” Criminal tax cases generally start out in the IRS’ Criminal Investigation (CI) division. It is therefore instructive to look at CI’s annual report that was issued earlier this year for the 2013 fiscal year. To some extent, there were no surprises. International tax evasion and the voluntary disclosure program…
According to two U.S. Senators, Switzerland has not sought extradition of a single Swiss national charged with criminal conduct that was related to aiding and abetting U.S. tax evasion for more than five years. In a recent letter authored by Senator Carl Levin and Senator John McCain, they urged that…
The tax evasion conviction of Dr. Edward Picardi was upheld by the Eighth Circuit last month. Also upheld was his conviction for failure to file Foreign Bank Account Reports (FBARs), Form TDF 90-22.1. Picardi was sentenced to five years in jail. According to the Department of Justice press release and…
A Mizrahi Bank customer pled guilty to filing a false tax return in connection with an undisclosed criminal tax investigation of undisclosed foreign accounts. According to a tax lawyers have seen in the past. The problem with this scheme is that when uncovered, it provides clear evidence of criminal tax…
The Foreign Bank Account Reports (FBARS), FINCEN Form 114, (this form was previously designated as TDF 90-22.1), has again been roundly criticized by the tax litigation attorneys have known for years: that the OVDP is unfair in both design and application. In lieu of the OVDP, the Taxpayer Advocate has…
For the IRS to issue a Collection Due Process or CDP Notice. The CDP Notice is required by Internal Revenue Code Section 6330. The CDP notice is generally issued by the IRS on either Form LT-11 or Letter 1058, and it is titled “Notice of Intent to Levy and Right…
The Swiss Federal Administrative Court has blocked Swiss Bank Julius Baer from turning over one of its client’s Bloomberg News. On April 17, 2013 the IRS had submitted a request for administrative assistance to the Swiss Federal Tax Authority (SFTA) requesting that it order Julius Baer to turn over information…
Based upon anecdotal evidence, foreign bank account owners are opting to enter the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) more frequently in the last few months. In November, I blogged about why quiet voluntary disclosures are becoming more risky. As a follow-up, here are a two more reasons why quiet voluntary…
Civil tax problems were the least of Brian Kenny’s worries on Thanksgiving. The California construction company owner, age 40, of San Francisco, pled guilty in November to filing false tax returns for his company, SF Bay Construction, for the 2006 tax year. According to the press release from the Department…
Owners of foreign bank account reports (FBAR) have several options to clean up this ugly webinar, and in the related tax litigation attorneys (our firm included) have advised that in appropriate cases a quiet disclosure is a viable option. While our opinion has not changed there are three developments that…