Record $104 mln reward boosts whistleblowing on U.S. tax cheats
Oct 3 (Reuters) – Whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld, whose
$104 million reward from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service set a
record three weeks ago, has helped set off a rush of would-be
imitators hoping to cash in on a government program to catch tax
cheats.
Birkenfeld, now living in New Hampshire, helped lead the IRS
to collect hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. taxes owed on
money stashed in Swiss bank UBS AG, where he once
worked.
Commerzbank cooperating in IRS case involving employee
Sept 28 (Reuters) – Germany’s Commerzbank said on
Friday it was cooperating with U.S. prosecutors in a case
involving a bank employee who is charged with exposing an
Internal Revenues Service whistleblower, and who himself is a
former IRS examiner.
The charges come at a time of heightened attention to
whistleblowers after an informant in another bank case earlier
this month won a record-setting award from the IRS.
How Mitt Romney’s offshore income jumped
Reuters tax reporter Lynnley Browning explains for Reuters TV in the clip below how Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s offshore income jumped in 2011, also the subject of her recent story.[youtube]http://youtu.be/B8OKSATsJtE[/youtube]
Corporate tax avoidance subsides when IRS audit threat increases, study finds
U.S. companies that face a higher probability of being audited by the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service voluntarily pay more taxes, a new study has found.
The finding proved especially true among companies with poor corporate governance, according to the study published in the September/October issue of the American Accounting Association’s Accounting Review.
Calendar
Some important tax and accounting events in the week ahead:
Wednesday, Sept. 19
* Center for Audit Quality forum on investor confidence. 8:30 a.m. EDT, Willard InterContinental hotel. Washington.
* Columbia University School of Law panel on how to improve the tax code and what tax policies might boost economic growth. 6:15 p.m. EDT, Jerome Green Hall, Columbia Law School. New York.
New York State tax department attacks fraud on new front
(Reuters) – New York State, a pioneer at catching tax scofflaws in the digital age, has a new weapon in its arsenal – data collected from debit and credit card purchases that will help it detect retailers who are under-reporting sales.
By checking customer data against retailer tax returns, wholesaler records and other sources, the state hopes to find retailers who either fail to collect or remit the sales taxes due.
Will U.S. Olympic medalists get a tax break?
By Nanette Byrnes and Kevin Drawbaugh
(Reuters) – When U.S. athletes at the London Olympic Games bow their heads to receive a medal, one would hope they are not thinking about their taxes. But as with much in life, Olympic glory has a price — a tax price, that is.
Legislation to exempt U.S. Olympic athletes from having to pay tax on prize money won at the games was proposed on Wednesday in the U.S. Congress by Senator Marco Rubio.
Olympic medals: gold to the IRS too?
When the lucky (and good) Americans who medal at the London Games bow their head to receive the gold, silver or bronze, one can only hope the tax man is the last person on their mind.
They’d be unwise to forget him altogether, however. As with so much in life, Olympic glory comes at a price, and by price, we mean tax.
Calendar
Some important tax and accounting dates in the weeks ahead: Tuesday, July 31- Thursday, August 2
* IRS hearing on proposed regulations that implement fees associated with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on some insurance policies and self-insured health plans. 10 a.m. EDT, IRS Auditorium. Washington.
Calendar
Some important tax and accounting events in the week ahead:
Monday, July 16 • New York University two-week conference begins on corporate income tax, international taxation, wealth-planning and other topics. New York City.
Tuesday, July 17 and Thursday, July 19 • IRS conferences in Buffalo, New York, on July 17 and in Erie, Pennsylvania, on July 19 on the benefits and responsibilities of tax-exempt status, and what must be done to maintain it.
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