Authorities throughout the United States have been aggressively pursuing individuals suspected of tax evasion, along with the institutions that helped them. Among recent criminal cases include convictions against individuals who helped clients to file fraudulent tax returns; convictions against individuals who ran a fraud ring and collected refunds inappropriately using information from deceased individuals; and a conviction against a man who embezzled $3 million from clients and failed to report the income to the IRS.

The IRS has been aggressive in trying to identify hidden funds and collect back taxes. In response to intense offshore investigations which adversely impacted accountholder privacy, many individuals began trading in virtual currencies instead of investing funds offshore.  Now, however, the IRS is aggressively investigating currency trading platforms and is pursuing legal means to obtain information on accountholders.

Boston international tax lawyers provide assistance to individuals who have undeclared offshore funds or who are concerned that U.S. taxing authorities are going to obtain information about their offshore investments.  If you want assistance with protecting your financial situation and avoiding or minimizing losses due to tax penalties, you should get legal advice as soon as possible.

For those with offshore funds, privacy was often one of the leading reasons for investing in foreign countries. Unfortunately, the long traditions of banking privacy in many offshore financial meccas is quickly coming to an end.  Because of the Swiss Bank Program, many banks from Switzerland are making deals with U.S. authorities for banks to avoid criminal prosecution by providing account holder info to the U.S. government. An increasing number of countries are also entering into agreements to exchange information about offshore accounts in order to try to stop tax evasion.

Throughout the world, investors have always been interested in using offshore bank accounts in countries other than the ones they live in. There are a lot of reasons for wanting to keep money offshore, with privacy of the offshore accounts often one of the major driving forces for keeping money in other countries.  Certain locations in particular, like Switzerland, were known for strict banking privacy laws which would prevent accountholder information from being shared.