__________________________________________

 

Update- July 17, 2008

 

 

Former LGT computer technician Heninrich Kieber helped tax investigators around the world by handing over data on approximately 1,400 of the bank's clients.  The July 16, 2008, United States Senate Committee 110 page report on Tax Haven Banks and U.S. Tax Compliance estimates that each year, the United States loses an estimated $100 billion in tax revenues due to offshore tax abuse.  The report states that offshore tax havens today hold trillions of dollar in assets provided by citizens of other countries, including the United States.

It is estimated that UBS (which has been served with subpoenas), has 19,000 U.S. clients with a combined $17.9 billon in accounts that have not been disclosed to U.S. tax authorities.  In light of today's economy and need for tax revenue, we anticipate that all of these people will be investigated by the IRS for tax fraud.  Over the next two years, we also expect to see a record number of prosecutions take place in the U.S. Tax and criminal courts.

As a brief history to all of this, beginning in 2001, many foreign banks, including UBS and LGT agreed to a new federal requirement to report and withhold U.S. taxes on assets in accounts held by American clients.  The historical purported confidential benefit of the offshore bank account or holding company was for all practical purposes eliminated.  However, instead of complying with the agreement, the banks allegedly helped some clients structure their accounts to avoid reporting billions of dollars in assets. It is these U.S. citizen clients who should now have serious concerns about their failure to disclose taxable income and assets.

It has always been our position that honest and proven tools and techniques must be used to protect estates, assets and privacy.  There are many well established legal ways to protect your estate and assets (using corporations, LLC's, trust, partnerships...).  The alternative is simply not an option for any of our clients.

Two must read articles and reports include: