Wegelin & Co., a Swiss private bank, was indicted today for conspiring with U.S. taxpayers and others to hide more than $1.2 billion in secret accounts and the income these accounts generated from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Justice Department announced today. This is the first time an overseas bank has been charged by the United States for facilitating tax fraud by U.S. taxpayers.
Read the DOJ Press Release.
On January 9, 2012, the IRS released a new offshore voluntary disclosure program. The new program is modeled after the 2009 OVDP and 2011 OVDI except that the penalty rate has increased to 27.5% (although in certain circumstances a 12.5% or 5% penalty may apply). The program does not currently have a termination date, and the IRS plans to release additional details at a later date.
LeSourd & Patten, P.S. is proud to announce that, for the second year in a row, it earned a first-tier ranking of firms that practice tax law in Seattle as ranked by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers. Only three other firms in Seattle share this distinction.
You can view LeSourd & Patten’s “Best Law Firms” profile, and the complete rankings are posted on the US News website.
The following LeSourd & Patten attorneys are listed in Best Lawyers. Click the “Attorneys” link at the top of this page to view their profiles.
Richard L. Johnson
Robert M. Kane, Jr. (2012 Lawyer of the Year - Litigation & Controversy - Tax)
Judd R. Marten
Robert M. McCallum
Diane E. Tebelius
Rodney J. Waldbaum
From the IRS fact sheet:
The IRS is aware that some taxpayers who are dual citizens of the United States and a foreign country may have failed to timely file United States federal income tax returns or Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs), despite being required to do so. Some of those taxpayers are now aware of their filing obligations and seek to come into compliance with the law. This fact sheet summarizes information about federal income tax return and FBAR filing requirements, how to file a federal income tax return or FBAR, and potential penalties.
Note that penalties will not be imposed in all cases. As discussed in more detail below, taxpayers who owe no U.S. tax (e.g., due to the application of the foreign earned income exclusion or foreign tax credits) will owe no failure to file or failure to pay penalties. In addition, no FBAR penalty applies in the case of a violation that the IRS determines was due to reasonable cause.
Review the complete IRS Fact Sheet.
As part of a larger “Fresh Start” initiative at the IRS to help taxpayers and businesses address their tax responsibilities, the Internal Revenue Service launched a new program that will enable many employers to resolve past worker classification issues and achieve certainty under the tax law at a low cost by voluntarily reclassifying their workers.
For more information, see the IRS Press Release.
If you are interested in participating in this program and would like to discuss your options, please call Rich Johnson at 206-357-5084.
From the 2011 OVDI Website:
Due to the potential impact of Hurricane Irene, the IRS has extended the due date for offshore voluntary disclosure initiative requests until Sept. 9, 2011. For those taxpayers who have not yet submitted their request and any documents, the following actions are necessary by Sept. 9, 2011:
Identifying information must be submitted to the Criminal Investigation office. This includes name, address, date of birth and Social Security number and as much of the other information requested in the Offshore Voluntary Disclosures Letter as possible. This information must be sent to:
Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Coordinator
600 Arch Street, Room 6404
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Send a request for a 90-day extension for submitting the complete voluntary disclosure package of information to the Austin campus. This request must be sent to:
Internal Revenue Service
3651 S. I H 35 Stop 4301 AUSC
Austin, TX 78741
ATTN: 2011 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative
Swiss bank Credit Suisse is being probed by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of a broader investigation into banks suspected of helping Americans evade taxes. For more information, view the press release from Credit Suisse.
The IRS’s FAQs were updated on June 2, 2011. The new FAQs include examples of situations in which taxpayers may qualify for a penalty less than 25% if they opt out of the program. Additionally, FAQ #52(3) provides for a 5% penalty for U.S. taxpayers who are foreign residents and meet certain conditions. Read more HERE.
Also, on June 1, 2011, the IRS issued procedures for opting out of the OVDI.
Read more HERE.
