As previously indicated, the IRS has announced a new amnesty program for tax cheats who have concealed money in foreign bank accounts. The program comes on the heels of increased IRS scrutiny of foreign banking, notably UBS and Deutsch Bank AG.
The new program bears many similarities to a prior tax amnesty program which ran from March through October of 2009, and resulted in 15,000 Americans’ confession of illegal tax avoidance. The current program is less lenient, so as not to reward those who have waited, but also offers a few specific caveats for smaller accounts held by persons who can prove minimal knowledge or involvement in the offshore account. Persons to whom those specifications would have applied in the first amnesty program are invited to return now and have their fines reassessed.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the primary incentive for Americans to come forward is to avoid jail time or harsher fines. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman stated that the program “gives people a chance to come in before we find them.” The new program is “the last, best chance for people to get back into the system,” he said. The deadline has been set for August 31, 2011.
Showing posts with label Deutsch Bank. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Deutsch Bank. Show all posts
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Deutsche Bank pays for selling tax fraud schemes
Deutsche Bank AG has agreed to pay $553.6 million and admit to criminal wrongdoing to settle allegations that it helped U.S. clients avoid paying taxes by using fraudulent tax shelters.
The German bank will not be further prosecuted for its use of about 15 tax shelters, involving over 2,100 clients from 1996 through 2002, following a nonprosecution agreement with the IRS. The Wall Street Journal notes that some of the relevant tax shelters were marketed by KPMG LLP and Jenkins & Gilchrist PC, both of which have agreed to separate payments and penalties.
In the signed agreement, Deutsche Bank admitted that the transactions pertaining to the tax shelters were “intended to create the appearance of investment activity, but taxpayers were entering into these transactions for the primary purpose of avoiding taxes, as opposed to making profits on the transactions.”
The German bank will not be further prosecuted for its use of about 15 tax shelters, involving over 2,100 clients from 1996 through 2002, following a nonprosecution agreement with the IRS. The Wall Street Journal notes that some of the relevant tax shelters were marketed by KPMG LLP and Jenkins & Gilchrist PC, both of which have agreed to separate payments and penalties.
In the signed agreement, Deutsche Bank admitted that the transactions pertaining to the tax shelters were “intended to create the appearance of investment activity, but taxpayers were entering into these transactions for the primary purpose of avoiding taxes, as opposed to making profits on the transactions.”
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