Post by chatter on Feb 13, 2006 11:23:31 GMT -5
irs tracking unreported income through offshore credit cards
the irs has obtained a court order allowing access to thousands of mastercard and american express credit card account records of u.s. account holders in three caribbean bank havens.
the order authorizes the internal revenue service to issue summonses to obtain account records from 1998 and 1999 for credit and debit cards issued by banks in the bahamas, the cayman islands, and antigua and barbuda.
this is an important success in the irs' investigation of what may be termed the "offshore secrecy industry." numerous persons in magazines, newspapers and on the web have been marketing a range of financial services located in tax haven countries or jurisdictions which have strict bank secrecy laws. the products range from anonymous bank accounts, secret offshore trusts, no name certificates of deposit, to purportedly non-traceable credit and debit cards.
these products are touted as providing complete financial secrecy to u.s. persons, to protect their "privacy," to provide asset protection from hostile creditors and spouses, and above all, for the thinly veiled purpose of protecting income from taxes.
the credit and debit cards, which are the target of the irs summonses, are issued by banks in offshore countries, with only minimal identity information required from the customer. in fact, some of the debit cards may be issued in an anonymous or group name, and, for an extra fee, some companies offer to provide clients with new identity cards.
these accounts are pricey for the ordinary person. the irs believes that these accounts are primarily of interest to u.s. persons with unreported income seeking a secure and secret place to store that income and a method of letting them spend that income anonymously. the irs believes that money on which no taxes have been paid will be deposited in the debit card accounts or used to pay the credit card charges. the companies advise that money can be wire transferred to the accounts, and that cash can be transferred in small amounts, without i.d., by using western union.
the irs is so interested in obtaining the information on holders of such secret offshore credit and debit card accounts. it is no surprise that the irs will use this information to target criminal and civil investigations of the account holders.
www.strasburger.com/calendar/articles/tax/cjm_tax01.htm
the irs has obtained a court order allowing access to thousands of mastercard and american express credit card account records of u.s. account holders in three caribbean bank havens.
the order authorizes the internal revenue service to issue summonses to obtain account records from 1998 and 1999 for credit and debit cards issued by banks in the bahamas, the cayman islands, and antigua and barbuda.
this is an important success in the irs' investigation of what may be termed the "offshore secrecy industry." numerous persons in magazines, newspapers and on the web have been marketing a range of financial services located in tax haven countries or jurisdictions which have strict bank secrecy laws. the products range from anonymous bank accounts, secret offshore trusts, no name certificates of deposit, to purportedly non-traceable credit and debit cards.
these products are touted as providing complete financial secrecy to u.s. persons, to protect their "privacy," to provide asset protection from hostile creditors and spouses, and above all, for the thinly veiled purpose of protecting income from taxes.
the credit and debit cards, which are the target of the irs summonses, are issued by banks in offshore countries, with only minimal identity information required from the customer. in fact, some of the debit cards may be issued in an anonymous or group name, and, for an extra fee, some companies offer to provide clients with new identity cards.
these accounts are pricey for the ordinary person. the irs believes that these accounts are primarily of interest to u.s. persons with unreported income seeking a secure and secret place to store that income and a method of letting them spend that income anonymously. the irs believes that money on which no taxes have been paid will be deposited in the debit card accounts or used to pay the credit card charges. the companies advise that money can be wire transferred to the accounts, and that cash can be transferred in small amounts, without i.d., by using western union.
the irs is so interested in obtaining the information on holders of such secret offshore credit and debit card accounts. it is no surprise that the irs will use this information to target criminal and civil investigations of the account holders.
www.strasburger.com/calendar/articles/tax/cjm_tax01.htm