadian Senator’s husband’s offshore trusts exposed

"A prominent Canadian lawyer, husband to a Liberal senator, moved nearly $2 million to secretive financial havens while he was locked in battle with the Canada Revenue Agency over his taxes, according to documents in a massive leak of offshore financial data that were shared exclusively in Canada with CBC News. Tony Merchant of Regina transferred money to a tax haven in the South Pacific and then onward to an account in the Caribbean, according to the files. His wife, Senator Pana Merchant, as well as their three sons are named in the documents as beneficiaries of the funds." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCanadian Senator’s husband’s offshore trusts exposed

Disgraced French budget minister lied to Swiss bank over taxes

"Disgraced former French budget minister Jerome Cahuzac lied to a Swiss bank when it accepted his assertion that funds paid into his account had been declared to tax authorities, a newspaper report said Saturday. The Zurich-based Tages Anzeiger said the politician presented a 'bogus tax certificate' to the Julius Baer bank. Cahuzac — the minister responsible for cracking down on tax evasion until he resigned in mid-March — was charged Tuesday with 'laundering the proceeds of tax fraud' after he admitted to having the foreign bank account, following weeks of denials." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDisgraced French budget minister lied to Swiss bank over taxes

French foreign minister denies Swiss account ‘rumour’

"France's Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius on Sunday denied a 'rumour' in a newspaper report claiming that he may have a Swiss bank account, as the French government struggles to deal with a scandal over undeclared foreign bank holdings. 'I absolutely deny the rumour, published in the Monday April 8 edition of Libération, claiming I have a bank account in Switzerland,' Fabius wrote in a statement. It was Médiapart that broke the story about former budget minister Jérôme Cahuzac having an undeclared bank account in Switzerland." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrench foreign minister denies Swiss account ‘rumour’

Massive info leak reveals rich politicos who hide wealth in offshore accounts

"Millions of emails and leaked records from offshore tax havens have exposed the identities of thousands of holders of offshore accounts, including the family of the president of Azerbaijan and French President Francois Hollande’s one-time campaign treasurer. The alleged involvement of Jean-Jacques Augier adds to the pressure on Hollande, who is already on the defensive after his former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac was charged in a tax fraud probe. Britain’s Guardian said the information came from a leak of two million documents and emails which mainly concern the British Virgin Islands, but also the Cayman Islands." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMassive info leak reveals rich politicos who hide wealth in offshore accounts

Italian-Switzerland border checks strike gold

"Italian finance police had a lucky find on Easter Sunday during a routine check of a family car crossing into Switzerland: they discovered gold ingots worth about €4.5 million concealed in false compartments. The car was driven by a 53-year-old Italian resident of the Swiss canton of Ticino, described by the police as the legal representative of a Swiss company. He was travelling with his wife and three children, apparently going for an Easter trip. The man was immediately charged with money laundering. The ingots and the car were seized. There has been an upsurge in the smuggling of gold from Italy to Switzerland in the past few months." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingItalian-Switzerland border checks strike gold

French Socialist budget minister charged with hiding money in UBS account

"France's former budget minister Jérôme Cahuzac confessed on Tuesday to having hidden €600,000 ($770,000) in foreign bank accounts for the last 20 years, reversing repeated denials weeks after a probe was launched into his alleged Swiss account. The minister, who faces five years in prison and a fine of up to €375,000 said he had been 'caught up in a spiral of lies and lost his way.' Cahuzac had been leading the government's charge against wealthy French citizens evading taxes through foreign accounts." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrench Socialist budget minister charged with hiding money in UBS account