Is Switzerland Still Open to Americans?

“Switzerland, at this point, is the only country in Europe that does not allow for automatic information exchange or any regime whereby banks have no restrictions as to sharing detailed client and account information with other banks and tax authorities. Obviously, the pressure is on Switzerland to join the bandwagon. This, however, collides with Swiss client confidentiality and banking secrecy rules. And, according to recent polls, the Swiss people are not at all in favor of letting go of those privacy rights. The reason Switzerland has not joined yet is that such a step would certainly be subject to a national vote in Switzerland, as is the case with most critical changes of law.”

http://www.internationalman.com/78-global-perspectives/1002-is-switzerland-still-open-to-americans

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The FBAR Fundraiser and the Penalty Jackpot

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“This reminds me of the treatment of Ms. Curran – an elderly widow – in Florida. You may remember her as the woman who paid – and may well have been coerced into a 21 million dollar FBAR penalty based on accounts she inherited from her late husband – I repeat accounts owned by her late husband. One blogger referred to this as a ‘Penalty Jackpot for the IRS’. Yup, definitely a good return for a small amount of work. The facts in the Curran case are here. But, for those of you who think IRS Penalty Abuse is restricted to rich Homelanders you should take the time to read this submission to the Ways and Means Committee from  this disabled 68 year old British born woman.”

http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/09/26/the-fbar-fundraiser-and-the-penalty-jackpot/

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Putin was wrong: The exceptionalism of the United States is alive and real

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“Exceptional can also mean exceptionally bad in some or all respects.  And here I would like to enumerate a points on which I can easily affirm the concept of American exceptionalism:  The United States enjoys the highest obesity rate among 28 major nations.  This is due in large part because of the government sponsored carbohydrate bubble.  The United States has killed thousands of people through unmanned drones; the ratio of innocent to terrorists is perhaps 50 to 1. The United States is running the biggest budget deficit and borrows over 40 cents for every dollar it spends.  It must borrow more money to be able to claim that it is not a banana republic. [..]”

http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/09/25/putin-was-wrong-the-exceptionalism-of-the-united-states-is-alive-and-real/

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And the money trail leads to…

“A case in point is the Dodd-Frank Act. Wall Street was officially horrified by this law, which officially sought to end some of the practices that led to the financial collapse and big bailouts of leading U.S. investment firms in 2008-2009. But buried in the bowels of this 2,319-page law was a provision targeted squarely at ‘foreign investment managers.’  Simply put, the new rule forced every foreign bank, brokerage, or financial advisor with 15 more U.S. clients to register with the Securities & Exchange Commission. One Swiss-based investment manager who went through the process told me he spent more than $100,000 in legal fees to do it – not to mention hundreds of hours.”

http://www.nestmann.com/and-the-money-trail-leads-to

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Ron Paul: Internet Sales Tax Could Crush Small Businesses

American Exceptionalism: Putin, the Neocons, and Ron Paul

“It is amazing that some of the same conservatives who rightly worry over Obamacare’s effects on job creation and economic growth want to impose new taxes on the most dynamic sector of the economy. The main proponents of this bill are large retailers and established Internet business. Big business can more easily afford to comply with a national Internet sales tax. In many cases, they are large enough that they already have a ‘physical presence’ in most states and thus already have to collect state sales taxes. These businesses are seeking to manipulate the political process to disadvantage their existing and future small competitors.”

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/09/ron-paul/just-how-dangerous-is-an-internet-sales-tax/

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The Millionaire Residency Visa

“For foreigners, it used to be that hard work and plenty of patience for bureaucratic red tape would garner access into a coveted country. But, these days, sometimes all it takes to grab that golden ticket is achieving multimillionaire status and promising to make a hefty investment in a new homeland.  Countries such as the United States, Australia and New Zealand are all embroiled in a global tug-of-war for the wealthy, and each has either rolled out or reauthorized what are known as millionaire visas in recent years. These programs, which are aimed squarely at wealthy investors, fast-track these individuals’ path to permanent residency—and sometimes even citizenship.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323665504579032922966616830.html

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Complying With U.S. Tax Evasion Law Is Vexing Foreign Banks

“Financial institutions, trade groups, scholars and members of Congress have raised an array of concerns, starting with the cost of creating the complex computer systems needed to track Americans’ accounts.  In addition, tax havens like China, Panama and Russia have yet to sign on. And American banks are unhappy about a Treasury Department pledge to foreign banks, not part of the original law, to require American financial institutions to share data with other countries about foreign investors who have accounts in the United States.”

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/09/16/complying-with-u-s-tax-evasion-law-is-vexing-foreign-banks/?_r=0

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Late Marc Rich’s Swiss mansions for sale

“The daughters of the late expat American commodity trader and financier Marc Rich have put up for sale his luxury Swiss homes in the canton of Lucerne and the mountain resort town of St. Moritz.  Rich is celebrated for making a fortune in metals such as aluminum, silver and zinc by cornering the market and in dubious dealings in oil. He became a fugitive in Switzerland after being indicted in the early 1980s on charges of widespread tax evasion, illegal dealings with Iran and other crimes.”

http://www.thelocal.ch/20130918/late-marc-richs-swiss-mansions-for-sale

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‘Beanie Babies’ creator will pay $53.5 million to IRS for $885,300 delinquency

“The creator of the wildly popular Beanie Babies toy line agreed to plead guilty to felony tax evasion charges and will pay a $53.5 million penalty as part of a settlement agreement, the Chicago Tribune reported on Wednesday. Prosecutors accused Warner of failing to notify his accountants about both a Swiss bank account and the $3.1 million in foreign income it generated. He subsequently did not disclose that income in his 2002 tax return, enabling him to avoid paying $885,300 in taxes for that year. UBS revealed Warner’s account as part of a 2009 agreement with the IRS after admitting that it helped U.S. clients hide their accounts.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/18/beanie-babies-creator-will-pay-53-5-million-penalty-for-tax-evasion/

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How to Finance a Second Passport, and More…

“Financing is available for this purpose from a few banks, but at less favorable terms than in the USA. You won’t find a regular 30-year mortgage, for instance. The best most banks offer is a five-year mortgage on 50% of the purchase price with a balloon payment at the end. Interest rates are higher, too. After five years, you can roll over the mortgage for another five years. But you might not need to… a recent change in the law lets you sell your real estate five years after you qualify for citizenship. You can even sell it to someone else seeking economic citizenship.”

http://nestmann.com/how-to-finance-a-second-passport-and-more

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