Monthly Archives: August 2013

British Virgin Islands to comply with US tax evasion law

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“The British Virgin Islands’ leader said Tuesday that the Caribbean territory with a major offshore financial sector has started talks with the U.S. Treasury to comply with a law designed to crack down on offshore tax evasion. The territory of roughly 30,000 people near Puerto Rico is one of the world’s top offshore trust jurisdictions and the nominal home to more than 500,000 companies. It provides incorporation registries so global businesses can claim they are based on the islands and effectively sidestep taxes in countries where their work is performed. Premier Orlando Smith told reporters that his administration is negotiating an ‘intergovernmental agreement’ with Washington.”

http://www.boston.com/news/world/caribbean/2013/08/20/premier-bvi-comply-with-tax-evasion-law/Mdo5LG71ris2TxlewwHmTP/story.html

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Caymans win a free tax loophole in exchange for their FATCA signature

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“Minister for Financial Services Hon. Wayne Panton says FATCA may give an unexpected boost to tourism. When initialing the exchange agreement government negotiated a tax write off for those who hold conferences at hotels and business places in the Cayman Islands.  He says this added incentive may help draw people to these shores. ‘Historically, there has been a big question mark whether that is possible, whether it’s an appropriate deduction. We have had confirmation that this will be a benefit that results from this – so we are happy about that,’ said Minister Panton.”

http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/08/26/caymans-win-a-free-tax-loophole-in-exchange-for-their-fatca-signature/

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Citizenship, identity, mourning loss of identity and moving on …

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“Imagine having to reinvent your sense of who you are, where you came from, and (in some cases) where you are going.  Second, the loss of their cherished belief that American was a just nation, a free nation, a democratic nation. America has demonstrated that is is the opposite. Americans abroad live with the pain of betrayal. Imagine spending years defending the United States against anti-Americanism, only to learn that the critics were right.  You can tell a country by the company it keeps. Only the United States and Eritrea stalk its citizens around the world. But, Eritrea demands only 2 percent. Therefore to compare Ertitrea to the United States is an insult to Eritrea.”

http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/08/27/citizenship-identity-mourning-loss-of-identity-and-moving-on/

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U.S. Green Card Holders Making Choice to Halt at Door of Citizenship

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“In Washington, the partisan debate over immigration has become mired, in part, over whether to provide a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. But even as legions here and abroad pin their hopes on becoming American, and the country wrestles with emotionally fraught questions over who should have that right, there is a seemingly contradictory truth: that millions of people who are in the country legally, and stand on the threshold of citizenship, never take that next step. According to some estimates, about 40 percent of all people who hold green cards, the gateway to citizenship, do not naturalize.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/nyregion/making-choice-to-halt-at-door-of-citizenship.html?_r=1&&pagewanted=all

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US expats flee taxman’s reach by giving up citizenship

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“While still a small part of the seven million US citizens living overseas, experts are certain the rise is driven by the new tax and account reporting rules. ‘Fatca is an aggravator to the renunciation figures. It’s making it very difficult for Americans to live overseas,’ said Marylouise Serrato, executive director of American Citizens Abroad, which lobbies the government on expatriate issues. Some banks around the world have already stopped taking new accounts from US citizens, to avoid having to report them or falling into the sights of US regulators, as happened to the Swiss bank UBS in 2009.”

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hdJlTlT4a-CyFbXyISsgP2Bhq47w?docId=CNG.a038ed12ef2ca38af3b999b0273ab251.41

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Treasury Department: Legally-married same sex couples qualify to file joint taxes

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“The US government on Thursday announced that legally married gay couples will be treated the same as married couples for federal tax purposes. The decision applies to legally married same-sex couples whether they live in a state that recognizes the marriage or not, the US Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service said in a statement. ‘Today’s ruling provides certainty and clear, coherent tax filing guidance for all legally married same-sex couples nationwide. It provides access to benefits, responsibilities and protections under federal tax law that all Americans deserve,’ said Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in the statement.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/29/treasury-department-legally-married-same-sex-couples-qualify-to-file-joint-taxes-regardless-of-their-state/

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Greek journalist in limbo over Swiss bank leaks

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“The document contains the names of more than 2,000 wealthy Greek HSBC bank account holders in Switzerland and was used to pursue suspected tax evaders. It was originally leaked by an HSBC employee in Geneva and passed to Greece in 2010 by France’s then finance minister Christine Lagarde, who now heads the International Monetary Fund.  Greek authorities treated it as stolen data and failed to pursue the case.  The 46-year-old was acquitted in November but a retrial was ordered after the prosecutor said there were ‘legal faults’ in the original verdict.  George Papaconstantinou is accused of tampering with the ‘Lagarde list’ by deleting the names of three of his relatives from the list.”

http://www.thelocal.ch/20130610/greek-journalist-in-limbo-over-swiss-bank-leaks

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Swiss lawyer uses $500,000 painting for bail in US tax fraud case

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“Tax lawyer Edgar Paltzer used French master Charles-Francois Daubigny’s 1862 work ‘La gardeuse de chevres’ (The goat herder) to pay part of his $2-million bail in New York, where he has been detained since April on tax fraud charges.  ‘To escape from the claws of American justice and see their families, some Swiss bankers remortgage their homes or seek help from relatives,’ Swiss newspaper Le Matin reported.  ‘Zurich lawyer Edgar Paltzer provided a 19th century canvas.’  The bail conditions allow the lawyer to leave the United States and return to Switzerland as long as he agrees not to fight any future extradition order.”

http://www.thelocal.ch/20130825/swiss-lawyer-uses-art-for-bail-in-fraud-case

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US tax deal hits profits at Liechtenstein bank by over $23 million

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“During the first six months of the year, the Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB Vaduz) saw its net profit plunge 77 percent to 13.6 million Swiss francs ($14.7 million), the bank said in its earnings statement.  The bank said late last month that it had agreed to pay $23.8 million to American tax authorities, which in turn would refrain from any legal actions against the bank.  On Thursday, it said it had set aside further provisions amounting to 31.2 million francs ‘for a possible outflow of assets in connection with payments to the US authorities.'”

http://www.thelocal.ch/20130829/us-tax-deal-hits-liechtenstein-bank-profits

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Swiss government unveils new plan to end US tax dispute, bypassing parliament

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“The new deal comes after the Swiss parliament in June rejected an initial agreement, which would have temporarily lifted Switzerland’s long-sacrosanct banking secrecy, offering the banks a blanket one-year waiver to reveal details about accounts held by US citizens.  Many lawmakers were outraged that they were not being given access to the details inside, and also expressed concern that it breached Swiss sovereignty.  Instead of a blanket waiver of banking secrecy rules the new deal allows Swiss banks to apply on a case-by-case basis for government permission to cooperate with US investigators. The new deal also does not require parliamentary approval.”

http://www.thelocal.ch/20130828/swiss-unveil-new-plan-to-end-us-tax-dispute

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