Posted on 10/27/2009 11:26:05 PM PDT by Libloather
US bill aims to crack down on overseas tax cheats
STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
October 27, 2009 By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Key lawmakers unveiled a bill Tuesday aiming to crack down on wealthy U.S. tax dodgers hiding money overseas.
The bill would impose new reporting requirements on foreign financial institutions doing business in the U.S., and on American advisers who help U.S. residents make investments overseas. Foreign firms that don't comply would be hit with a 30 percent withholding tax on income from their U.S. assets.
The bill, which would raise an estimated $8.5 billion over the next 10 years, was introduced by the top Democrats on the tax-writing committees in the House and Senate.
"This bill offers foreign banks a simple choice — if you wish to access our capital markets, you have to report on U.S. account holders," said Rep. Charles Rangel, a Democrat and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill was also sponsored by Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, among others. President Barack Obama praised the bill, which is similar to legislation he proposed this year.
Lawmakers have been working for years on proposals to stop tax cheats from hiding assets overseas. Sen. Carl Levin, a Democrat, who has worked on the issue, estimated the U.S. loses $100 billion a year in tax revenue because of international tax cheats.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the bill adds to the administration's strategy of negotiating new agreements with other countries to share more financial information about U.S. account holders.
IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said, "These efforts will give the IRS significant new tools to continue our expansion of international tax enforcement and make it even more difficult for U.S. citizens to avoid paying taxes..."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Tax cheats making rules so others can’t cheat too. ROFLMAO
YO, CHAHLIE... stop taxing us a 50-60% PLUS .. and there’s a good chance we’ll STOP HIDING IT
Stupid Liberal Morons1!
**Tax cheats making rules**
Why we hire HACKERS for Internet SECURITY... “They KNOW where the BODIES Are”
I wonder if Charlie realizes there are THOUSANDS of overseas banks that do NOT have any business or business units inside the US, but offer debit cards that work great inside the US?
Kind of difficult to tax an overseas bank if they have zero assets or presence inside the US. And that’s the dominant case, too...
So the rich - well, rich and smart - will simply use banks without a presence inside the US. For example, if you travel to Chile, use the Bank of Santiago (Banco de Santiago). No tie to the US at all, yet their debit cards will work in Plus and Access network ATMs world-wide. Just need proof of identification and a few thousand Chilean pesos to open the account.
Nearly all countries have such institutions. This will only hamper the big multi-national banks that lots of US businesses use to speed transactions around the world. Meaning either higher fees from the banks, slower service, or they simply pull out of the US market - all three actions which will penalize those legitimately using such bank institutions.
I think they are trying to basically take over the entire planet by using financial laws to penalize anyone that dares to stand up to the US. If you look what they did with UBS, they seem to think they can penetrate any economy using tax collection as the justification and force them to do God knows what.
so much for the “if you don’t like it, leave” mentality.
i guess going after the 20m illegals here in the US would be too much like actual work and wouldn’t allow for all those tax payer funded ‘inspections’ of swiss banks
Oh good. Expansion of the IRS. Exactly what the doctor ordered ...
[make it even more difficult for U.S. citizens to avoid paying taxes..]
If there is a doctor out there who specializing in pain associated with constant head shaking and jaw dropping, I need to get an appointment.
Having Rangle, a known tax cheat and criminal writing tax laws is beyond reality. One doesn’t need any more evidence that this is the most corrupt administration this country has ever witnessed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.