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Brad Birkenfeld: Tax Cheat and UBS Informant Doesn't Deserve Pardon
By Joann M. Weiner - Politics DailyPennsylvania prison inmate Bradley C. Birkenfeld, one of the most controversial and interesting characters in modern banking history, recently asked President Barack Obama for clemency. I hope he doesn't get it. The former UBS banker is a world-class tax cheat and opportunist. But Birkenfeld, a 45-year-old U.S. citizen, is also a tax informant and whistle-blower, partly responsible for helping the IRS crack the biggest U.S. tax evasion case in history two years ago. And that's what makes his story so compelling. Birkenfeld is both a sinner and a saint. For every person like me, satisfied ...
Honey, I Found Our Hidden Swiss Bank Account
By Joann M. Weiner - Politics DailyAs part of a voluntary program that ended on October 15, some 7,500 Americans with hidden offshore bank accounts ended the game of hide and seek with the IRS. They finally decided to tell the government where to find their assets. Some of these hidden accounts were pretty hard to lose track of --- one had more than $100 million in it. . ...
Switzerland, No Longer a Tax Haven?
By Joann M. Weiner - Politics DailyCan you believe it? Switzerland is no longer a tax haven. How did this happen? On Sept. 30, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) declared that because Switzerland has lived up to international standards in sharing information about financial accounts, it had shed its tax-haven status. Thus, the OECD achieved in six months something the mighty United States had been unable to do in 70 years: It convinced Switzerland to share information with the U.S. on its secret bank accounts. Or did it? ...
IRS Gives Suspected UBS Tax Cheats More Time to Confess
By Joann M. Weiner - Politics DailyToday was supposed to have been the drop-dead date for Americans with hidden offshore bank accounts to come clean with the IRS. Just days before the Sept. 23 deadline, however, the IRS gave these account holders, some of whom have hidden their accounts for decades, until Oct. 15 to report them. There are many reasons to grant the extension. Apparently, there are so many tax cheats coming forward that the tax lawyers are overwhelmed and are unable to file the paperwork before the deadline. Yet, the extension comes with a certain distasteful feeling. U.S. account holders have been given ...
U.S. Lets Swiss Banking Giant UBS Off the Hook
By Joann M. Weiner - Politics DailyTraditions die hard. Since the founding of the Swiss Confederation in 1291, Switzerland has protected the privacy of its financial accounts. It may be the world's most secretive banking jurisdiction, with a vaunted ability to protect its depositors from unwanted prying. Switzerland converted this tradition to law in 1934, when it enacted its strict banking secrecy law. Revealing financial information without the client's consent is prohibited. ...
Swiss and American Cheese: Something Smells at UBS
By Bob Franken - Politics DailyThere is a phenomenal game of "Chicken" going on. It's being played in Miami, but the struggle over which side will back down is centered on the banks of Switzerland.In particular, Swiss behemoth UBS, which has asked a federal court in Miami to block disclosure of accounts held by Americans suspected of fraud -- concealing income and assets that should subject to U.S. taxes.However, the chase of possible tax cheats has collided with the legendary secrecy rules that are the hallmark of the Swiss banking system.To a large degree, this haven from disclosure has been why Switzerland has prospered ...
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