Information about the IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (“OVDI”) is now available from the IRS in eight languages. As mentioned previously, the OVDI is designed to bring offshore money back into the U.S. tax system and to bring individuals with unreported income in their undisclosed accounts into compliance.
More information can be found HERE.
Download information in the following languages:
Chinese: Traditional
Chinese: Simplified
Farsi
German
Hindi
Korean
Russian
Spanish
Vietnamese
The Washington State Department of Revenue has announced a new tax amnesty program that begins February 1, 2011. This amnesty program is open to registered and unregistered businesses, and it waives the penalty and interest for participating taxpayers on unpaid state business and occupation tax, state public utility tax, and state and local sales and use tax.
To qualify, taxpayers must:
1) File an application with the Department by April 18, 2011.
2) File all outstanding tax returns and any amended returns for which they are requesting waivers by April 18, 2011.
3) Pay all tax due by April 30, 2011. All tax due on any invoice for which the taxpayer is seeking a waiver must be paid even if the tax is not included in this program. The penalties and interest on taxes not included in this program must also be paid.
4) Pay all filing and other fees on tax warrants for which the taxpayer is seeking a waiver.
5) File and pay all tax returns on time during the amnesty period.
6) Waive the right to seek a refund or challenge the taxes on any invoice for which they seek a waiver.
If you are interested in applying for the Amnesty Program, review the DOR Website and contact Rich Johnson at 206-357-5084 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Taxpayers with offshore accounts who submitted voluntary disclosures after the October 15, 2009 deadline for the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program have not known how the IRS will handle their cases. Fifteen months after the October deadline, it appears the IRS will introduce a second voluntary compliance program.
On January 21, IRS Deputy Commissioner (Services and Enforcement) Steven Miller spoke at an American Bar Association Section of Taxation luncheon for certain committees of the Section. Mr. Miller apparently stated that the IRS is preparing to introduce the new program and that the new program would apply to the approximately 3,000 taxpayers who made voluntary disclosures that did not qualify for the 2009 program.
LeSourd & Patten, P.S. is proud to announce that it earned a first-tier ranking of firms that practice tax law in Seattle in the inaugural 2010 Best Law Firms rankings by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers. Only three other firms in Seattle share this distinction. LeSourd & Patten’s tax law practice was also recognized nationally by the U.S. News rankings, with no Seattle firm being given a higher ranking.
“Achieving a high ranking is a special distinction that signals a unique combination of excellence and breadth of expertise,” according to a press release from U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers. The rankings include data from reputational surveys and more than 3.1 million evaluations of individual lawyers. The rankings are posted online at http://usnews.com/bestlawfirms or view LeSourd & Patten’s “Best Law Firms” profile directly HERE.
The Swiss Finance Ministry said it has released data on half of the 4,450 accounts it promised to IRS. “Based on information received to date and assurances by the Swiss government, we anticipate being in a position to withdraw the John Doe summons this fall,” IRS said in a statement. Read Article at reuters.com
UBS held a telephone conference today, June 15, 2010, to update practitioners on the status of the Swiss government’s action on the treaty. The UBS representative explained that the government-to-government treaty requires parliamentary approval, and, at this point, both houses of parliament have approved a form of the deal. However, one house is calling for a referendum by the voters. If both houses cannot agree, a reconciliation counsel will be appointed in an effort to resolve the dispute.
Ultimately, the UBS representative expected a final decision by Parliament no later than June 18, 2010, which is the end of the parliamentary session.
From Reuters.com
See a timeline of major events at reuters.com
From Reuters.com
A Swiss tax deal with the United States, crucial to the future of Swiss bank UBS, moved closer to legislative sign-off on Tuesday after the lower house of parliament backed the deal. Read Article at reuters.com
From Reuters.com
Linda J. Osuna, IRS Special Agent in Charge of the Tampa Field Office, told Reuters the expected U.S. case against the foreign bank, which she declined to name, would be for “the same behavior that got UBS in trouble.”
Read Article at reuters.com
